Getting thumb safety back in

[poopapee]

Hello all, I tore down my GI Springer and can't quite get it back together. In particular getting the thumb safety back in is a pain. I have taken it out and put it back in twice successfully, only to have other problems (Sear spring)requiring me to take it back out. Those two times were dumb luck and I sure can't do it on command.
My question is, outside of saying "insert the thumb safety" like most instructionals say does anyone have any good insights on the best way to do this? The plunger is a pain in the butt. How should the hammer be aligned? How should the safety go in? Up, down, what? I'm normally pretty mechanically inclined but this has wasted tons more time than it should have.

[stans]

Hammer fully cocked or the safety won't go in. Safety needs to be inserted so it is positioned half way between on and off positions. Yeah, the little plunger is a pain, I just depress it with a tiny little screwdriver or even a little finishing nail. I've even gone so far as to use the dull side of an X-acto hobby knife blade.

[Hawkmoon]

If you're going to be playing with 1911s at all frequently, Brownells sells a little tool just for this task. It's thin enough to fit behind the safety and depress the plunger pin. When the safety snaps into position, you pull the tool out and the safety goes the rest of the way down very cleanly.

It is supposed to also work on the slide stop, but I haven't had much luck with that. It doesn't seem to help on my Commander, and my full-size doesn't need any help.

[Ric4509]

There you go. You got the answers from the experts.

[1911Tuner]

Or, you could just use the side of a small drill rod. .095 inch give or take a thou. Use the side to depress the plunger... not the end. Get the safety into position on top of the rod, halfway between on and off. Push in and up with light pressure... and pull the rod straight up. It usually just snaps right on in! Takes a little practice to get it in the sweet spot sometimes.

[poopapee]

I finally got it. My problem was (I didn't mention this before) I used a zip tie to hold the grip safety down. It was secured around the trigger. Several times it seemed like it slipped in but wouldn't seat all the way down. Then for some reason I thought maybe the trigger being held down was the problem. Sure enough, when I removed the zip tie I was in business. Now if I could just get that damn mainspring housing back in...