taking out the series 80 safety on a 1911

[Spray_N_Prey]

If a single stack 1911 has a plunger safety(series80) and it's taken out, is this gun still competition legal?

Thanks,

Shawn G.

[Steve J]

There's no prohibition in USPSA "Single Stack" Division against disabling the firing pin block safety or the grip safety for that matter. The thumb safety (sear block safety) on the other hand is critical to the safe manipulation of the handgun. It must function 100%. The S80 firing pin block safety is basically an unnecessary lawyer part. It doesn't do anything that an extra power firing pin spring wouldn't do.

Edited to add: if you want the best possible trigger pull on a Series 80 Colt, don't just remove the plunger. Remove the levers too and replace them with one of these. Polish it slick before you put it in. Frame Slot Blank

Edited December 31, 2009 by Steve J

[chirpy]

I have 2 Para P14's. One with and one without the Series 80 stuff. Both triggers are match grade. I see no reason to have the S80 stuff so take it out and have fun.

Be Safe.

Richard

[RickB]

The S80 firing pin block safety is basically an unnecessary lawyer part. It doesn't do anything that an extra power firing pin spring wouldn't do.

Frame Slot Blank

That's more than a little OTT. The firing pin block mechanically prevents the firing pin from moving, absent a pull of the trigger, regardless of why or how a blow is applied to the firing pin. Whether such extra safeguards are necessary can be debated, but S80 certainly provides a level of "safety" that cannot be accomplished with a spring. I have a number of S80 Colts, and all but one have the firing pin block bits removed; I did back-to-back tests, with bits in and with them removed, and since they were in and active when I decided I couldn't tell the difference, they were left in. The S80 plunger spring adds four ounces to the pull weight. Anyone who says S80 triggers are necessarily bad, are difficult to improve, etc., doesn't know what they're talking about. But, again, whether such "belt and suspenders" safety systems are necessary is certaily an open topic.

[Steve J]

Using the muzzle drop test as the criterion, an EP firing pin spring does accomplish the same thing, and the muzzle drop test was the reason the thing was installed to begin with.

There's more than one master pistolsmith who has different criteria for S80 trigger jobs as opposed to S70 trigger jobs (e.g. guaranteed weight, price for work, etc.). I suppose it's possible they don't know what they're talking about, but I doubt it.

[Spray_N_Prey]

now no fighting boys, hehehe

I was just worried that my new gun wasn't going to be "legel" and it was bothering me. I am glad it's ok and the trigger does feel much lighter.

Happy new years all....

[ParaGunner]

Definitely take the S80 out and use the spacer,I even polished the side of the spacer that rubs the sear and hammer. I lost about 12oz of my trigger pull weight.

[Spray_N_Prey]

Definitely take the S80 out and use the spacer,I even polished the side of the spacer that rubs the sear and hammer. I lost about 12oz of my trigger pull weight.

what spacer? my gunsmith took out 2 pieces that were attached to the hammer (somewhere in there) and the plunger and spring.

[ParaGunner]

Take out the 2 levers that are beside the hammer and sear and replace them with a spacer that fills in the series80 cutout in the frame. You should be able to see the spacer without taking the frame apart,it's right next to where the disconnector comes out of the frame. Without the spacer the sear and hameer can move side to side. My spacer I put in is thicker(even after polishing the spacer) than the 2 levers that was in there.

[Steve J]

Definitely take the S80 out and use the spacer,I even polished the side of the spacer that rubs the sear and hammer. I lost about 12oz of my trigger pull weight.

what spacer? my gunsmith took out 2 pieces that were attached to the hammer (somewhere in there) and the plunger and spring.

See the link in my post for the spacer from Brownells. It's cheap and worthwhile.

[RickB]

If removing the S80 bits reduced the trigger pull weight by 12 ounces, there was something very wrong with the gun from the start. The plunger spring adds four ounces, and the extra friction of the levers might add an ounce more. The problem with doing a S80 trigger job is retiming the levers so that there is sufficient lift to ensure the plunger clears the firing pin even if pretravel and overtravel are reduced. The extra friction of the levers can also be perceived as creep, if the levers aren't properly prepped. It does require some additional work, and 'smiths are justified in charging for it, but the whole "S80 ruins the trigger" wives tale is just that.

[Mikethor]

I have a series 80 colt gold cup and the gunsmith has just put in a new egw disconnector, egw hard sear and Koenig low mass hammer.

He removed those little levers to the right of the hammer and made a spacer up to fit. Trouble is the hammer now follows and if you release the slide the hammer will also follow as will any rds in magazine.

My theory is this is because the spacer that was made up was not thick enough ?

Am I on the right track here and which thickness t js spacer from brownells or wherever is required to solve this problem.

The made up one does not fill the entire gap and I'm sure this is why these problems are occurring. Thanks for any help.

[DWFAN]

Might just need more pressure on the sear spring, might be another issue. I would take it to a gunsmith (potentially a different one) to properly diagnose the issue.

[Mikethor]

Sorry forget to mention have already tweaked the sear spring from one extreme to the other and it made no difference either way.

Did same with disconnector and made no difference at all to the original problem.