King's Safety Fit - Here's a Puzzle for You

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

In all the fitting of safeties I did over the past year or so, only the King's caused any trouble: It rotated up and past the pad on the sear.

I put it back on to take some pics. Please ignore the dents on the stud; I was seeing if I could knock it into place a bit.

As well, when the plunger makes solid contact with the dimple, the stud has not yet come to rest on the frame.

All my other safeties do just fine in this regard.

I'm wondering if I got an out-of-spec part with the stud up to high - though if they're all cast from the same mold, I don't see how there could be this much variation.

It's compared to a Wilson's safety in the pictures; the Wilson is representative of how the other safeties I tried fit.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/th_Kings-1.jpg (http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/?action=view&current=Kings-1.jpg)
The King's rides up and over the sear pad...

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/th_Wilsonsafety.jpg (http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/?action=view&current=Wilsonsafety.jpg)
... while the Wilson's (and others) make perfect contact after fitting.

I do not understand why the stud on the King's seems to be up higher than the others.

Again, yes, the King's is bashed up. I was attempting to move enough metal to get firm contact on the sear's pad. I only did this because the King's came with a statement of no warranty, was sold as-is, and I didn't figure on returning the thing.

But given that it ran $75, I'd like to get it working.

Any help? Or does it appear from the photos and my description that it is, indeed, out of spec?

Thanks,

Josh <><

[log man]

Don't know which one of King's that is , but recently had a funny and educational experience with a friends Springfield and a King's 201-A ambi. This gun with this safety in the hands of the owner would hammer follow after every shot. In my hands and those of another friend it was fine and we realized that the owner unlike us was shooting with his thumb under the safety and we where using the high thumb hold. So I investigated and found much to our amusement that if when you pulled the slide back by hand and pushed up on the safety while the hammer was being cocked it would follow. On further examination a crease made by the sear could be seen in the clearance recess of the lug and I also noticed it too went very high on the sear in the safe position. What an over priced poorly executed part this was. I replaced it with an Ed Brown wide ambi which worked correctly. The Kings safety can be saved by welding on the lug, but is so ugly it's hardly worth the effort to improve this poorly designed and executed part.

LOG

[niemi24s]

Or does it appear from the photos and my description that it is, indeed, out of spec? Can't really tell from your tiny pix, but from your verbal description there certainly seems to be something wrong with the Kings safety.

Was going to suggest a look at the blueprint to see what was wrong (if it would really help out), but the only easy measurement on those things is the pin diameter. Most everything else would be nightmare without a Coordinate Measuring Machine!

Maybe a call to Kings Gun Works (with a real sad tone of voice) would get you a free replacement - not that it'd be better than the one you got. At least most consciencious manufacturers welcome calls about problems with their products. Might be worth the cost of the call.

Cheers

[Joshua M. Smith]

Don't know which one of King's that is , but recently had a funny and educational experience with a friends Springfield and a King's 201-A ambi. This gun with this safety in the hands of the owner would hammer follow after every shot. In my hands and those of another friend it was fine and we realized that the owner unlike us was shooting with his thumb under the safety and we where using the high thumb hold. So I investigated and found much to our amusement that if when you pulled the slide back by hand and pushed up on the safety while the hammer was being cocked it would follow. On further examination a crease made by the sear could be seen in the clearance recess of the lug and I also noticed it too went very high on the sear in the safe position. What an over priced poorly executed part this was. I replaced it with an Ed Brown wide ambi which worked correctly. The Kings safety can be saved by welding on the lug, but is so ugly it's hardly worth the effort to improve this poorly designed and executed part.

LOG

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Thank you.

Josh <><

[Joshua M. Smith]

Can't really tell from your tiny pix, but from your verbal description there certainly seems to be something wrong with the Kings safety.

Was going to suggest a look at the blueprint to see what was wrong (if it would really help out), but the only easy measurement on those things is the pin diameter. Most everything else would be nightmare without a Coordinate Measuring Machine!

Maybe a call to Kings Gun Works (with a real sad tone of voice) would get you a free replacement - not that it'd be better than the one you got. At least most consciencious manufacturers welcome calls about problems with their products. Might be worth the cost of the call.

Cheers

Thanks for the reply.

Those are thumbnailed pics; click on them and you'll get giant blowups.

Thanks again,

Josh <><

[OD*]

Sorry to see this coming from King's, they were a great safety at one time, good enough they were spec'd by the PWS for the MEU(SOC) pistols. :(

[Joshua M. Smith]

OD,

That's why I bought it.

The stud actually looks bent up by a degree or so.

Wish I knew what happened. As is, the quality feels like a Mueshke. Could be that they're just both cast though.

I'll just stick with Wilson.

Josh <><

[carsten1911]

Hi Josh,

sorry to hear about your bad experiences with the Kings TS.

Since wifey was nice enough to get me exactly this one as a birthday present(me being a lefty) I hope to NOT run into the same problem with mine. It would hit me double for sure.

I´ll have to wait until round Cristmas holidays to find time to work in peace. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Carsten

[niemi24s]

Hi Carsten:

Maybe the TS's they make for export are better! :D Please let us know how it works out for you.

Cheers

[Joshua M. Smith]

Ditto; I'd like to see how yours fits up, Carsten.

Josh <><

[carsten1911]

Hi Niemi, hi Josh,

hm, towards your comment, dear Niemi:
My fingers have been itching for a long time to start a thread about "quality" of US exports... I did not start up to now for fear my US friends might feel insulted or hurt in their national pride. (Products: Springfield Armory, PSE compound bow, two Stetson caps, Leathermann tool, Ruger firearms...I dont think I could be accused ob buying cheap junk brands...but I felt as if had done so. My only flawless US product up to now was a Music Man Stingray bass guitar).

Josh, I hope to be able to write on this safety in about 3 weeks.
Sinde the TS are basically out of stock since quite a time I could imagine mine was produced long time ago, before it was (literally :-) ) shipped to Germany.

Greetings

Carsten