Unhappy with Beavertail!

[Boomer8404]

Im unhappy with the Wilson Combat Drop In Beavertail Grip safety on my Springfield Armory Micro Compact GI 45. I dont like the tail part on it, its too big and has sharp edges that dig into my hand when I fire. Also, when I reach up with my thumb to hit the safety the sharp edges really ding into my skin. I really want to put the factory grip safety back on, but the thing is that I have a Wilson Combat Commanders style loop hammer on it which I want to keep on so I would have to have a concave recess cut in it to clear the hammer. If I cut the recess myself I cant parkerize it cause I dont have the know how or the stuff to do so. Plus I havent seen anywhere on the net to buy one. Could yall give me some help please? Thanks

[John]

If I remember correctly, the Wilson safety is not parkerized either, right? So why don't you start filing away at the areas which bother you? Bring it to a point that you can shoot the gun without any discomfort and then send the safety to someone to parkerize it for you.

[jeff1124]

+1 to what John said. Do some filing and/or sanding on the areas that bother you, reinstall and check your work, then re park it yourself or have a smith do it!
Good luck!

[Boomer8404]

It is parkerized. Do you know of any good shops off hand that do good reparkerizing for a decent price?

[rondawg]

Any local smith there in El Paso should be able to parkerize it cheap. Just use really fine files and really fine sandpaper/emory cloth to dress the offending edges.

[Joni Lynn]

I agree, if the new grip safety is not to your liking, modify it until it is.

[scott_4x]

you are really not going to get a great fitting saftey unless you fit it while it is on the gun, which means blending the saftey the the frame and visa-versa, so you are going to have to get BOTH refinished if you want a really slick fitting saftey. taking it on and off to fit is not going to result in a very pretty job.

-Scott

[Panama1911]

I agree with the others. Go slow with a file until it fits your liking.

On a side note, I have always wondered why we don't see more stubby modified beavertails. All you really need is the pocket to prevent hammer bite and give a high grip. I've never been a fan of those long, thin, sweeping beavertails. They snag on clothing, and whether or not it happens they just scream "please drop me, so I can bend over your hammer and render your pistol non-functioning".

[Boomer8404]

On a side note, I have always wondered why we don't see more stubby modified beavertails. All you really need is the pocket to prevent hammer bite and give a high grip. I've never been a fan of those long, thin, sweeping beavertails. They snag on clothing, and whether or not it happens they just scream "please drop me, so I can bend over your hammer and render your pistol non-functioning".

See thats my big thing too just as Panama1911 put it. I dont like how big and the sweeping up shape of it, cause it makes it hard to work the hammer. Basically, its too much of a big spoony thing hanging out there. But I found out that theres gonna be a gun show this weekend so Im gonna browse and see if maybe I can find one more to my liking.

[Boomer8404]

Ok so heres my gripes with it. In the picture the areas indicated by the green arrows are really sharp. Which is surprising from a quality stand point because the beavertail is made by Wilson Combat. Now ideally, I would like to have the material outside of the blue lines removed, and the material indicated by the red cut off forming a radius, and have all edges rounded and smoothed.

Or all together just have a small concave radius cut in the factory GI style part. Thing is though, there are three gun stores around here in El Paso that have smiths shops, but none of them do parkerized refinishing.

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/1f9cd6dada.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

[ranburr]

File them down, use a little cold blue on it and don't worry about it. If you have to have parkerizing, just order the correct chemical bath for the color you want. Parkerizing doesn't require any great skill, you can doit yourself.

ranburr

[herd118]

Your photos indicate that you installed the Wilson safety for the Colt Government Model. I suspect that you would be better served with the Wilson Commander Model safety as the tangs on your pistol are much shorter than Government Model length. I suggest you call Wilson combat and obtain the correct model for the Springfield Micro if they make one - there may be some slight dimensional difference in the Colt Commander and Springfield Micro tangs.

[Panama1911]

herd118 is exactly right. Due to the shape of the Springer's tangs you would be better served by the Commander model. I thought you meant the overall dimensions of the safety were bothering you until I saw the picture. King's also makes a drop-in that is a better fit for the SA, but not quite as modern looking as the Wilson.

If you do a nice clean job of notching the factory safety, you honestly can't even see he finish issues when the hammer is cocked. You could always cold-blue it also.

NOTE TO 1911 AFTERMARKET GUYS: Springfield 1911s (especially the GI and MIl-Spec) are extremely popular, and there seems to be a very high demand for a drop-in grip safety that is actually designed for this gun. Not just a Colt part that may or may not work/look horrible.

[wichaka]

No one makes a drop-in beavertail for a Springfield. They have a diferent tang radius, which is why there's so much gap.

[Boomer8404]

Your photos indicate that you installed the Wilson safety for the Colt Government Model. I suspect that you would be better served with the Wilson Commander Model safety as the tangs on your pistol are much shorter than Government Model length. I suggest you call Wilson combat and obtain the correct model for the Springfield Micro if they make one - there may be some slight dimensional difference in the Colt Commander and Springfield Micro tangs.

Well I didnt choose the Beavertail that was installed. The smith at the shop that I took it to to have the work done said that was the one I needed, and that it was the only one they had that would work anyways.

But my woes have been solved. Check out the pic, the two shots on the top are of the Wilson Combat piece, and the bottom shots are of a GI part thats had a concave clearance cut into it and its been reparkerized too. Thats the exact part that I wanted in the first place and I love it. Just enough to quell the hammer bite, and not be a big spoon hanging out, and its really comfortable too.

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/7dace6fa8c.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

[JeepinJ]

No one makes a drop-in beavertail for a Springfield. They have a diferent tang radius, which is why there's so much gap.

I'm pretty sure Smith & Alexander makes a .220 radius beavertail for a SA.

[Farnorth]

I'm pretty sure Smith & Alexander makes a .220 radius beavertail for a SA.

JeepinJ, as stated before S&A does make a .220 radius beavertail but it's not a drop in. You still have to cut the frame tangs for it to fit. Wish there was one, just because I am a little lazy :D . Greg

[Iheart1911]

These guys are correct. The S&A is the correct radius, your gunsmith chose the wrong one.

[Jim Watson]

The reason your Wilson beavertail is uncomfortable is because it was made for a Colt, not a Springfield, and a Springfield is not a faithful copy of a Colt.

There are DIYs for Parkerizing but even the simplest would not be cost effective for one part.

You could put the stock grip safety back on and cut off the bottm lobe of the hammer instead of notching the safety.

You could notch the safety and if you did not scar up the sides, cold blue in the notch would not be very obvious.

[JeepinJ]

JeepinJ, as stated before S&A does make a .220 radius beavertail but it's not a drop in. You still have to cut the frame tangs for it to fit. Wish there was one, just because I am a little lazy :D . Greg

Closest to drop-in I have dealt with. Mine took very little fitting, and was just what I was looking for. I would have liked to added a speed bump to the GI grip safety, but the look of the beavertail is starting to grow on me.

[Ric4509]

Well, the Wilson Drop In Beavertail Grip Safety was made for Colt Models Only. It says that in their website. Another thing and I'm not sure if the fit will be better is to use the drop in for a commander pistol. You bought and installed a drop in GS for a government full size 1911.

[rondawg]

I have a RIA GI model, and put a King's "Wide Grip Safety" on it, which is basically a wider version of a Colt Commander grip safety. The fit and looks of that pig is terrible, but it shoots and doesn't bite my hand anymore. I'll change it out someday.

[kel]

Well I didnt choose the Beavertail that was installed. The smith at the shop that I took it to to have the work done said that was the one I needed, and that it was the only one they had that would work anyways. :butthead:
It doesn't fit... I can't possibly see how it is going to work. I think you are better off using the original grip safety or having something more suitable fitted or crafted if necessary.

Are you sure the hammer is incompatible with the grip safety? I thought the loop hammers work with both and the spur hammers only work with the GI safety.

[tonka]

I agree with Kel- Commander-style hammers ought to work with any grip safety. You shouldn't have any problem there regardless which grip safety you go with. I'm glad you found your answer. Mine was to go with the Winson drop-in on my RIA GI, and to change to an STI spur hammer that was shorter than the GI spur hammer.

Word of caution to those who are faced with this same dilemma; my STI hammer just BARELY misses the hammer cutout in the Wilson BGS when the safety is not depressed properly. When it's done right, the hammer cannot backlash enough to hit the BGS, but it didn't occur to me to check this until I had the pistol fully reassembled. The "speed bump" on the BGS is a good thing in this case.

[Panama1911]

:butthead:
It doesn't fit... I can't possibly see how it is going to work. I think you are better off using the original grip safety or having something more suitable fitted or crafted if necessary.

Are you sure the hammer is incompatible with the grip safety? I thought the loop hammers work with both and the spur hammers only work with the GI safety.

Nope, the GI grip safety must be notched as he did and as Colt now does. It will work with an original 1911(non-A1) GI grip safety. General compatability is as follows:

Spur Hammer (unbobbed) = GI (1911 or A1)grip safety, or notched Commander grip safety.

Commander Hammer = notched Commander safety, non-A1, or beavertail.

Edit: I'm not a Colt expert, so I could be wrong about the original 1911 safety and the original stubby Commander safeties being the same.

[berkbw]

A burr hammer requires a different, or modified GS.

BTW, you might want to look at the one from Sarco. It's not swoopy, and won't present a radius problem. Around $16.
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