Do you guys like grip safeties ?

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,106
Honestly I,ve only tried one and so am no expert . You would think a safety like that would be a positive grip locator . I have small hands which might be the issue here . It felt to me that the web in between thumb and index was the main part of contact . While there is proabably a tendon in there somewhere it always felt to me like the stretched skin-web was the main point of contact . It was kinda like I had to press my hand in more to assure nyself of proper contact .
 
NO. I don't. I have been a Browning Hi-Power guy for 40+ years and they just seem to fit my hand better, everyone has a different idea, thats why there are sooo many handguns.

Dick
 
I don't like them, but on the Springfield XD's I don't mind it for some reason.
 
The grip safety on my 1911 suits me just fine, but the BHP feels much more like a natural extension of my hand.
 
none of my knives have grip safeties on them, never saw the need, never had one go off accidentally either; well, mebbe that assegai that bit me last week, but i swear i didn't know it was loaded.
 
It may be that to have my hand too far up on the grip that the rest of the palm isn,t where it is supposed to be . It might just be a question of S:H:S: small hand syndrome . I wonder if S:H:S: is a main reason I am not a fan of most handguns .
 
I suspect that back then Mr. Browning added the grip safety to please the government board in charge of selecting the next sidearm. The 1911 grip safety works perfectly for me (Big palms, medium fingers), but can be pinned if it causes you heartburn...all the other safetys and the disconnector still work. Often overlooked, one must still pull the trigger to make it go off. The big advantage of the 1911 is that it is easy to get a very short, clean breaking trigger pull that remains consistant from shot to shot. Pivoting triggers and long creepy double action pull are anathema. Even a pinned grip safety allows you to safely carry 'cocked and locked'. I have, for years and years, without incident.....:D Other than those where I wanted a loud noise and a neat hole.
 
Steve Poll said:
No.

P226's don't have external safties. Period.
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The 226 doesn't ride in a holster with a pulled hammer over a live round. When it is carried with a live round in the chamber the first shot is usually double action.

The grip safety is there because too many were shooting themselves while trying to pull their guns from the holster. Grip safeties are OK, they are passively on all of the time; it is the other mechanical safeties that are dangerous, because you can never be sure whether they are on or off.

n2s
 
No, I don't like them, but when they are well done, as on a 1911, you don't notice. (unless of course you are fumbling to steady the gun as you are being struck in your home by an intruder and can't quite engage the safety. Anyone try shooting a 1911 without engaging the safety? I could go grab mine but I'm betting that you can hold it in some situations without engaging the safety.)


Attempts to make up for lack of 'thinking' by mechanical means are going to be clumsy and even dangerous at times. The trade off is supposed to be less accidents. I wonder if this is even true?


munk
 
Munk, brother Browning was a genius...proven many times on a wide variety of firearms. Your point about perhaps it being possible to grab the 1911 in such a way that it wouldn't go off has been addressed by Bill Wilson, Ed Brown, Kimber and probably a few others who have added a small raised pad of metal to the last 3/8" of the grip safety, making it virtually impossible to miss depressing the grip safety unless you're grabbing it by the muzzle. These are drop in parts (no fitting, in my experience) other than assuring the new part pivots smoothly. Even though I agree that safety is between the ears, I have not deactivated any of Browning's ....because they work. It was not my intention to sound 'preachey'.....find what works for you and go with it.
 
Kevin the grey said:
It may be that to have my hand too far up on the grip that the rest of the palm isn,t where it is supposed to be . It might just be a question of S:H:S: small hand syndrome . I wonder if S:H:S: is a main reason I am not a fan of most handguns .
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Get a 'smith to put a beavertail safety on it and lighten the spring tension .

Dont pin it. :jerkit:
Tune it.

A custom flat mainspring housing will help you out too, immensely.
 
i did what gringo just said and it worked for me.
Ditto on that. There are also some slimmed grip panels for the 1911..
 
I guess if I were helping design a new handgun, it would not incorporate a grip safety into it.

But, I also have no problem with one if it's already incorporated into something well designed, like what I still consider to be one of my favorite models........... the 1911.

So "my" answer to your question is this.......... I do not have a problem with one already carefully being designed into an exsisting model, but I would also not prefer one be added to a new firearm design.

A kinda yes and no answer ;)
 
Your point about perhaps it being possible to grab the 1911 in such a way that it wouldn't go off has been addressed by Bill Wilson, Ed Brown, Kimber and probably a few others who have added a small raised pad of metal to the last 3/8" of the grip safety, making it virtually impossible to miss depressing the grip safety >>>>>>>>> JN

I didn't think so, even with the standard 1911. It fits me like a glove, and fits practically everyone who picks it up. Browning was a genius. Everything he designed was simple and actually worked. It is the only semi auto centerfire handgun I own. The only one I wanted.


munk
 
i sort of agree with munk, when i got divorced in the states, my (ex)wife got custody of the 6" S&W .357 magnum & i got custody of the .45 mk4 mod70 which i'd picked up when it 1st came out in 1970 & have not needed any other since (it now lives with my brother in law next to the cash register in his shop, where it has already seen off one ex-robber. never mis-fired, never stove-piped, loved hollow points & semi-wadcutters*, never jammed, always put holes in what i aimed at, always requalified me on the quarterly retests & won me my shootin' medal with a big 'E' on it. good gun & i'll get it back when i return home.

i've got medium-large hands and never had a problem with the grip safety, did get a set of them wrap-around checkered rubber grips which helped a lot. got a slightly oversized thumb safety which dropped right in also.....had the commander flavour for a while as well but didn't care at all for it, the govt. model fit under my armpit just as well as the commander, but as an old friend, i knew if my life depended on it, it was there for me. (never had any problem with the grip safety on the commander either, just the rest of it.)

*-shameless plug for Zero Bullets in Cullman, Alabama - if y'all want good accurate & consistant reloads, you need zero ammunition. - they were on one of the roads off our mountain back home......
 
munk said:
Your point about perhaps it being possible to grab the 1911 in such a way that it wouldn't go off has been addressed by Bill Wilson, Ed Brown, Kimber and probably a few others who have added a small raised pad of metal to the last 3/8" of the grip safety, making it virtually impossible to miss depressing the grip safety >>>>>>>>> JN

I didn't think so, even with the standard 1911. It fits me like a glove, and fits practically everyone who picks it up. Browning was a genius. Everything he designed was simple and actually worked. It is the only semi auto centerfire handgun I own. The only one I wanted.


munk
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No man that ever walked, or ever will, will be able to fill Mr. Brownings boots.
Bill Ruger senior was also a genious.. as Mr. Sturm quickly saw.. $$$

His kid is a dolt. ;)
 
All you weapons students, desert rats, book searchers, gun toters, Cops and characters who love hanguns, answer this question if you would be so kind.

Basically, fundamentally, intrinsically,
( I'm hoping you understand what I'm getting at here- no fashion, no current 'tactical jive, no cult, no 'mine looks better than yours so it must be more deadly')

Does not the 1911 still maintain peerage with the best semiauto handguns?
Is there any validity that a Sig 220, or the HK is BETTER than the 1911?

(..the HK the Duck likes so much, I keep hearing some quacking in the distance, almost at the edge of the white noise, the ringing in the ears....damn that Duck)

That the design implementation have improved so much that a entire new leap in productivity and function has been achieved?

I think not, but many would disagree.
I don't agree with all the silly things Jeff Cooper says, but he does say a lot of wise and funny things, and one of them was like the ball peen hammer, the 1911 remains the top tool, very difficult to improve upon.

Browning was a genius. In my munk brain, there are some writers, poets, rock in roll stars, song writer singers, and friends, who are 'heros'. John Browning is also listed in my archives, burned into my organic circuits as a heroic figure. God Bless him. Isn't that crazy? But he was an amazing man. He gave the US government the patent design for the machine gun in WWll, I think gave them the BAR also, though I disremember.


munk
 
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