Help with thumb safety

[stefanosg]

I have an SA 1911 in 9mm. I am trying to remove the thumb safety, but it will not come out. It is ambi and has the little tang that slips under the right grip. That comes out easily. The other side will not and I am reluctant to force or pry it. Any suggestions. I feel there is something I did not move/remove that is keeping me from sliding it out.

[Joshua M. Smith]

Stupid question:

Do you have the hammer cocked?

[stefanosg]

Yes the hammer is cocked. I also have the mainspring housing and leaf spring removed

[Joshua M. Smith]

You need to wiggle it up and down, turning it on and off, until you find the "sweet spot." The left hand (primary) side of the safety is retained by a little tongue in the frame. There is a corresponding groove in the safety that must line up in order to pull it out.

The only way to do this is to pull on it while turning it on and off.

Since you have the right side out, you can put a punch through the safety hole and press while slowly moving the safety up and down to find the spot. There is a very small chance that this could damage the safety's ambi tongue and groove setup though, so I only use it if there's not an alternative.

Clear as mud?

I am reading correctly that you have the right side - the one lefties use - off and out, correct?

[stefanosg]

Yeah I have the lefties side out. It just pulled out nice and clean. I'll give it a go and let you know. Thanks

[stefanosg]

Dam! I feel stupid sometimes. The "sweet spot" you spoke of was like half way between on and off. Thanks again!

[Joshua M. Smith]

Not a problem! It's always good to learn something new.

As long as you're able to learn it, there's no stupidity involved :)

Glad you got 'er.

Josh <><

[John]

Another satisfied customer, thanks to Joshua. :p

[stefanosg]

Amen to that

[Tom]

Stefanosg, did you happen to go through our disassembly instructions on our Technical page? It explains the need to find that "sweet spot" for removing (and reinstalling) the thumb safety.

[stefanosg]

Yeah I think I missed that part. I have already reassembled and checked the lower. This all started when I was given an old 1911 frame. So I decided that I would build a lower for my AA conversion kit. I am short a couple of small parts yet to complete the project, but they will be in soon. I went down the list, but I still missed the sear pin, ejector, and ejector pin. I also lost the hammer strut pin while I was installing it. I was holding it with some hemostats. When they clicked shut, my pin went into the great unknown :butthead: