ncrivello Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Hi guys, Anybody know the weight of an ambi thumb safety vs a standard thumb safety? Have a SA RO 9mm that I'm working with for Single Stack minor. It's currently at 42.6oz with magazine according to my $12 amazon scale... A local SS guy suggested a wider thumb safety as being beneficial, I figured that if I'm going to replace it why not get an ambi? How much more do they weigh? I was looking at the EGW or Ed Brown ambi's since they appear to be of the 'wide' design. The gun currently has a full length guide rod, aluminum Dawson ICE magwell, and the factory wood grips. I need to decide whether to get some VZ grips and hollow them out, or some magpul TSP's.. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I believe the weight limit for SS is 43ozs. Mine has a Wilson ambi But I saved weight with grips, aluminum msh, GI guide rod etc to make weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echotango Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) I am in the same boat. My RO is also at 42.6 with the same part except a tungsten gr and magpul grips with silicon carbide. I had the slide tri-topped also. I would like to get an ambi but the only ones I have to weigh are PT's w/thumb shield on my open guns and they are def heavy. Edited October 30, 2018 by echotango Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) I don't remember how much the difference was, but it was significant, probably enough to put you close to going over limit. Personally, I hate ambi safeties because they break if you take them apart too often, and they make disassembly more complicated. What benefit are you hoping to gain from a wider safety? I personally find that less obtrusive is good for me (and less likely to get accidentally nudged on when reloading), but everyone is different. Edited October 30, 2018 by motosapiens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdp88 Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 The EGW single side wide safety weighs .56 ounces and a Wilson Wide lever ambi safety weighs .88 ounces. I assume the ambi EGW would be almost the same weight, so you should be able to do it and stay under. I would suggest hollowing out some VZ grips to make sure you stay under weight. I wouldn't want to be that close in the event of the match scale being off by a few ounces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 An EGW ambi safety weights 323 grains or .738 ounces. You can easily change weight by removing some metal from the side rear, or by trimming the right lever. So remove your SA safety and weight it. Then you'll know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncrivello Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 Okay, I just took the RO safety out and it's 0.39oz and the wood grips are 1.52oz. The Magpul TSP grips are supposed to be 1.1oz and the VZ grips are ~2.0oz before hogging them out. If the EGW ambi is .738oz as zzt suggests then by going with the Magpul grips the net weight would come out to ~42.55oz. Wonder how much the VZ grips weigh after hogging them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncrivello Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 3 hours ago, motosapiens said: I don't remember how much the difference was, but it was significant, probably enough to put you close to going over limit. Personally, I hate ambi safeties because they break if you take them apart too often, and they make disassembly more complicated. What benefit are you hoping to gain from a wider safety? I personally find that less obtrusive is good for me (and less likely to get accidentally nudged on when reloading), but everyone is different. The thought I had was that as a thumb grip platform, bigger would be better in terms of stability when gripping and manipulating the gun? Also those rare weak hand shots would benefit as well. What about just a wider standard/left side safety? Certainly cheaper and simpler... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodonpaper Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I run SV safeties on my limited guns, they’re pretty wide on the left side. It definitely helps lock in the web of my hand to the beaver tail and stands the gun up a little to help grab the grip on table starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdp88 Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I sent Wilson an email asking about the weight difference between the single and ambi safety weight. They said that they took a single wide, ambi wide, and a tactical ambi and they all weighed .5 ounces. It looks like I was incorrect and it should be little to weight difference. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 3 hours ago, ncrivello said: The thought I had was that as a thumb grip platform, bigger would be better in terms of stability when gripping and manipulating the gun? Also those rare weak hand shots would benefit as well. Alot of smart people have found that putting any pressure on the safety when shooting causes problems. Others have not found that, so your mileage may vary. I'm only an M in limited and SS, but I'm better than average at SHO/WHO shooting, and when shooting single-handed I put my thumb underneath the safety after clicking it off. It gives me more consistent recoil control and less movement of the gun as i press the trigger. At any rate, good luck sorting all this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncrivello Posted November 7, 2018 Author Share Posted November 7, 2018 Update: Weight of Magpul TSP grips is 0.95oz for the pair vs the 1.52oz of the OEM wood grips. Gun is now 42.04oz with magazine. Should I get that tungsten guide rod now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echotango Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 On 11/6/2018 at 6:57 PM, ncrivello said: Update: Weight of Magpul TSP grips is 0.95oz for the pair vs the 1.52oz of the OEM wood grips. Gun is now 42.04oz with magazine. Should I get that tungsten guide rod now? A full length guide rod is 1.5oz and a tungsten is 3oz. It will put you over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncrivello Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 Another data point for this thread- I was intrigued by the Techwell PosiTec grips and decided to give them a shot. They came in at 1.54oz instead of the advertised 1.75oz. Very happy with them, more aggressive texture than the Magpul TSP, and the ergo shape feels really nice. They are also ~0.25" wider. Gun is back up to 42.57oz. I need to replace the upper grip bushings; is the Challis bushing extractor the way to go? The $30 price tag gave me pause.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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