bisonresq Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Ok I think I might be missing something. What's the point of an ambidextrous safety on a 1911? I just bought a S&W 1911 and it has the safety on the left - which I like. The ones with ambi safeties seemed to hit my hand in a way on the right side that I might initiate it accidentally while shooting. Am I the only one that feels this way?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdgun Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 you should be riding the safety with your thumb ( thumb on top of the safety ) this does 2 things, 1, keeps the safety down and 2, gives a consistent place for your grip which is as high as possible. the same goes for it on the right side ( Ambi Safety ) week hand shooting. This is not leaving out the Left handed shooter. Just reverse the above. to shoot a 1911 without an ambi safety is like walking out the door with one sock on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I don't use ambi's either. I can engage the right side lever with my index knuckle. As for "riding the safety", my support hand nearly covers the left side lever and my firing hand thumb rides on the heel of my support hand. In other words, my grip is so high that the safety is burried. There is no way I can ride the safety with my thumb, my other hand is in the way. For gun games, an ambi is more of a liability (breakage). Safety can be disengaged with the strong hand before transition to weak hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegot38 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I have ambis on all of my guns. For a right hand shooter, for competition when you draw and go weak hand I want ambi so I can wiope safety off after I have switched hands. For real life, if my right armm becomes useless during a fight, I want to be able to wipe off safety in time to get back into the fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Shot a SS last year with an Ambi. got a new gun this year and it doesnt have an ambi on it. I dont notice much difference other than my thumb feels a bit naked shooting weakhand (that will go away with practice) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz-0 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 For a lot of people, if you shoot weak hand only ( righties anywa) with a high grip, you will trip the safety slightly with your trigger finger/ knuckles without an ambi. With one, you ride it with your thumb on the right side, and nothing bad happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterj Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 The ones with ambi safeties seemed to hit my hand in a way on the right side that I might initiate it accidentally while shooting. Wide ambi's give me fits too. They dig into the knuckle of my shooting hand. Try a narrow ambi, it made a huge difference for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaGunner Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I just contour the right side of my ambi so it doesn't dig into my hand. When I go weak hand I have never noticed the left side rubbing my hand at all. I use a Ed Brown wide extended ambi and love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ck1 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 IMHO the best thing an ambi-safety does is give a slight boost ergonomics-wise by giving one an easy way to add leverage with one's thumb to the other side of the gun to counteract torquing the gun over to the side when/if one's trigger-press isn't relaxed and perfectly straight-back (like when shooting weak-hans which is awkward as-is). Don't think it's a deal-breaker, but I'd rather have it than not have it, just seems to add stability for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 For a lot of people, if you shoot weak hand only ( righties anywa) with a high grip, you will trip the safety slightly with your trigger finger/ knuckles without an ambi.With one, you ride it with your thumb on the right side, and nothing bad happens. Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calvary45 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I use a ed brown wide ambi safety and i love it when im shooting weak hand only, i dont know what i would do without it, then again i am left handed HaHaHa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeMartens Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 This past Sunday on Riverdale Standards Classifier on the third string it is WHO, all of my 1911's have ambi's except for the Trojan that I was shooting at the match, missed the safety on the draw, transitioned the gun to my weak hand and then looked like a monkey with a football trying to get the damn thing off with my weak hand Unloaded, showed clear, holstered and then sent a text message to George Huening to order an ambi for the gun. Well worth it IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel1212 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I've gone from having them to when I replace them using single sided safeties. If you don't get it off on the draw and need to transition you've already screwed your mental plan up, not to pick on Jake . The Single sided safeties tend to be a little less prone to breakage and I don't have the weak side safety bumping into things. Even when they are trimmed down they still can get hit. I don't ride the weak side safety just doesn't feel right to me when shooting weak hand anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeMartens Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I've gone from having them to when I replace them using single sided safeties. If you don't get it off on the draw and need to transition you've already screwed your mental plan up, not to pick on Jake . Mental plan, like I have one of those.....luckily it was just the classifier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueOvalBruin Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I don't use ambi's either. I can engage the right side lever with my index knuckle. As for "riding the safety", my support hand nearly covers the left side lever and my firing hand thumb rides on the heel of my support hand. In other words, my grip is so high that the safety is burried. There is no way I can ride the safety with my thumb, my other hand is in the way. For gun games, an ambi is more of a liability (breakage). Safety can be disengaged with the strong hand before transition to weak hand. +1 My grip is high enough that I can’t ride the safety anyway. And when using an ambi with my high grip my right hand knuckle pushes up on the safety. Single sided extended length tactical-width safeties with plenty of resistance are perfect for me. I’m not sure I would want to ride the safety even if I could. Shooting strong hand only riding the safety just injects tension into my grip. Tucking my thumb has helped with trigger control and my scores for one handed shooting have improved a bunch. Control recoil with your weak hand and pull the trigger with your strong hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisonresq Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks everyone! Now I know.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellymc Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I wish my 2011 didn't have one. I've only accidentally moved it once.It was the first stage of a major match.something like that always happens on the first stage anyway.Glad the crome spartian I got from Dawson didn't come with one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I don't use ambi's either. I can engage the right side lever with my index knuckle. As for "riding the safety", my support hand nearly covers the left side lever and my firing hand thumb rides on the heel of my support hand. In other words, my grip is so high that the safety is burried. There is no way I can ride the safety with my thumb, my other hand is in the way. For gun games, an ambi is more of a liability (breakage). Safety can be disengaged with the strong hand before transition to weak hand. I'm surprised to see you say that, although I totally understand where you're coming from. I think a lot depends on the shape of your hand. I've only ever shot one gun where the ambi dug into my hand (my friend's Para, which had an ed brown, I think). Shot a SS last year with an Ambi. got a new gun this year and it doesnt have an ambi on it. I dont notice much difference other than my thumb feels a bit naked shooting weakhand (that will go away with practice) I doubt that it will go away with practice, and I think you're going to miss that right side lever no matter what. I don't shoot matches without ambies. I've yet to find the perfect ambi safety, but I really need that thumb rest for weak hand shooting, so I find ambies preferable, although there really is no perfect ambi (all of them have problems staying together). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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