New 2011 grip makes the gun not run?

[steviesterno]

Alright, I'm sorry for the terrible title, but that seems to be what's happening. I have a really nice 6" fusion with a fusion grip. It ran like crazy with no problems since a forum member built it. So this week I got a nice, thinner STI grip and get it all installed. Passes a safety check, runs fine, and runs 100 rounds no problem in practice.

Today at a match, I notice that the beaver tail is actually coming up out of the grip and pivoting. I have to keep snapping it back in. I'm also getting some hammer follow when I rack the slide, but never when there's a round in the pipe or anything. Only in dryfire. Why would these things be? I really love the new grip but need reliability for sure.

Would have had a killer match, but I also forgot to chamber check each round, and had a 9 second jam on a stage I burned to the ground otherwise. Oh well, life and learn....

In the mean while, I put the original grip/msh back on the gun and it seems to be 100% again. I didn't want to, but have a big match tomorrow.

THanks for the help!

[al503]

The new grip might be sitting a little lower/looser than your original. That would be one possible explanation of why the tabs on the bottom of the grip safety is not catching on top of the MS housing. It might also explain the hammer follow.

I would check the sear/hammer hooks and see if they're damaged/worn. If they're not, you might bend the left leg of the sear spring up a titch to put a little more pressure on the sear/hammer hook engagement. It'll increase your trigger pull weight but you probably won't be able to notice it if you don't go crazy.

Not sure about the grip safety coming loose. The only thing I can think of is to either get a slightly longer ms housing (I have no idea if one manufacturer builds their MS housing oversize or not.) so the tabs catch or pin it.