1911 Grip Safety Question

[tuna]

I've got a Springfield Armory Compact Comp 1911 (Officer's Model sized with compensated barrel making it Commander sized) with a very sensitive grip safety. If I don't touch the grip safety, and pull on the trigger, the hammer will not drop - so far so good. Any amount of pressure on the safety will let the hammer fall - less than an ounce of pressure, or movement of about 1/2mm (I don't have any gauges or measuring devices for this, but moving it enough to barely feel will disengage the safety).
Is this grip safety too light? Should I just replace it? Or is it okay as is.
I don't currently carry this gun, so it is fine for the range, but I'm wondering if something is worn too much.

Thanks

 

[Supermoto]

I had my grip safety on my S&W 1911 tuned so that it would be like that, my 2011 has the safety pinned.

I won't worry about it, usless there are other wear issues with the safety, hammer or sear

 

[adweisbe]

My only concern is that bubba may have been inside the gun. And once bubba has been inside you have no idea what surprises may be waiting.

The grip safety not functioning in and of itself is not a big deal and won't negatively effect the function or safety of the other controls and safeties (manual safety, half cock safety, trigger). To some people a sensitive grip safety is a desirable thing.

Do a function test of the gun.
http://www.m1911.org/InspectionChecklist.pdf
http://m1911.org/full_technic.htm

 

[jacobtowne]

Here's an eyeball guess on grip safety travel of two U.S. .45s, a Model of 1911 Colt and a M1911A1 Ithaca. On both, the safety travels about 1/16th of an inch (at the very bottom right above the mainspring housing) before releasing the hammer.

This is a FWIW, since these pistols are both military. Commercial specs may be different.

Where are you measuring the travel? It's greater at the bottom of the safety than at the top.

JT

 

[squarooticus]

IANAGS, but:

The grip safety on a typical 1911 has two functions with respect to the action: to prevent rearward movement of the trigger when engaged, and to prevent overtravel of the trigger when disengaged. On S&W (and possibly others) it has the additional function of disengaging the firing pin block.

The way the grip safety achieves the main two functions is by virtue of a finger with two sections of different lengths. See this image for a good example. The finger is the thing furthest to the left: note how the top half is longer than the lower half.

The idea is:

When engaged, the top half is resting against the bar at the rear of the trigger assembly, preventing it from travelling backward and disengaging the sear from the full-cocked notch on the hammer.

When disengaged, the top half has now rotated above that bar (around the axis formed by the pin on the thumb safety), allowing the trigger to travel backward; but now the bottom half is in position to prevent it from going too far.

It is likely that the top half on your grip safety was deliberately thinned because I simply can't think of a way that could happen accidentally. Detail strip it and look for yourself: there's no better way to learn about this stuff than to tear into it and figure out how it works first-hand.

Kyle

 

[adweisbe]

and to prevent overtravel of the trigger when disengaged

Well what do you know! Opened up Kuhnhausen to page 12 and there it was. I never picked up on that as all the pistols I have dealt with have overtravel stops in the trigger shoe.

 

[tuna]

Thanks for the replies. I'm "measuring" (if you could call it that) from the bottom of the safety. The pistol passed all the function checks, and from the sounds of it, I'm good to go.
This is my only "real" semi (I've got a .25 Bauer, and a .22 Jennings, too) as I'm more of a revolver type of guy. So I didn't have a good comparison. I've read in a few places about having trouble actuating the safety, and seen ads for aftermarket parts, and thought that something might have been out of whack with mine, since I can't seem to think of any way to hold it by the grip without pressing it enough. Must be more solutions in search of problems.
Thanks for the help.

 

[RKG]

The grip safety in the 1911 was not intended to distinguish between light grip and firm grip. It was intended to deal with a potential jar fire if a pistol in Condition 1 (safety off) were dropped, and therefore it is only designed to distinguish between some grip and no grip. So long as the grip safety passes the Kuhnhausen test, it is functional.