Wilson Drop-In Beavertail Safety

[AnthonyB]

Fellas, I now own an electroless nickle Series 70 Combat Commander from the estate of an uncle. This is the only 1911 that has ever "bitten" me and really needs a beavertail grip safety. I don't want to permanently modify the pistol (want to keep it as he carried it), so the replacement safety needs to really "drop-in." Any opinions or experiences with the Wilson unit would be greatly appreciated. Does anyone lese make a "drop-in" safety? Tony

[fourarmed]

I know what you mean. My commander doesn't pinch me between hammer and safety, but that tiny little spur really digs in for some reason. The Brownell's catalog has a multitude of drop-in grip safeties. Some may require a little filing to get them to clear the trigger early in their travel, but other than that they should drop right in. Wilson stuff that I have used has always been first-rate.

[j4570]

My father has one of the Wilson ones on his Colt (made for Argentina, a real Commercial Colt and so marked).

He didn't want to modify the pistol. He might have had to change the hammer(the early Colts had a wide chechered hammer).

Only thing about a Commander, is that the tail sweep is a little lower. It should function fine, maybe not perfect cosmetically.

You buying this to shoot it, or are you considering carrying this gun?

Jason

[AnthonyB]

fourarmed, you nailed the problem exactly. The hammer doesn't hit me at all, but that almost razor-sharp safety spur will have the blood dripping in no time at all.

Jason, this is just a fun shooter and a way to remember an uncle who helped introduce me to the shooting sports. I don't intend to carry this one at all. I love the 1911, and this one is 100% reliable, but it has the standard teeny Colt front sight and narrow rear. Both are plated like the slide, and light on either one prevents acquiring a sight picture. They are, of course, impossible to see in the dark as well! New sights and a beavertail safety would make this a great carry gun, but right now I don't want to permanently modify it.

Thanks for the input, and I'll get a Wilson on order.
Tony

[waksupi]

Tony, you may be able to stick to the original safety, and just do some edge rounding.

[AnthonyB]

waksupi, I seriously considered that but don't know how thick the Colt's finish is. With my luck I'd break through it in no time. Tony

[txbirdman]

Tony,

I have an older Combat Commander, pre firing pin safety, that I installed a Wilson beaver tail on and it dropped in just fine (no modification). In my case I wasn't getting bit but was unable to deactivate the grip safety when using "high thumb" grip. The Wilson solved my problem and should also work okay for you.

[McLintock]

I sold them for a number of years when I was selling 1911 parts at gun shows and modifying them for people. I sold many of them and never had an unsatified customer. They do what they're intended to do but aren't nearly as asethically pleasing as a fitted one.
McLintock

[bobthenailer]

hi i have also installed probley 30 or so grip safteys on the 1911 , kings also make a no fitting required grip saftey, having said that i have 2 jigs for fitting frame modfied grip safteys 1 for ed brown saftey which is the hardest to do as you do alot of reshaping and the gun will have to be refinshed or i also have the wilson which is the easyest and almost all of the meatal removed is covered by the grip saftey , i did all of the fitting with a dremel tool and files if you would like to borrow the jig,s with the instructions drop me a line

[scrapcan]

BOB,

You have a PM.

[AnthonyB]

Bob, I sent you a PM as well. I'd like to borrow the jig for the Ed Brown safety.
Tony