grip safety deactivator

[rfc357]

Golem,the DA may not take you to court, but the perp's survivors might. Civil court and criminal court are two very different environments. Good luck!

In my opinion, anyone who deactivates any safety device on a firearm is foolish, to say the least. Of course, I may be biased by my experience as a rifle and pistol instructor for the last 32 years..............................

[golem1961]

You obviously are not familiar with castle doctine laws. I can not be prosecuted in criminal or civil court for defending myself. As far you being biased, perhaps, but as far as you being right, that is just a matter of opinion, namely yours. A guy named Wayne Novak does not seem to share your opinion, and neither do I. Besides, I already said it was mainly for competition. and cramming a chunk of cut up shok buffer in the space between the mainspring housing or cutting the ears off the safety sound like stop gap solutions to a problem that people obviously have. Therfore I thank you all for your input, and as stated before I will go ahead with my project.

[Moss500Bantam]

Looking forward to seeing it someday.

[lefty o]

tell you what golem, if you want to do real market research on your idea ask your questions over at 1911forum.com . i believe your going to get pretty much the same response, but there is a whole lot more people over there so who knows.

[rfc357]

I am not a lawyer. I just pay one to give me advice. Since I pay for the advice, I tend to follow it. (My lawyer is a competitive shooter.)

[Mooseman684]

leftyO...Custom gunsmiths Like me have been drilling and pinning the backstrap on 1911's for years as is articled in J.B. Woods book "Gunsmithing, the tricks of the trade," (I charge 20.00 for it)this pin when inserted holds the grip safety down, but it also comes with a clear warning to notify the new owner of this Modification due to "Safety and Liability" issues. Or you remove it as it only takes a few minutes. I personally will not defeat my grip safety even as a competition shooter, simply because it makes ME make sure my grip is proper!
Safety should always be paramount,I agree with you !
Brownells sells special grip beavertail safeties that are more positive for competition without compromising the safety...
Rich

[lefty o]

dont have to preach it to me. i know the 1911 inside and out, and have no need to disable the grip safety. you can make it sensitive enough that people with very small hands will never have a problem with it. i really dont see any market, or a very minimal one for what golem is trying to sell.

[JBS]

YEAH, what Lefty said!

[Rookie_Rover]

If you want a gun that has no safety at all, just buy a Glock. If you want a gun that won't go off when you don't want it to, buy a 1911 and don't screw with the safeties!!!!! If your hands are so petite that a full size .45 ACP is too bulky for you to reach the trigger and the grip safety, then perhaps a 1911 is not the best option.

(To those who want to say Glocks don't go off prematurely, I refer you to the idiot DEA agent who shot himself in the foot in front of a class full of kids with one of them. )

With my 1911, I point it, pull the trigger, and it goes BANG. Not because I have torn the safeties out of it, ground the guts down to a 2 ounce trigger pull, or added some kit that would do either. It works as well as it does because I haven't went modifying the working design, not because I have.

In my shooting time, I've seen a total of 7 1911s belch on the firing line, three due to crappy handloads, two due to $4 mags bought at a flea market, and the other two because the shooter decided to "improve" the design.

Allow me to advise further. In a reply to me earlier, you said this;

"If you have ever drawn quickly and tried to engage a target only to find your grip is a little to high or low to engage the grip safety, you will understand."

Friend, you're proposing solutions to a non-existant problem. I HAVE had to draw and fire my 1911 quickly, and it wasn't in some competition. I was less than 20 feet from a charging doberman, he dropped at my feet with three 230 grainers in his body.

Prior to that event, I hadn't tack welded my safeties in the off position. I hadn't put a "kit" on the gun to kill the safeties. I was carrying condition 1 strong side, I drew, and fired four rounds. Only the last missed meat (I was getting a little worried when he was stilling coming closer and not slowing down, I panicked).

The 1911 design works, or it would not have survived so long without having gone the way of the Reising M50 Sub .45 ACP. Rule #1 of survival; don't screw with what works.

Anyone who knows anything about shooting and firearms knows that modification of the firearm does not make one a good shot; learning your gun, and practicing consistancy DOES make you a good shot. I recall a time when I holstered, drew, and fired on a snap-cap with my 1911 until I had it down to perfection. I kept count, and discovered that over the course of a week, I'd worn out 42 snap caps.

If I had to take a wild guess, I'm going to say you need a better holster. If your holster is doing what it should, your gun will be where you need it. If you have to chase your holster around behind you everytime and this makes you grab the 1911 oddly and miss the safety, your blaming one piece of gear for the fault of another. A good holster (like mine from K&D) holds my 1911 dead center on my strong side, and I can find it blindfolded, draw, open my eyes, and fire accurately without readjusting my grip from the grip I had when I drew.

[JBS]

RR... What kinda K&D holster you got? I'm using a GALCO with thumb snap that lays between the hammer and firing pin. I sorta like it, and I sorta don't. It's a quality holster, but I find that sometimes when I put muh gun in the holster it bumps the thumb safety off and I like it to be in the on position, even with the thumb strap in place.

[Rookie_Rover]

OWB Eagle Defender. (Well worth the money!!!!)

[golem1961]

I'll mention it no more. I'm sorry i got a little hot. I just felt I had a good idea, or at least one that had some merit to it and I was getting ganged up on, which does tend to put one on the defensive. Once again, sorry. I suppose you guys wouldn' be interested in a .45 magazine carrier that is smaller than a Bianchi 2-mag carrier but carrys 4 mags.

[Moss500Bantam]

A pretty decent palce Iv'e gathered, but don't get caught thinking outside of the box.

[lefty o]

nothing wrong with thinking outside the box, but it really needs to be a viable idea.

[golem1961]

Thanks Moss, And Lefty, you yourself gave me two examples of what competitors do to negate the safety. Not trying to start anything, just playing devils advocate, but why do they cut the ears off or cram pieces of shok buffer in there if it not a problem for some people. Are they just bored? Like I said just curious. If you know of ways people fix a problem, why would you say there is no problem?

[Oxford]

All good comments above...but the reply that made the most sense to me was the following:

RFC357 wrote:

And if you should be unlucky enough to have to shoot someone in self defense, and have inactivated your grip safety, God help you when you get into court. (You will get into court.) So says my attorney. If you want a pistol without a grip safety, get a pistol without a grip safety in the design.

[lefty o]

i really dont know why some people feel the need to do it. the fact is you can file the ear on the back side of the grip safety to a point where you barely need to touch the safety to disengage it. i myself use a very high grip on my race gun, and have never failed to disengage it.

[Dave Sample]

Grip safety's can be adjusted by a competent smith. Mine all work. I will not disable them for anyone.
The 1911 semi-automatic pistol is a difficult gun to master. If the grip safety bothers you, get a Glock!