What would cause the grip safety on a 1911 to completely quit functioning? I've had this pistol apart probably ten different times, and can't seem to find any reason why it doesn't work. Nothing is broken, no burrs anywhere, nothing ground down. I'm officially out of ideas.
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Did you doublecheck sear spring placement? Fingers might not be exactly where they should be....
When you say grip safety doesn't work, do you mean hammer falls without compressing, or doesn't allow hammer to fall when squeezed?
What Brutus said. Mine barely works. You might have to bend the spring to put more tension on the safety. It's the leaf to the right looking at the back of the gun. I haven't got around to it.
Last edited by Punch The Clown; 05-12-2011 at 09:52 PM.
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Originally Posted by BRUTUS
The hammer falls without any input from the grip safety. I'll take it apart, and check the spring. Come to think of it, it takes barely any pressure to push the safety in. How far back do I need to bend the spring?
Bend it about 30 degrees from flush on the frame. If it is the sear spring this should give you a starting point. My suggestion to you is replace the spring as it is showing signs of weakening. One other point to check is the back of the trigger. The grip safety makes very little contact when it engages the trigger and sometimes this contact point will wear enough to allow the trigger to move even if you do not depress the safety. at the same time check safety to see if it is riding over the back of the trigger allowing it to come back and tripping the sear. All that being said . Bend the sear spring, if that works change it for a new one and you are good to go. All of this action can be checked by installing the grip safety the thumb safety sear spring and the mainspring housing. which allows you to see the parts in action. mainspring housing holds the sear spring and grip safety in position.Thumb safety holds grip safety in position also.
Hope this helps
Mix
Last edited by mixmaster; 05-14-2011 at 12:18 AM.
Okay, you need to look at the back of the grip-safety.Grip-safeties work by moving a stub out of the way of the trigger-bow when depressed.Look at this pic.
You need to make sure this stub is contacting the trigger bow when the grip is not depressed. If it is then unless the back of the bow is broken the trigger can't move back.
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NRA,GCA,OGCA, USAF,Msgt.Ret.
Mixmaster, you were dead-on. The sear spring is shot. I can bend the right-hand side back to 30 degrees, put it all back together, push the safety in once, and it's flat again. I'm hoping that's it, as everything else looks fine. Any recommendations on a brand to replace it with?
Okay, what you're saying is that the grip-safety leaf is flat? That means the grip-safety was constantly depressed. Question: How could you not notice that?
Get a Colt Sear-spring.
Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas
NRA,GCA,OGCA, USAF,Msgt.Ret.
I bent the spring, put the pistol back together, pressed the grip safety, took it back apart, and saw that the spring had gone flat again. Probably more work than necessary, no doubt. Now that I think of it, I bet that it was kept in the wrong holster, and the strap kept pressure on the safety. For how long, who knows, but long enough to kill that particular leaf. That's my best guess at this point.
That would do it.
Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas
NRA,GCA,OGCA, USAF,Msgt.Ret.
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