Opinion on operation of thumb safety? [Archive] - Glock Talk

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freepatriot
05-26-2006, 14:56
I rec'd an email this week from someone who had read my 1911 disassembly web page. On my page, I had written, perhaps incorrectly:

The thumb safety stud immobilizes the hammer until disengaged, so that even if the sear were to move off of the hammer, the hammer could not rotate.

The fella who wrote me, named John T., said:

Incorrect. The thumb safety doesn't block the hammer. It blocks sear movement only. If the hammer falls with the thumb safety in the "SAFE" position, the safety's lug will impede the hammer's momentum, but it won't likely stop it. Instead, the hammer's fall will move the safety to the fire position.

What do you folks think? John seems to be saying that hte thumb safety only prevents firing by keeping the sear from moving off the shelf of the hammer.

I thought that the thumb safety's stud, which fits into the semicircular notch on the hammer, prevents the hammer from rotating. What he says seems like it could be true.

Can the hammer nudge the thumb safety down (if the sear was not present?)





GT brain trust, ACTIVATE! ;)

auto45
05-26-2006, 16:02
The thumb safety only blocks the sear, no question.

happyguy
05-26-2006, 18:33
John T. would likely be our old 1911Tuner and he knows whereof he speaks.

Regards,
Happyguy:)

Kruzr
05-27-2006, 08:58
The stud of the thumb safety makes contact with the sear, not the hammer.

freepatriot
05-27-2006, 10:20
Okay, thanks. :) I could have sworn on my life that I can see the stud going into that semicircle notch at the bottom of the hammer. :)

http://freepatriot.com/imagewarehouse/series80/small/DSCF3368.jpg

http://freepatriot.com/imagewarehouse/series80/small/DSCF3390.jpg

teeuu
05-27-2006, 13:30
It's easy enough to test. Just get an old clunker thumb safety you don't care about and file it down so it cannot block the sear. Install it, flip it up, pull the trigger & see what happens.

Some folks *cough* not me, of course *cough* have done this very thing while fitting a new thumb safety - just not on purpose.

freepatriot
05-27-2006, 13:42
LOL

BigSlick
05-28-2006, 15:52
The gentleman is correct Scott.

The thumb safety blocks one leg of the sear. (ideally) preventing any movement.

The fitting surface on the lug is filed to block the sear leg snugly with little to no play. No additional metal is required to be removed.

Lot's of botched up safety jobs out there. Many people have stoned, filed, dremeled, milled or otherwise hacked thumb safetys because they didn't have a clear understanding of the fit relationship to the sear.

A few examples :

A bad fitting job,

http://www.the-gunsmith.com/sarge/5-18-06sized/200s.jpg

Here's a shot of the safety/sear relationship :

http://www.the-gunsmith.com/sarge/5-18-06sized/400s.jpg

The ONLY area needing any attention when fitting (assuming pin diameter is correct for the hole and properly straight) is highlighted in red :

http://www.the-gunsmith.com/sarge/5-18-06sized/300s.jpg

HTH,

BigSlick

freepatriot
05-28-2006, 20:04
Nice pics, Slick :)

1911Tuner
05-31-2006, 09:09
Scott said:

>I thought that the thumb safety's stud, which fits into the semicircular notch on the hammer...<
************************************

It does fit. The semi-circular notch provides clearance for the safety lug. Without that, you couldn't push the safety into the "SAFE" position

:cool:

freepatriot
06-02-2006, 09:23
Thanks again for the correction, John.:)

1911Tuner
06-02-2006, 14:33
Nadda problemo.

Shall we explore the mysteries of the 1911's locked breech/recoil operation? Clew: It probably ain't exactly like you'd expect.:cool:

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