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Thread: Fitting a thumb safety, steps involved

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  1. #11
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    2nd September 2007
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    Like I tell my apprentices at work, "There is no dumb question. Not asking a question is dumb." So here's a really.....uneducated....question- am I correct in deducing that the thumb safety works by blocking the hammer? This might be the key my visualizing how this part should fit; the STI animation doesn't really help in this case.
    "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."- Ronald Wilson Reagan

    "Mmmmm.....tasty burglar......"- Tonka the Large Dog

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by tonka
    am I correct in deducing that the thumb safety works by blocking the hammer?
    The thumb safety blocks the sear. It will only impede the hammer to the extent that the plunger resists its fall.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by tonka
    am I correct in deducing that the thumb safety works by blocking the hammer? .
    Answered this one myself by going to the Tech Issues page and scrolling all the way to the bottom, to the "Trigger Parts" thread. There I found those great cutaway pics, which show the thumb safety shaft impinging upon the sear, locking it against the hammer, thus immobilizing both. The "comma" profile of that particular shaft is much less pointed that that of my safety.

    If I'm seeing this correctly, I can go ahead and CAREFULLY dress my thumb safety where the Dykem is rubbed off by the sear; that should allow the safety to seat fully, and operate properly when seated. My earlier efforts were a bit too vigorous, and eliminated any possibility of interaction between the TS and the sear. A new King's #201 Combat Speed Safety costs $29.99 plus tax froms Guns Etc, and is a one hour round trip from home.

    The reason the TS wouldn't seat fully seems to be that the hammer needs to be present in order to hold the sear in its operating position. With the hammer out of the pistol, the TS would slide right home and swing through its full range of travel.

    I see that Mr. Tuner has posted a reply to my dilemma which seems to confirm that I had indeed stumbled upon the truth. Thank you, sir!
    "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."- Ronald Wilson Reagan

    "Mmmmm.....tasty burglar......"- Tonka the Large Dog

  4. #14
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    Tonka, the simplest way to fit a thumb safety is to assemble the gun without the grip safety and the plunger assembly. Then, insert the thumb safety and you can see what is interfering with its movement. When you get down to the final fit, use the layout fluid or even a sharpie marker to dress the last bit and get everything workin'.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1911Tuner
    Tonka, the simplest way to fit a thumb safety is to assemble the gun without the grip safety and the plunger assembly. Then, insert the thumb safety and you can see what is interfering with its movement. When you get down to the final fit, use the layout fluid or even a sharpie marker to dress the last bit and get everything workin'.

    Wow. That's exactly what I struck upon for a course of action. Uh... this time, that is Once dinner's in the oven I'll get back to work on the pistol.

    Thank you, Johnny! Guns Etc. closed at 5PM, and they're closed tomorrow, so they wouldn't be able to pull my fat out of the fire again until Monday.
    "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."- Ronald Wilson Reagan

    "Mmmmm.....tasty burglar......"- Tonka the Large Dog

  6. #16
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    It is done. I'll give it a "smoke test" tomorrow morning, weather permitting.

    My thanks to everyone.
    "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."- Ronald Wilson Reagan

    "Mmmmm.....tasty burglar......"- Tonka the Large Dog

  7. #17
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    Tonka: Just came across your post....Your not fom Minnetonka per chance?

  8. #18
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    ptf- nope, I'm from Arizona. Tonka is actually the big snarfy dog I use for my avatar.
    "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."- Ronald Wilson Reagan

    "Mmmmm.....tasty burglar......"- Tonka the Large Dog

  9. #19
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    file the sear engagement area deeper or file a portion of the the slide notch?

    - First of all, I check to make sure that the safety can go on the frame with no interference. In other words, on a stripped frame, I put the safety on and make sure that it moves up and down without a problem. I have run on one incident where the frame clearence notch in the safety was too narrow to allow full movement.

    - After that, I install the sear, disconnector and hammer, but I leave out the grip safety. In that way I can look inside the back of the pistol to see what's happening inside. The link posted by Stu above, should give you a good idea of how things should look inside, but don't expect to see those huge clearences shown in those pictures.

    - You should now familiarize yourself with the thumb safety's operation. If you look in the shaft of the thumb safety, there are some areas of interest, shown in the picture above.

    - If the safety refuses to go in its place, then the sear clearence area needs to be made deeper. File the sear clearence area towards the rear of the safety, not towards the sear engagement area, but at 90 degrees to it.

    - Now move the safety to its full downwards position. Check that the hammer is free to move through its travel. If not, then the hammer clearing area needs to be filed down a little.

    - With the safety in the frame, try to move the safety up. It probably won't go all the way. Now it's the time to start filing the sear engagement area. Go easy, one stroke too many and your safety is permanently damaged. So when you are sure that the safety can move all the way up in its slide notch, while at the same time fully blocking the sear from moving when you pull the trigger, it's time to stop. Make sure that the trigger doesn't release the hammer with the safety in the up position and you should be good to go.

    Did I forget anything?

    Put your gun back together and check it.
    I think this is probably the prob with my pistol. Because the safety wont go all the way up when it's in the slide notch. But on a stripped frame. the safety moves up and locks the trigger well. I do believe then that on a stripped frame, the sear is able to engage well in the sear engagement area of the safety. Would it be possible for me to remove by filing the top portion of the safety lever and also a portion of the slide notch(rightside) so that the the safety can go a little up and still achieve the same effect as when you file the sear engagement area deeper? Comment please.


  10. #20
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    Dabonerwill

    I received an e-mail from you during the night with a prompt to access the forum for your above post.

    I don't think it was for me.

    Roy

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