De-series '90ing a SW 1911

[jripper]

Has anyone here removed the firing pin safety from a Smith and Wesson 1911 for match use?

Do you need a spacer in the frame next to the hammer as in the Colt/Para?

It doesn't appear to require one, but I was wondering what others have done.

Joel

[mike cyrwus]

If you use an 80 series EGW 38super firing pin, you can bypass the area of the plunger and leave the swartz parts in the gun.

At least this is what I remember doing a few years, ymmv.

[boz1911]

Has anyone here removed the firing pin safety from a Smith and Wesson 1911 for match use?

Do you need a spacer in the frame next to the hammer as in the Colt/Para?

It doesn't appear to require one, but I was wondering what others have done.

Joel

Yes and no. It has to be removed to obtain any type of decent trigger pull.

[boz1911]

Forgot to add, that safety adds about 1 1/2 lbs to the trigger pull weight. All that said, I am not advocating removing any safety from a gun. Flex will likely close this thread.

[jripper]

Forgot to add, that safety adds about 1 1/2 lbs to the trigger pull weight. All that said, I am not advocating removing any safety from a gun. Flex will likely close this thread.

I actually was wondering why it would add 1 1/2 pounds to the trigger? It functions off of the grip safety, and other than being on the hamme pin, it is not related to the trigger/hammer/sear mechanism.

Are you possibly thinking about series 80 colts?

As stated in the original post, this if for match shooting only. I would not do so on a carry gun.

However, I have always had a problem with deactivating 1911 grip safetys, do to the characteristics of my hand, etc.

Sometimes when I shoot this gun, I don't fully de-activate the safety far enough to unlock the firing pin "block" (maybe I should use this term instead of safety )

Anyway, I have removed this without a spacer, and at least so far, it seems to be working fine, altough I have not shot it yet.

Thanks for your input.

Joel

[jripper]

Has anyone here removed the firing pin safety from a Smith and Wesson 1911 for match use?

Do you need a spacer in the frame next to the hammer as in the Colt/Para?

It doesn't appear to require one, but I was wondering what others have done.

Joel

Does this work OK, no mis fires, or any problems?

This would be an easy way to do it, and be able to switch it back to stock configuration quickly.

[jripper]

Has anyone here removed the firing pin safety from a Smith and Wesson 1911 for match use?

Do you need a spacer in the frame next to the hammer as in the Colt/Para?

It doesn't appear to require one, but I was wondering what others have done.

Joel

Does this work OK, no mis fires, or any problems?

This would be an easy way to do it, and be able to switch it back to stock configuration quickly.

Sorry about this, I was meaning to quote the post about using the 38 super firing pin. Oops

[boz1911]

Forgot to add, that safety adds about 1 1/2 lbs to the trigger pull weight. All that said, I am not advocating removing any safety from a gun. Flex will likely close this thread.

I actually was wondering why it would add 1 1/2 pounds to the trigger? It functions off of the grip safety, and other than being on the hamme pin, it is not related to the trigger/hammer/sear mechanism.

Are you possibly thinking about series 80 colts?

As stated in the original post, this if for match shooting only. I would not do so on a carry gun.

However, I have always had a problem with deactivating 1911 grip safetys, do to the characteristics of my hand, etc.

Sometimes when I shoot this gun, I don't fully de-activate the safety far enough to unlock the firing pin "block" (maybe I should use this term instead of safety )

Anyway, I have removed this without a spacer, and at least so far, it seems to be working fine, altough I have not shot it yet.

Thanks for your input.

Joel

Assuming we have the same setup, I ran a S&W 1911 without the firing pin safety for thousands of rounds with no problem. I don't have the gun in front of me to explain the added poundage on the trigger but I distinctly remember having a 3.5lb pull with the slide off and a 5lb pull with the slide on. removing the safety dropped everything right back to 3.5 lbs.

[mike cyrwus]

The sw1911 uses a swartz type safety which engages off of the grip safety, not the trigger bow.

With all respect, Boz1911, this will add nothing to the trigger pull or feel. I'm positive about this; my final answer.

Ive owned multiple sw1911's, ran them in matches, and am very familiar with them.

I will check the egw pin trick again if youd like, jripper. That being said, the stock FP block has been completely reliable for me for the 20k+ rounds Ive put through them. I currently carry one.

[jripper]

The sw1911 uses a swartz type safety which engages off of the grip safety, not the trigger bow.

With all respect, Boz1911, this will add nothing to the trigger pull or feel. I'm positive about this; my final answer.

Ive owned multiple sw1911's, ran them in matches, and am very familiar with them.

I will check the egw pin trick again if youd like, jripper. That being said, the stock FP block has been completely reliable for me for the 20k+ rounds Ive put through them. I currently carry one.

It did not affect the trigger pull on my gun, either. Thanks for the advise on the EGW pin trick. If you have a chance, and could check it, I'd appreciate it.

I've only put a few hundred through this gun, and and can remeber a couple of times it went "Click", and did not fire. I'm sure it was the firing pin "Block". In fact, when I took it out, I noticed some peening on the edge, which I'm sure is from not have it fully depressed. I've always had trouble with deactivating 1911 grip safetys anyway, and have all mine either deactivated, or extremely sensitive.

For now, I'll leave the block out, but I may try the EGW pin in the future.

Trying to get this up and running for the SS Nationals.

Last year, Smith showed up with 4 guns to give away randomly for anyone shooting a SW1911, and mine was sitting at home in the safe. I think that something like only 6 people signed up as shooting SW. That is pretty good odds of winning a gun. Better than I will probably have at winning B class anyway

Thanks

Joel

[mike cyrwus]

It did not affect the trigger pull on my gun, either. Thanks for the advise on the EGW pin trick. If you have a chance, and could check it, I'd appreciate it.

Ill do so.

[JohnRodriguez]

You can remove the firing pin safety from a SW without needing any special parts or spacers. just drift out the rear sight to remove the plunger and spring and do not put ing he grip safety plunger. I'm going to be replacing my FP safey in my 1911, since i have developed a bad case of the AD's. I'll run it till I can train my finger to stay away fromt he trigger during a reload.

[adweisbe]

I am going to give my take on it.

I am not sure that you can simply remove the plunger in the slide because the lever in the frame might catch the empty hole.

I don't think you can remove the lever and the plunger because you will create slop for the hammer on the hammer pin.

The lever should not affect the trigger pull. The Swartz style safety used by S&W does not interact with the trigger or sear.

If I were to do it I would remove the plunger from the slide and cut the lever on the frame so it can't catch on the hole in the slide and it can still act as a spacer to remove any slop around the hammer. You can buy replacement levers from MidwayUSA (I have) so that you can still go back if necessary. Another valid approach would be to file the plunger so that it non longer engages the firing pin in any position. I think you can get replacement plungers from MidwayUSA. I use bicycle tire on the grip safety because it kills two birds with one stone.

[jripper]

I am going to give my take on it.

I am not sure that you can simply remove the plunger in the slide because the lever in the frame might catch the empty hole.

I don't think you can remove the lever and the plunger because you will create slop for the hammer on the hammer pin.

The lever should not affect the trigger pull. The Swartz style safety used by S&W does not interact with the trigger or sear.

If I were to do it I would remove the plunger from the slide and cut the lever on the frame so it can't catch on the hole in the slide and it can still act as a spacer to remove any slop around the hammer. You can buy replacement levers from MidwayUSA (I have) so that you can still go back if necessary. Another valid approach would be to file the plunger so that it non longer engages the firing pin in any position. I think you can get replacement plungers from MidwayUSA. I use bicycle tire on the grip safety because it kills two birds with one stone.

I was thinking that the lever might catch the plunger hole.

I have played around with it both ways, with the lever in, and out, and can not find any noticeable difference. Preliminary test firing went fine (only about 40 rounds through it, it's 18 degrees here )

It looks like the way the frame is made, the hammer is still against a substantial part of the frame. Not as signficant cut out as on a series 80 gun.

But, I am just speculating. I had also thought about cutting the lever off, and leaving it in the frame.

I'll see how things go without it.

So far, so good.

Thanks

Joel