Grip safety not working.

[M1orNone]

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.

Help! Mayday! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?!:o:confused:

[BRUTUS]

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?

[Punch The Clown]

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.

[M1orNone]

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?


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?

[mixmaster]

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

[Dave Waits]

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.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/retmsgt123/IMG_0202.jpg
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.

[M1orNone]

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?

[Dave Waits]

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.

[M1orNone]

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.


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.

[Dave Waits]

That would do it.

[M1orNone]

Temptation got the best of me today, so I ran half a box of HSM ammo through it. More wrong with it than I originally thought.

Now, the extractor wants to skip right over the rim, leaving the empty in the chamber, and run a loaded round right up against it. Is there anything I can do with the extractor, short of replacing it? Can they be bent slightly to grab the rim of the case better? Can I take a stone to the hook, and give it a little more bite?

Edit...here's a pic of it. Auto-Ordnance. Not much to look at, just something to toss on my belt when I'm up in the woods.
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/899/452d.jpg

[Punch The Clown]

Good stuff here. Stu

http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/tech/reliability_secrets.htm

[mixmaster]

Glad it was so simple. If you want to go with a name get a a wolff spring kit for it. Otherwise any surplus GI spring should work as long as it is "crisp" you will be able to tell by just handling it as you fit it.and it won't cost as much as a name brand.
Mix

[mixmaster]

The extractor can be a problem. First check the portion that engages the case and insure that it is still complete. The fancy stuff comes after you have the extractor working. Simple fix, change the extractor. Challenging fix, Pull the extractor out and place it in a vise with the portion of the extractor that has the last bump clamped it should be parallel with your work bench "horizontal" then give it a sharp rap with a leather mallet to bend it in. if metal is brittle or fatigued it will snap and as it was , no great loss as it could have done that during firing. It does not take a really heavy rap to re set it . If you have some resistance re installing the extractor,GOOD you have it fixed. The resistance will tell you where you are at with it. Even a new one should drag when installed. I hope this helps as I use the "hard" fix even with new extractors
Mix