Help! New mainspring housing makes grip safety not work!

[irq23]

I recently bought a V-grip MSH from wilson (link) (http://www.wilsoncombat.com/a_mag_wells_vgrip_mainspring.asp). I tried to install it and it is an overly tight fit. Also when I got the pistol together the hammer would fall when the trigger was pressed, even if the grip safety was not depressed. I reinstalled the original flat MSH and the pistol is now functioning as intended, though the hammer seems to not be as "smooth" when I thumb cock it. It feels almost gritty. So my questions are:

1) What did I ruin?
2) How did I ruin it, and how do I fix it?
3) How do I fit the new MSH?
4) I think I might have bent the sear spring slightly, If I did what is involved in replacing it? Will it ruin my tigger job?
5) could I have roughed up the mainspring cap? Maybe that is causing the gritty hammer as the spur is not interacting with a smooth surface....

[John]

First of all, if the MSH was an over-tight fit, that's not good, you have to file it a little (or use some sand paper) so that it can slip in and out easily (well, relatively speaking).

Second, the fact that the trigger didn't release the hammer means probably that your grip safety was not releasing. Am I correct in that? Were you depressing the grip safety and the hammer didn't fall? Or it could be that the inside of the MSH is rough and the spring/cap binds somewhere and doesn't put any pressure on the hammer strut to drop the hammer. Did you check if the cap, spring fall inside the MSH freely?

The hammer strut should be placed right in the middle of the MSH cap, with a drop of oil applied there. It shouldn't contribute to any harshness on the hammer move, unless you have managed to bend the hammer strut which is now rubbing on the grip safety. Check the cap, check the hammer strut and come back to me.

[irq23]

First of all, if the MSH was an over-tight fit, that's not good, you have to file it a little (or use some sand paper) so that it can slip in and out easily (well, relatively speaking).

Second, the fact that the trigger didn't release the hammer means probably that your grip safety was not releasing. Am I correct in that? Were you depressing the grip safety and the hammer didn't fall? Or it could be that the inside of the MSH is rough and the spring/cap binds somewhere and doesn't put any pressure on the hammer strut to drop the hammer. Did you check if the cap, spring fall inside the MSH freely?

The hammer strut should be placed right in the middle of the MSH cap, with a drop of oil applied there. It shouldn't contribute to any harshness on the hammer move, unless you have managed to bend the hammer strut which is now rubbing on the grip safety. Check the cap, check the hammer strut and come back to me.

No, the hammer will drop even if I am not depresseing the grip safety. Sorry for the confusion. What grit sand paper do you reccommend for fitting?

[irq23]

Mainspring cap will drop in and move all the way to the bottom on its own. If turned upside down it falls all the way down the tube until the end where if i tap or shake it falls free.

The V-grip MSH I am trying to install slides freely all the way in until the holes almost line up. I have to give it a couple smacks with a plastic mallet before I can seat the pin however. The pressure from the hammer strut feel identical, and when both MSH's are fully seated they look like they reach the same point in the frame.

It feels like the beavertail is not coming all the way out. If I press up from the bottom of the beaver tail (making the beaver tail safety further engage) it feels like it more positively blocks the rearward path of the trigger.

I am stumped.

[niemi24s]

The big clue here is that the V-Grip MSH will not slide up far enough for the retaining pin holes to align - unless you rap on it with a hammer. I assume your original MSH went up far enough, and that the hammer was fully forward and touching the receiver when installing the new MSH.

Methinks you have some interference twixt the MSH & grip safety. Coat the possible culprit areas with layout dye, magic marker or sight black and reassemble to find the problem area. The only area where they should make contact is the surfaces that limit the aftward travel of the bottom of the grip safety.

[Dave Berryhill]

First, remove the grip safety and do any fitting of the MSH if necessary. Once you push the MSH all the way into the frame and remove it a few times, you should see some scratches or shiny spots where the fit is tight. If necessary, coat the sides with a permanent marking pen first. The felt pen will rub off and make the shiny spots easier to see. Look closely at the sides of the MSH and on the rails of it. Take a stroke or two in these areas with a fine file, recoat it with the marking pen and retry it in the frame. Keep repeating this until it fits to your satisfaction.

While you have the pistol apart, look at the top of the MSH and the bottom of the grip safety. The MSH has a small shoulder at the top and the grip safety has 2 small tabs on the bottom of the portion that you grip. When working properly, the grip safety will swing out until the rear surface of those 2 tabs makes contact with the shoulder on top of the MSH. This is what keeps the grip safety from swinging all the way out of the frame.

The bottom of those tabs on the grip safety shouldn't make contact with the top of the MSH. Also, the top of the shoulder on the MSH shouldn't contact the bottom of the grip safety. There needs to be some clearance in both of these areas or the grip safety will not be able to pivot. I suspect that this is the problem with your pistol. Once again you can get out your making pen. Coat the bottom of the grip safety and the top of the MSH, put it together, take it apart and look for the shiny area(s) where they are making contact. You can file a little off the bottom of the tabs on the grip safety, some off the top of the MSH or both. File a little, test fit and remove some more if necessary. If you file the top of the MSH, make sure you take it apart and clean any chips out when you are done.

Does this make sense?

[irq23]

The big clue here is that the V-Grip MSH will not slide up far enough for the retaining pin holes to align - unless you rap on it with a hammer. I assume your original MSH went up far enough, and that the hammer was fully forward and touching the receiver when installing the new MSH.

Methinks you have some interference twixt the MSH & grip safety. Coat the possible culprit areas with layout dye, magic marker or sight black and reassemble to find the problem area. The only area where they should make contact is the surfaces that limit the aftward travel of the bottom of the grip safety.
Just to let you know, if I install the MSH first without the grip safety I still have to give it a good rap to seat the MSH pin. It almost lines up by hand, it looks like its about .01 or so inches off. I dont know if that matters or not. I think you are right about the MSH and the beavertail inter fearing with each other I will give it a try.

[niemi24s]

Another clue - hot diggity! Without the grip safety, hammer & hammer strut, the MSH should be an easy slip fit in the receiver, going up until the holes align. You may possibly have 2 fit problems with the new MSH: MSH-to-receiver; MSH-to-grip safety.

Follow Dave B's advise to fit the MSH to the receiver first (also checking around the retaining pin holes for burs), then tackle the fitting of the MSH to the grip safety.

Not that it matters, but what kind (manufacturer) of receiver and grip safety do you have? Regards