chaosshooter00 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I looked all over the forums and couldn't find any other answers on where to find "wide" ambi safeties. Gun went to gunsmith for a checkup, the sear was rounding, so new sear cut to hammer, presto, safety doesn't work anymore, calls me and I tell him I want a wide safety just like the one on it. He orders from his "only" source and I own a bag that says wide ambi safety. Does anyone make an actual wide thumb pad ambi safety besides SVI? My gorilla hands like to ride the slide without a wide thumb pad and even though the scar looks cool, it hurts. The reason for the non SVI question is I have those on three other guns and love them, but I want to try some modifications that may require scrapping a few. Common sense and shallow pockets dictate a less expensive option. All info. is appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technetium-99m Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Ed Brown makes a nice wide ambi safety. They make them in blued and SS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dover0020 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Swenson safeties are wide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosshooter00 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Of the two safety companies mentioned above, one of them was "the bag" I was talking about. I'm looking for a manufacturer with a thumb pad about half an inch wide. The SVIs should be advertised as huge, if all the other "wides" are half as wide as theirs. Gotta be some company out there or at least a guy in a garage with more talent than I, who's making super wide safeties. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OperationHitFactor Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I also like the Ed Brown, not as wide as the extra wide SV, but still pretty wide. The Swenson is nice too, and even nicer if you suffer from thumb drag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosshooter00 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 I also like the Ed Brown, not as wide as the extra wide SV, but still pretty wide. The Swenson is nice too, and even nicer if you suffer from thumb drag. I've tried the Swensons and my thumb is so long it's uncomfortable with the shield and all. The end of my thumb doesn't touch the safety, the lower part of the thumb by the web is what actually sits on the rest. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OperationHitFactor Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Dude how big are your hands I thought I had big hands. Take a pic Anyways, JV Dynamics does a custom one that is very wide. Since it's custom, it probably won't be cheap. I think at this point the SV is your best choice. You can also do a Thumb guard, I think Brazos sells them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 King's is pretty wide on the driver's side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 The King's wide is out of production along with most of their parts line up, SV is the only current wide paddle available. After that it is custom made, by varies gunsmiths. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 (edited) With all the aftermarket parts available now it would seem like there would be more manufacturers of wide or over sized safeties, and by wide I mean more than 1/4 inch. Its easy to remove material, but it is a hassle to add it to the safety's paddle. If the paddles were over sized it would be easy to profile it to whatever shape fits that ginormusly huge hand and thumb the best. I'm getting together a new gun and struck out finding a big off the shelf one also and had to get a friend TIG weld up the stock Caspian safety on the left paddle to about .45 wide. Still need to profile and serrate it at 30 lpi. Edited June 19, 2012 by Bamboo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PINMAN44 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I think Les Baer has one that is super wide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosshooter00 Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 With all the aftermarket parts available now it would seem like there would be more manufacturers of wide or over sized safeties, and by wide I mean more than 1/4 inch. Its easy to remove material, but it is a hassle to add it to the safety's paddle. If the paddles were over sized it would be easy to profile it to whatever shape fits that ginormusly huge hand and thumb the best. I'm getting together a new gun and struck out finding a big off the shelf one also and had to get a friend TIG weld up the stock Caspian safety on the left paddle to about .45 wide. Still need to profile and serrate it at 30 lpi. I would have to agree with you, seems there is a shortage of truly wide safeties in our sport. I have looked everywhere, posted everywhere, and talked to guys that were around when USPSA and IDPA were pups, same names, same stories, this company used to, that guy had them, to no avail. Guess I'll have to score a handful of the anorexic "wides" and learn to TIG weld. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 A couple of pics of the in-process thumb safety. It's for a caspian, so the selection of aftermarket parts is limited. the one on the right is the stock caspian size, the middle is the unfinished welded up one for a new gun, and on the left is one from a current Caspian that was welded up. The casting material has junk in it, so it is a challenge to weld clean. Got a few pinholes, but think that serrations will make them less obvious. Having humongous thumbs is a curse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z40acp Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I bought some Les Baer's a couple of years ago. The left pad was larger than Ed Browns but the right side was more the tactical size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz-0 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I also like the Ed Brown, not as wide as the extra wide SV, but still pretty wide. The Swenson is nice too, and even nicer if you suffer from thumb drag. I've tried the Swensons and my thumb is so long it's uncomfortable with the shield and all. The end of my thumb doesn't touch the safety, the lower part of the thumb by the web is what actually sits on the rest. Thanks I have a similar problem. I like the Wilson high wide ambi safeties. They are cut at an angle and don't dig into your thumb/web. At least for me. Don't know if they are as wide as the svi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosshooter00 Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 I also like the Ed Brown, not as wide as the extra wide SV, but still pretty wide. The Swenson is nice too, and even nicer if you suffer from thumb drag. I've tried the Swensons and my thumb is so long it's uncomfortable with the shield and all. The end of my thumb doesn't touch the safety, the lower part of the thumb by the web is what actually sits on the rest. Thanks I have a similar problem. I like the Wilson high wide ambi safeties. They are cut at an angle and don't dig into your thumb/web. At least for me. Don't know if they are as wide as the svi. The Wilson's are not nearly as wide as the SV's. Started this post hoping someone else out there might have something similar. Thanks for all the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Here is the welded up wide safety from my post above after some serration and profiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosshooter00 Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Here is the welded up wide safety from my post above after some serration and profiling. Looks good. How's the fit and feel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Feels good and solid under the thumb and fits my weak hand and strong hand grip well. The upper surface was elevated just a little for some added clearance between the high riding thumb and the supporting hand thumb. The gun in the pic is an old caspian with the ignition group guts removed and only the grip safety installed so I could check the feel of the thumb safety as I was shaping it. This is just the rough cut and hasn't been fit to any gun yet. Next step is to ship to the pistol smith who is actually building the new gun, he will finish the job with final fitting and surface prepping prior to bluing. It seems like a little thing, but I find that if I can get a good grip and keep my thumbs relaxed and positioned well (not fighting to hang on) my natural point of aim is greatly improved which helps my times...so to me it is worth the effort to get a nice comfy place for my thumb to hang out while while I'm shooting a stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosshooter00 Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Bamboo, I agree that you have to have a comfortable place to set the thumb for overall improved grip. I broke down and got two more SVI wides, but am very interested in hearing more on yours. Would like to see pics of the finished product and hear how it feels. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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