I have a Sig 1911 Tacops Carry that has a non-functioning beavertail grip safety. When I pull only the trigger without touching the grip, the hammer will fall. The grip safety moves and feels like it should, but does not stop the trigger from being depressed. I noticed that the grip safety doesn't engage the trigger bow/bar. I don't think it's a trigger issue because the trigger looks to be sitting where it's supposed to be. From the way it feels, and acts, it seems as though the GS arm that is supposed to make contact with the trigger bar/bow is just a little too short.
Thumb safety has no issues.
My guess is for some reason there is a gap between the trigger bar and the part of the grip safety that is supposed to make contact with it. Upon inspection of the trigger bar and the grip safety out of the pistol, there nothing unusual on the trigger bar or the grip safety.


Some back story.
It's a relatively new gun, maybe 300 rds. All parts are original factory parts. The only exception is the GS that was replaced by Sig because of the same issue. When I got it back, the paperwork said the GS was replaced and function checked good. When I tried the function check it worked. I took the slide off and put a thin film of grease on the rails then put the slide back on, then conducted another function check. This time it failed. The hammer would fall without the GS being touched.

Ok, this is what I have going on.





Is this too much play, or does this look right and I should be looking someplace else?

Just thinking out loud, first confirm the position of the three leaves of the sear spring...i couldn't really see that well on the photos..you want to make sure you have appropriate tension on the sear so that it resets and engages appropriately.

The factors that allow the hammer to fall are the sear/hammer engagement and the integrity of the grip safety/trigger interface ....it looks like the grip safety adequately engages the trigger, and when you lift off the trigger it appears that there is enough spring tension on the grip safety to return it to it's default position. That said i'd probably add a little more pressure there just to be extra sure.

After you rule those aspects out, then the problem would likely lie in the sear/hammer engagement.

You could disinstall them from the frame and look at their respective lengths as well as the quality of their engagement surfaces.

You can observe some of this dynamically by placing the sear and hammer on the outside of the frame with the grips off, using the pins partway through. Brownells sells longer pins for this as well.

I hope this helps start you off

Is there any contact at all between the trigger bow and the arm of the grip safety with the grip safety in the "rest" position? I can't help but think this is just a grip safety issue and the arm needs to be extended, either by welding or peening (if you want to do it yourself).

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Orndorff:
Is there any contact at all between the trigger bow and the arm of the grip safety with the grip safety in the "rest" position? I can't help but think this is just a grip safety issue and the arm needs to be extended, either by welding or peening (if you want to do it yourself).

No, there is no contact between the GS blocking arm and the trigger bow.

Very odd that it worked, then after a field-strip the two parts don't even touch at all. Makes no sense to me. Can you try a different grip safety?

Is it possible that the grip safety is not rotating fully into position due to impingement by the mainspring housing?

The grip safety was poorly fit by the manufacturer when it went back for the issue, or something is out of spec with the frame or the trigger bow.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Orndorff:
Is it possible that the grip safety is not rotating fully into position due to impingement by the mainspring housing?

I don't think this is the case because the longest piece of the ear is behind the bow... it (or the bow) isn't long enough for proper function.

quote:

Originally posted by tha1000:

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Orndorff:
Is it possible that the grip safety is not rotating fully into position due to impingement by the mainspring housing?

I don't think this is the case because the longest piece of the ear is behind the bow... it (or the bow) isn't long enough for proper function.

I would think it would have to be the GS blocking arm that is too short because the trigger still trips the sear with normal-ish movement. However, when you look at how close the GS blocking arm is to the raised portion of the frame directly above the trigger, it makes me think that the arm couldn't be any longer without interfering with that raised portion of the frame.

quote:

Originally posted by castellscl:

quote:

Originally posted by tha1000:

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Orndorff:
Is it possible that the grip safety is not rotating fully into position due to impingement by the mainspring housing?

I don't think this is the case because the longest piece of the ear is behind the bow... it (or the bow) isn't long enough for proper function.

I would think it would have to be the GS blocking arm that is too short because the trigger still trips the sear with normal-ish movement. However, when you look at how close the GS blocking arm is to the raised portion of the frame directly above the trigger, it makes me think that the arm couldn't be any longer without interfering with that raised portion of the frame.

Do you have a different trigger bow to try? There's either enough clearance between the frame and grip safety leg to move and still prevent the trigger from tripping the sear in the released position or something is out of spec on the frame. like a pin a few thousandths off. It happens... which is why a lot of the custom gunsmiths are picky about what base guns you send in to them for a base build.

Personally, I dont have an issue with a disabled grip safety. It is a redundant feature that was only included to win a government contract 100 plus years ago, but I understand wanting it to function as designed.

Send it back to Sig and hope they fix it right this time? Try a different trigger and rule that out? Fit your own grip safety or have a local smith do it for you? Those are about the only options.

Your gifs are awesome, by the way.

Well gents, a little update, I think it was in fact trigger bow that is the problem. I got the new GS in today and did some measurements to see if it was any different than the other Sig put it, it was the same down to .0000(smallest my measuring tools can go)! First off, that's insane that they are that close, but also crappy cause I wasted time and money. I decided to take the trigger out to to inspect further. Once I removed it, for whatever reason I put a magazine trough it to just hold it on my table. That's when I noticed that the right rear side (side that contacts the GS blocking arm) was noticeably closer to the magazine than the other side. After a LOT of small bends, re-bends, tweaks and re-tweaks, and straightening. The trigger bow is straight and square and the GS works again!

Did I do a good thing, or did I jack it up more?

One of the reasons I suggested checking the trigger aside from it being a possible culprit is that it is the cheapest fix. Just buy a new $20 trigger and drop it in. Will require minimal to no fitting. You’ll just have to read up on how to adjust the over travel screw.