Pinned grip safety

[Bmans45]

Ok so I bought a used STI  .40 Tactical for limited. It’s a nice gun . I tore it down to change springs and give it a good cleaning and oil change . It has a pinned grip safety. I have been shooting and it runs great and I understand the safety is pinned for compitention  . My question is this pretty normal and how much does it actually help? 

[Rnlinebacker]

Ok so I bought a used STI  .40 Tactical for limited. It’s a nice gun . I tore it down to change springs and give it a good cleaning and oil change . It has a pinned grip safety. I have been shooting and it runs great and I understand the safety is pinned for compitention  . My question is this pretty normal and how much does it actually help? 

you don't have to engage for trigger to go bang. way better this way

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[36873687]

After my first match yrs ago with a 2011 that’s first thing I did. I was getting up so high that I wasn’t engaging the safety 

[yigal]

if thumb safety works properly , grip safety will not be necessary  for this type of gun.

and  it's my opinion only. 

[Salsantini]

I find that I am a bit slower with a 2011/1911 that does not have a pinned safety. My limited gun does have the safety pinned.  All my other 1911's do not.

 

[IHAVEGAS]

10 hours ago, Bmans45 said:

My question is this pretty normal and how much does it actually help? 

 

Lots of people do it, I thought of the grip safety as being a useful device that told me if I ever allowed my grip to be way off what it needed to be. 

 

There was a fatality a year or two back where a very experienced shooter bobbled his open gun during a stage and shot himself in the process of attempting to regrip it. I wondered if that gun was pinned and if the grip safety might have saved him. 

[Bmans45]

11 minutes ago, IHAVEGAS said:

 

Lots of people do it, I thought of the grip safety as being a useful device that told me if I ever allowed my grip to be way off what it needed to be. 

 

There was a fatality a year or two back where a very experienced shooter bobbled his open gun during a stage and shot himself in the process of attempting to regrip it. I wondered if that gun was pinned and if the grip safety might have saved him. 

 

Thats what scares me . I have shot 1911s for years and never had an issue with the grip safety. Maybe because that’s what I carry and I am just really comfortable with them . I may take it out just for safety’s sake .  

[rojo1911]

I have all mine pinned... I didn't hear about that fatality, that is scary

[Hi-Power Jack]

I was shooting a major match few years ago, and the first targets were right under me -

 

but behind a barricade - I had to hold the gun up, and point it almost straight down,

 

for some reason, when I pointed the gun almost straight down, however I was gripping

 

the 2011, I wasn't engaging the grip safety and took me a couple seconds to realize

 

it was my grip that prevented the gun from going bang     

 

If my safety had been pinned, I wouldn't have had that problem and might have

come in 2nd last instead of dead last on that stage      

[IHAVEGAS]

37 minutes ago, rojo1911 said:

I have all mine pinned... I didn't hear about that fatality, that is scary

 

https://infotel.ca/newsitem/man-accidentally-shot-himself-during-pistol-competition-in-kamloops-dies-in-hospital/it43336

 

You can find more details elsewhere if you google it I imagine. I do not know if a grip safety would have made any difference, just something I wondered about. As of now I shoot a Tanfo in production with about a 2.25 # single action trigger, so after the initial double action shot I'm basically the same as shooting a 1911/2011 with a pinned grip safety. 

[Dranoel]

Most shooters pin it to ensure it doesn't interfere with the trigger if they don't get a proper grip. Some say that they can get higher grip with it pinned but if it's pinned the beavertail is still going to be lower than if the grip safety was let out. Sorta nullifies the higher grip. I learned to get my grip right and consistent out of the holster so my grip safety was never an issue.

[zzt]

I have normal GSs on all my 1911s.  I've never had a problem with them.  Same for my 2011 Open guns.  Some games and venues do not allow disabling any safety device.  That being said, I used a Cheely e2 grip on the 2011 I just built.  It comes with a pinned safety.  I like it very much.  What I like most is there is no 'memory bump' at the bottom.  It is very comfortable.  I liked it so much I ordered another Cheely GS and fitted it to the 1911 steel gun I'm just finishing.

[Dranoel]

2 hours ago, IHAVEGAS said:

 

https://infotel.ca/newsitem/man-accidentally-shot-himself-during-pistol-competition-in-kamloops-dies-in-hospital/it43336

 

You can find more details elsewhere if you google it I imagine. I do not know if a grip safety would have made any difference, just something I wondered about. As of now I shoot a Tanfo in production with about a 2.25 # single action trigger, so after the initial double action shot I'm basically the same as shooting a 1911/2011 with a pinned grip safety. 

 

Article doesn't say what type of gun it was but indicates he "lost control" of it. I can only speculate, but if it was a 1911, only way I can see it accidentally going off is if he tripped and fell on it with his finger on the trigger. Even then the angle his wrist had to be at to shoot himself in the torso would have been unlikely. Instinct would made him turn the gun away from himself or toss it away. 

[rojo1911]

2 hours ago, IHAVEGAS said:

 

https://infotel.ca/newsitem/man-accidentally-shot-himself-during-pistol-competition-in-kamloops-dies-in-hospital/it43336

 

You can find more details elsewhere if you google it I imagine. I do not know if a grip safety would have made any difference, just something I wondered about. As of now I shoot a Tanfo in production with about a 2.25 # single action trigger, so after the initial double action shot I'm basically the same as shooting a 1911/2011 with a pinned grip safety. 

Wow.... Eye opening to say the least. Thanks for the link, always a good reminder why we take the rules and safety so seriously.

[IHAVEGAS]

1 hour ago, Dranoel said:

 

Article doesn't say what type of gun it was but indicates he "lost control" of it. I can only speculate, but if it was a 1911, only way I can see it accidentally going off is if he tripped and fell on it with his finger on the trigger. 

 

People lose control of guns by catching them on ports (TGO dq'd like this at the single stack nationals a few years back, in that case the gun dropped to the ground) and walls also, and likely by other means that I'm not aware of.  Not sure what happened in this case. 

 

It is worth reading the definition of "Dropped gun" in appendix A3 of the USPSA rule book. Evidently loss of control has happened often enough that the rules committee thought it necessary to define it and insure it was included as an unsafe gun handling dq. The definition mentions guns trapped against the body or caught in mid air, which is not fun to think about. 

[dansedgli]

It is not hard to tune a grip safety so it deactivates with the smallest amount of movement and retains its safety feature. 

 

I do that rather than pin it. 

[Dranoel]

3 hours ago, dansedgli said:

It is not hard to tune a grip safety so it deactivates with the smallest amount of movement and retains its safety feature. 

 

I do that rather than pin it. 

 

Agreed.

 

My grip safeties are lighter than my trigger pull and still work just fine.

[Unregistered]

5 hours ago, Dranoel said:

 

Article doesn't say what type of gun it was but indicates he "lost control" of it. I can only speculate, but if it was a 1911, only way I can see it accidentally going off is if he tripped and fell on it with his finger on the trigger. Even then the angle his wrist had to be at to shoot himself in the torso would have been unlikely. Instinct would made him turn the gun away from himself or toss it away. 

 

The shooter was opening a "trapdoor" style port that has the handle on the bottom and hinge on the top. It knocked the gun out of his hand, and he unfortunately attempted to catch it.

 

A falling knife is all blade. A falling gun is all trigger...

 

Really unfortunate situation.

[Joe4d]

my 2011/ Para and 1911's grip safeties work,, they are dressed a bit but work,, never had an issue.. also why I carry Springfield XDM's for social and critter encounters. 

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by Joe4d

[Hi-Power Jack]

14 hours ago, dansedgli said:

  tune a grip safety to deactivate with a small movement and retains its safety feature. 

 

Great stuff.   The best of both worlds.   Wish I had thought of this approach - thanks for sharing .     

[IHAVEGAS]

10 hours ago, Unregistered said:

 

Really unfortunate situation.

 

Thank you for the explanation.

 

Sometimes knowing how a bad thing happened can help someone prevent a problem in the future. 

[Postal Bob]

21 hours ago, dansedgli said:

It is not hard to tune a grip safety so it deactivates with the smallest amount of movement and retains its safety feature. 

 

I do that rather than pin it. 

Exactly what I've done with all my competition guns, and especially my carry guns to a lesser degree. Was necessary on my carry guns, because if I drew the gun and disengaged thumb safety, and attempted to shoot it one handed, my smaller hand wouldn't always disengage the grip safety, especially on the more compact 1911's. A potentially deadly scenario in a defensive shoot. Still plenty of movement required for the grip safety to disengage, but enough where it'll always disengage shooting one handed.

Of course on my competition guns, the smallest of movement will disengage the grip safety.

 

This video I found explained the procedure very well for tuning the grip safety. 

 

[jessesmith121]

Only flaw in a perfect design

[Novagunner]

I like having the grip safety deactivated.  #1 safety = booger picker. Even though this sport has regulations to maximize safety,  accidents do happen.