The following is courtesy of Precision Gunworks and Darrenk75b.
The first beavertails group was originally made popular by the Ed Brown Memory Groove beavertail. This first group includes the King's Gun Works #207, the STI competition, the Chip McCormick "Extreme" and one from Enterprise Arms. They all are very close in appearance to the Ed Brown. Group 1 beavertails all share the common trait of raising your hand appreciably higher on the frame of the pistol than most other grip safeties. Because these safeties all raise the firing hand so high, there are some peculiarities associated with their installation on certain pistols. The Group 1 beavertails all require a good bit more external metal removal than the other two groups. Because Group 1 beavertails all use a .250" radius, the initial installation can be done on a mill with special tooling and then hand filed to fit. Type 1 beavertails present their own installation challenge. Because the sides of the frame tangs need to be shaped in an arc that matches up to the "tail" part of the grip safety, the lower side of the "shield" part of the thumb safety must be raised to match, otherwise it will overhang the frame's edge (when it's in the "disengaged or down" position). When the shield is reshaped to not overhang, a small portion of the hole in the frame that is beneath the shield may be exposed to view when the safety is raised to the "engaged or up" position. If you have an objection to the hole being exposed, you'd be well advised to select a Group 3 safety, that doesn't raise the hand quite so high.
Group 2 beavertails all use the compound frame radius developed by Wilson Combat. This group includes the Wilson #298, the Caspian, Clark and Springfield Armory. The Group 2 products take less work to blend the exterior to the frame than the Group 1 beavertails, but because the frame joint is a compound radius, it's initial installation to the frame tangs is not conducive to machine cutting. Group 2's are generally ground to rough shape, using a template, then filed to fit by hand. They all give you the advantage of raising your hand on the frame, but not quite as high as Group 1. Group 2 safeties are a little less likely to expose the hole than Group 1 safeties.
Group 3, the Smith and Alexander products, use either a .250" radius or a .220" radius. The smaller .220" radius was developed to solve a particular installation challenge found primarily on Springfield Armory frames (although it can be found on others). The S&A's need very little blending on the exterior, but in trade raise the hand little, if any. The Baer beavertail is very similar to the .250" S&A.
Springfield
There is a lot of misinformation circulating about beavertail installations on Springfield pistols. First, there are two different frames to consider: the Mil-Spec / WW II frames with original style frame tangs and "Loaded" pistols that come with a factory beavertail.
Loaded model frames are cut for Wilson pattern beavertails and are usually over cut as they come from the factory. To get a nice tight joint, I usually weld the radius and re-fit the stock beavertail or a Wilson. A Group 1 beavertail can be fit, but will require a good bit of weld build up.
Mil-Sec / WWII frames have G.I. style frame tangs that are shaped a little bit differently from the standard pattern. The tangs are a little shallow on the topside and when fit with a Group 1 beavertail often has a gap or mismatch on the top face of the frame to beavertail joint. This is not in every case, but in most. To avoid this mismatch, a small weld bead can be placed on top of each tang to add enough material to the tang to make a smooth joint. Group 2 beavertails can be fit without this extra welding. This frame is what the S&A .220" radius beavertail was designed for. S&A uses a smaller radius on this safety that moves the joint forward to where the frame tangs are thicker.
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