ambi safety

[a matt]

i am a lefty, im looking for safety with a large pad to ride my thumb on, i have tried a few sti, wilson, brown.it seens the left side pads are larger than the right. thanks in advance.

[Steve L]

I use the Bul ambi safety. It is obnoxiously wide so I can't miss it. I have tried the brands you mentioned as well, and the Bul is cheaper so I was skeptical but it is now my favorite.

[Duane Thomas]

The best ambi safety I have found is the unit from Kimber. And yes indeed, they do sell this as an aftermarket part, not just put it on their factory guns.

The reason it works so well is that, compared to the typical Swenson-pattern ambi (Wilson, Ed Brown, etc.) where the offside lever is retained through having a tab off the front of the lever hook into a slot cut into a modified grip panel, the Kimber unit does it by having a slot in the back face of the lever body hook over an elongated sear pin. This snugs the lever nice and tight and secure to the side of the gun. I have seen several Swenson-pattern ambis over the years that had become so loose the offside lever fell out of the gun when going from a table start. That can't happen with the Kimber because in this design the offside lever is actually held to the side of the gun with metal-in-metal. Also you don't need a modified grip panel, you can just run standard grips.

King's has been using a very similar system for years, but on the King's the lever slot is open on the top, thus thumb pressure on the offside lever, unless it happens to bottom out on the grip panel (and this is very much a function of how the safety is fit to that particular gun), can twist and tweak the male/female connection of the two pieces of the unit where they mate inside the gun. It also means that disassembling the gun now requires removing the right grip panel since you can't rotate the safety lever downward far enough to remove it from the sear pin with the grip panel in place.

I had thought for years the King's was the best ambi safety design out there, but could be considerably improved if they'd just reverse the configuration of the slot so it was closed at top, open at bottom instead of the other way around. That way the safety in the off-Safe position would bottom out on the sear pin instead of overtravelling when held down by thumb pressure, so you wouldn't twist the connection point inside the gun. Also you could disassemble the gun without needing to remove the grip panel because the safety lever would twist up to remove, not down.

That's what they've done with the Kimber ambi design. It's like a product improved King's ambi and thus the best thing of its type IMHO.

[Norther]

I just bought a Caspian locking ambi safety off the USPSA classifieds. It uses a locking pin similar to the Kimber as Duane describes it (haven't seen a Kimber). The two sides join with a square drive setup. It uses a locking sear pin AND the grip tab for retention, and the opening for the sear pin is at the bottom. Opinions? I got it cheap and the stock one on my SA was giving me problems so I thought I'd try it, but I've been shooting revolver lately so haven't got it installed yet. The thumb pads are the same size on both sides.

[speculatorking]

I have the Caspian locking ambi safety on 2 of my Springfield 1911's. They work great. I had problems with the stock SA ambi as well.

[mike cyrwus]

a ed brown wide ambi or a SV safety is your best bet. Im a lefty.

[chirpy]

Colt had a similar system to Kimbers but the pads were normal sized.

FWIW

Richard

[calvary45]

Ed Brown wide ambi worked the best for me, i also ground down the left side.

[PINMAN44]

My sponsor at EGW told me they will be producing an AMBI safety soon. From what Jim told me it will be strong and customizable.

[Rick Stone]

Buy the closest size you need, then grind it to fit your hand. Finish up with a good polishing/buffing.

[Biloxi23]

Here is an ambi safety on an old pin gun from the 80's. I don't have a clue who made it, but it is big.

[392heminut]

Here is an ambi safety on an old pin gun from the 80's. I don't have a clue who made it, but it is big.

Looks like an Ed Brown.

[Merlin Orr]

The best ambi safety I have found is the unit from Kimber. And yes indeed, they do sell this as an aftermarket part, not just put it on their factory guns.

The reason it works so well is that, compared to the typical Swenson-pattern ambi (Wilson, Ed Brown, etc.) where the offside lever is retained through having a tab off the front of the lever hook into a slot cut into a modified grip panel, the Kimber unit does it by having a slot in the back face of the lever body hook over an elongated sear pin. This snugs the lever nice and tight and secure to the side of the gun. I have seen several Swenson-pattern ambis over the years that had become so loose the offside lever fell out of the gun when going from a table start. That can't happen with the Kimber because in this design the offside lever is actually held to the side of the gun with metal-in-metal. Also you don't need a modified grip panel, you can just run standard grips.

King's has been using a very similar system for years, but on the King's the lever slot is open on the top, thus thumb pressure on the offside lever, unless it happens to bottom out on the grip panel (and this is very much a function of how the safety is fit to that particular gun), can twist and tweak the male/female connection of the two pieces of the unit where they mate inside the gun. It also means that disassembling the gun now requires removing the right grip panel since you can't rotate the safety lever downward far enough to remove it from the sear pin with the grip panel in place.

I had thought for years the King's was the best ambi safety design out there, but could be considerably improved if they'd just reverse the configuration of the slot so it was closed at top, open at bottom instead of the other way around. That way the safety in the off-Safe position would bottom out on the sear pin instead of overtravelling when held down by thumb pressure, so you wouldn't twist the connection point inside the gun. Also you could disassemble the gun without needing to remove the grip panel because the safety lever would twist up to remove, not down.

That's what they've done with the Kimber ambi design. It's like a product improved King's ambi and thus the best thing of its type IMHO.

When I shoot left (weak) hand my knuckle is constantly riding up and applying the normal strong side safety on an ambi even though my thumb is riding the normally "weak side" safety hard. What you describe sounds like it might alleviate this problem and help prevent me from inadvertently appliing the safety every time I pull the trigger. Obviously a huge problem for my weak hand shooting.....

Am I reading you correctly that the Kimber safety have noticeably less "flex" or movement in it than a regular safety?

Edited November 14, 2011 by Merlin Orr

[gunfixer]

Alan, I think the Ed Brown is the ticket.. It's like the one on the guys Pin Gun above.

That Kimber Target model sounds really good and ridged too, I've just never gotten to goof w/ one.

Edited November 14, 2011 by gunfixer

[Duane Thomas]

Am I reading you correctly that the Kimber safety have noticeably less "flex" or movement in it than a regular safety?

Not really. The only solution to your problem is to take material off the offside lever until your finger no longer pushes up on it. Bigger is not always better.

[Roadrider18]

Not really. The only solution to your problem is to take material off the offside lever until your finger no longer pushes up on it. Bigger is not always better.

Duane, perhaps I am missing something, but, regardless of hand, shouldn't the thumb of the trigger finger hand (weak, strong, doesn't matter) ride on top of the thumb safety pad and negate the index finger upward pressure on the other side? I would submit if index finger is applying more upward pressure than the thumb's downward pressure, something is wrong with the grip.

Perhaps I am not properly visualizing the aforementioned comments.

King's were very good ambi safeties, but, unfortunately they are out of business and the ambi safety is no longer available. But, grinding an ambi to suit your needs is easily do'able. I grind the Cylinder & Slide High Ride Ambi into the shape I prefer. The trial and error process can be expensive with he cost of an ambi(s) today.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Roadrider18