Beaver Tail Grip Safety Problems

[TheDarkOne]

I use a high grip, thumb on top of my safety, which seems lighten the natural pressure applied to the BTGS. At times, I have a problem depressing the grip safety all the way, so when I go to shoot, nothing happens. The times I notice it the most when I am trying to draw quickly and don't get a good firm grip on the weapon. Has anyone else had the same problem, and are there any solutions like an extended grip safety or something?

[Tim Egan]

Personally I disable mine. cutting the tang off the back side

or pinning them shut.

It is possible however to lighten them up as well so that they

deactivate earlier.

[TheDarkOne]

So I am not alone, good. My hands are not that big, so I was thinking that may be the reason.

More on the topic...

1. I think this is slowing down my draw. Instead of coming up as soon as my hand hits the gun, I have to really press down on the gun to get a good solid grip.

2. I am having a problem with the gun staying elevated after a shot, which Brian says is due to tension in the grip. However, when I try to lighten up on the grip, the BTGS gets released, so I am not sure what to do.

Disabling the BTGS would work, but that worries me a little. I figure it is there for a reason.

[Corey]

you can take it off and file the part that blocks the trigger down a bit to disengage it earlier, but still have the "safety feature" of the safety. Im thinking of doing this myself

[davidwiz]

Ed Brown makes a grip safety (as do others) with a pad on it so that the safety is depressed when the gun is gripped.

[gunut]

you can change the highgrip safety to a style that has a bigger pad toward the bottom . then file alittle at a time off the safety from the

bottom of the tang that stops the trigger from coming back . the safety should still work and give you more clearance

[TheDarkOne]

Ed Brown makes a grip safety (as do others) with a pad on it so that the safety is depressed when the gun is gripped.

Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.edbrown.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/002530.1.151202133611863968

If so, would I benefit from it since I am shooting a Springfield TRP (picture below)?

http://www.gunshopfinder.com/springfield/PC9105LP.jpg

Edited February 12, 2010 by TheDarkOne

[kmitchl]

I've had the same problem. Timing the GS to releae the trigger with less movement helps. On one gun I added a piece of double sided foam tape to build up the GS bump a little. Not pretty but it works and can be easily removed if I decide to sell the gun. On another gun I added a lump of paste epoxy to build up the bump. Shaped it with a file after it set. Again not attractive but functional.

I understand some have machined a flat on the GS bump and silver soldered a SS block to build up the GS. The you file down the block to something that works and is attractive after finishing. The next one I modify will be done this way.

Edited February 12, 2010 by kmitchl

[TheDarkOne]

I've had the same problem. Timing the GS to releae the trigger with less movement helps. On one gun I added a piece of double sided foam tape to build up the GS bump a little. Not pretty but it works and can be easily removed if I decide to sell the gun. On another gun I added a lump of paste epoxy to build up the bump. Shaped it with a file afte rit set. Again not attractive but functional.

I understand some have machined a flat on the GS bump and silver soldered a SS block to build up the GS. The you file down the block to something that works and is attractive after finishing. The next one I modify will be done this way.

You'd think someone would have manufactured some aftermarket GS's for guys like us, they have had 100 years after all.

[Duane Thomas]

Your gun already has the built-up grip safety (look at the lug on the bottom) that's supposed to solve the problem. For some people it doesn't. I'm one of them. The real solution, I find, is to "sensitize" the grip safety so that, while still totally functional, it not only moves much more easily, it also requires much less movement to disengage. If you do a search, there are threads on this board where I describe how to accomplish both those things.

[RickB]

I use a high grip, thumb on top of my safety, which seems lighten the natural pressure applied to the BTGS. At times, I have a problem depressing the grip safety all the way, so when I go to shoot, nothing happens. The times I notice it the most when I am trying to draw quickly and don't get a good firm grip on the weapon. Has anyone else had the same problem, and are there any solutions like an extended grip safety or something?

A lot, if not most shooters have this problem, and that's why you'll find 50%-75% of shooters have deactivated their grip safeties.

[01G8R]

I have the same problem. Best solution for me was to pin the grip safety. Here is a link to another thread on this issue.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=96926&st=0&gopid=1108475entry1108475

Edited February 12, 2010 by 01G8R

[TheDarkOne]

I have the same problem. Best solution for me was to pin the grip safety. Here is a link to another thread on this issue.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=96926&st=0&gopid=1108475entry1108475

Thanks for the link. I thought I looked prior to posting, but I guess my search criteria was not adequate.

[TheDarkOne]

Your gun already has the built-up grip safety (look at the lug on the bottom) that's supposed to solve the problem. For some people it doesn't. I'm one of them. The real solution, I find, is to "sensitize" the grip safety so that, while still totally functional, it not only moves much more easily, it also requires much less movement to disengage. If you do a search, there are threads on this board where I describe how to accomplish both those things.

Duane, is the TRP build-up equal to Ed Browns?

http://www.edbrown.c...202133611863968

Or would his be better?

[Duane Thomas]

In my experience, if you have the problem with one, you're going to have it with the other. You really only have two choices: pin the grip safety (illegal in IDPA, by the way) or sensitize it.

[TheDarkOne]

In my experience, if you have the problem with one, you're going to have it with the other. You really only have two choices: pin the grip safety (illegal in IDPA, by the way) or sensitize it.

Sensitize it is. Thanks for the insight guys.

[ah1356]

Sensitize it is. Thanks for the insight guys.

FWIW, I also had this issue. I sensitized my grip safety so that it only had to move about 1mm before it disengaged. This worked better, but I still missed it a few times on the draw. My solution was to fit a new grip safety that was totally disabled and keep the sensitized one in case I wanted to reactivate it or needed a backup.

[Supermoto]

I cut all my grip safety tangs, I push up on the GS so sensitizing it does not work. I had them pinned, but the pin would eventually pull out of the plastic main spring housing or peen the tab on the GS cause in the GS to pop out

[TheDarkOne]

The way I see it, this problem is due to taking a high grip with thumb on top of the safety. If I hold my thumb under the safety, it works just fine, which leads me to believe that the 1911 was not designed to hold thumb over. It seems there is a market for redesigned BTS to accommodate this higher hold on the gun, and it surprises me that no one has come up with anything yet. The built up GS is the best they have came out with, but it still needs improvement.

[Duane Thomas]

Taking metal off the underside of the grip safety tongue (the protrusion off the front of the grip safety inside the gun, that must rotate up and out of the way for the trigger bow to travel far enough to the rear to fire the gun) is only half the battle in grip safety sensitization. You also need to adjust the rightmost prong of the sear spring so that it presses the grip safety to the rear very lightly. Just enough to always ensure activation, but lightly enough that the grip safety is very easily depressed.

[TISCHLJ]

Mine are set for what I call early de-activation. Very small hands. Both the EB andd STI work fine for me.

With the pistol apart and the grips off, watch the action as you depress the GS and move the trigger to the rear, to see where to remove metal.

I set the safety leg to apply the proper pressure,(if the gs safety leg has insufficent tension you will get a false "reading") then radius the edge where the gs meets and blocks the trigger bow, and angle cut the underside of the gs leg, so that when the gs is de activated the trigger bow only has the front of the leg to clear and the rear of the leg falls away sharply.

Polish everything and go slow.

Also watch for trigger bow bind on the release of the gs.

Remember, this mod will make a difference if you change out a trigger. The gs may not block a different trigger bow from the one you originally cut it to. . . .

[TheDarkOne]

Taking metal off the underside of the grip safety tongue (the protrusion off the front of the grip safety inside the gun, that must rotate up and out of the way for the trigger bow to travel far enough to the rear to fire the gun) is only half the battle in grip safety sensitization. You also need to adjust the rightmost prong of the sear spring so that it presses the grip safety to the rear very lightly. Just enough to always ensure activation, but lightly enough that the grip safety is very easily depressed.

2 questions...

1. As my comp gun is also my carry gun,(IWB 4 o'clock), is this a good idea?

2. Is there any post with good step by step instruction that you can direct me to, or is this something I should have a gun smith take care of?

[z40acp]

I build up the pad with epoxy or other suitable material. Try two layers of skate tape to see if it helps.

[Duane Thomas]

How in-depth are we talking here? Do you know how to detail strip the gun to start?

[TheDarkOne]

How in-depth are we talking here? Do you know how to detail strip the gun to start?

No, I a noob. I was just wondering if there was something out there you could point me to. If not, it's okay, I don't want you to put a lot of effort into it. Thanks either way.