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Thread: Thumb Safety Overtravel... Problem?

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  1. #1
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    Thumb Safety Overtravel... Problem?

    Sorry to use this as my first post here, but I've got a problem with one of my 1911s (recently purchased from GunBroker, used) that I'm not sure is an issue.

    Whenever I disengage the thumb safety I can push it down past where it normally stops. It pops up to where it should be when I take my thumb off of it and works as it should with regard to keeping the gun from firing.

    I'm planning on detail stripping the gun to see if anything stands out tonight. My question is, is this something to be concerned about? Also is there anything I should be looking for when I take the gun apart?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by DesertRat66
    Whenever I disengage the thumb safety I can push it down past where it normally stops. It pops up to where it should be when I take my thumb off of it and works as it should with regard to keeping the gun from firing.
    First off

    Normal. The only thing that keeps in the 'normal' position is the plunger and detent. You can push it past the detent and as you point out, it will snap back to the proper position.

    IMHO, as long as the safety is working as it should, not allowing the hammer to drop when on 'safe', and is secure in the safe position, you should be good to go.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by douglas34474
    First off

    Normal. The only thing that keeps in the 'normal' position is the plunger and detent. You can push it past the detent and as you point out, it will snap back to the proper position.

    IMHO, as long as the safety is working as it should, not allowing the hammer to drop when on 'safe', and is secure in the safe position, you should be good to go.
    Thanks.

    I got a good look at it when I got home, but won't have time to take it apart tonight. It looks like the end of the detent is mangled. Not the first small part I've found like this (magazine release screw shows signs of a wrong size bit being used on it).

    Looks like a more detailed inspection is in order, but as long as I know that's a non and possibly fixable issue I'm not going to worry about it.

  4. #4
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    The safety lug that blocks the sear has a slot cut in it where it straddles the opening in the frame. The bottom of this slot makes contact with the frame and this is what stops the downward movement of the safety. The safety should not travel past the detent - it should stop on the frame and the plunger should be in the detent at the same time. Either the slot in the safety lug is cut too deep (common in Kings thumb safeties) or the opening in the frame is out of spec (or both).

    While it can be annoying, it's not a issue unless the thumb safety can move down below the plunger, which would block the safety from moving up again. If you feel the need to repair it, it can be fixed by welding the safety and refitting it or trying different brands of thumb safeties and seeing if one of them works better.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Berryhill
    The safety lug that blocks the sear has a slot cut in it where it straddles the opening in the frame. The bottom of this slot makes contact with the frame and this is what stops the downward movement of the safety. The safety should not travel past the detent - it should stop on the frame and the plunger should be in the detent at the same time. Either the slot in the safety lug is cut too deep (common in Kings thumb safeties) or the opening in the frame is out of spec (or both).

    While it can be annoying, it's not a issue unless the thumb safety can move down below the plunger, which would block the safety from moving up again. If you feel the need to repair it, it can be fixed by welding the safety and refitting it or trying different brands of thumb safeties and seeing if one of them works better.
    OK you spooked me into running downstairs to my meager shop and taking the gun apart. The frame isn't peened or dremeled and it doesn't look like the safety has been filed on at the contact point so I probably have one of the Colts that was assembled quickly as they almost went under. (As an aside it's a CCO which is why I was worried about peening on the frame.

    My welder I take gun stuff to retired recently, would a WECSOG solution like metalized acraglass work or should I find a new welder?

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by DesertRat66
    My welder I take gun stuff to retired recently, would a WECSOG solution like metalized acraglass work or should I find a new welder?
    If the safety functions and the plunger doesn't LOCK the safety in the disengaged position, the gun isn't broken. Don't fix what isn't broken.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by DesertRat66
    I probably have one of the Colts that was assembled quickly as they almost went under.
    Wow, maybe a new thread is in order; please tell the story!
    "A grip safety is just another excess moving part. I have never known one to prevent an accident, and moreover, it is difficult to postulate a circumstance in which it might." Jeff Cooper

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by RickB
    Wow, maybe a new thread is in order; please tell the story!
    Not much to tell. Here's the story from Colt's History page

    Another significant event in 1986, however, was the commencement by the United Automobile Workers Union of a bitter strike, which began on January 25 and would continue for four years. In the middle of the strike, in 1988, Colt suffered another blow, loss of the government contract for M16 rifles. Eventually, the strike was brought to an end in March, 1990, with the sale of the Colt Firearms Division to a three-party consortium that included private investors, the union employees and the Connecticut State Employees’ Pension Fund. With the end of the strike, new products were introduced. They included the Double EagleTM double-action pistol, the Colt Anaconda® .44 Magnum double-action revolver, and the redesigned Sporter Rifle.

    Colt’s post-strike good fortune was short-lived. Just two years after the sale, Colt firearms was bankrupt and it entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization proceedings in March, 1992. Litigation commenced over rights to the Colt name and trademarks. Despite bankruptcy and litigation, however, the business of the company somehow progressed. The new Colt .22 Automatic was introduced in 1993, along a compact automatic rifle based on the Colt M16, that became known as the M4 carbine. In 1994, while still in Chapter 11, the company closed the Hartford Armory and relocated the entire business to the West Hartford manufacturing facility from which it operates today. Additionally, Colt was awarded a sole source contract to supply nearly 19,000 of its new M4 carbines to the U.S. Army and to joint Special Forces personnel. In September, 1994, a new group of investors purchased the company and Colt finally emerged from the eight-year period of turmoil that began with the January, 1986 strike.


    I purchased a Delta Elite in the late 80s that had several defects indicating poor quality control and the store I worked for was seeing quite a few bad Colts as well.

    Unfortunately, while obtaining a CCO was a quest for me I don't know their production dates. So I'm making a wild guess here.

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