Fitting an Extended Thumb Safety on the M1911

One of the more common jobs requested by 1911-style pistol owners involves the fitting of an extended thumb safety. With some very basic equipment and attention to detail, this job can be done in less than an hour. Why is an extended safety a desirable addition to a 1911-style pistol frame? Reasons vary with each owner, but some folks believe that the extension on this type of sear safety puts the thumb pad right where it should be.

Others like the wider area on the extension and use it as a platform on which to rest the shootinghand thumb, claiming that it stabilizes the shooting hand better. And then, there are those who just like the look. For whatever reason, the extended thumb safety does make the release of the safety more positive, and that enhances reliability. The customer has several choices of make and style when selecting an extended safety in either blue or stainless steel.

There’s even an ambidextrous safety available for those who prefer the option of releasing the safety with either hand. All of the extended safeties I’ve dealt with appear to be investment castings, which means they require no additional machining after the casting process, although a slight cleanup of some surfaces maybe necessary. Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, McCormick, and STI all make excellent extended safeties that serve the purpose well.

Prepping the Safety The first thing you need to do is remove the magazine and retract the slide to ensure you’re indeed dealing with an empty pistol. You must remove the grip on the left side of the frame, but it’s better to remove both to prevent any damage to the grips, especially if they are checkered. Cock the hammer until it locks back in the firing position, and remove the factory thumb safety. For me, it’s easier to remove the funneled magazine extension (if there is one) as well as the mainspring housing.

The thumb safety maintains the grip safety in place, so removing the thumb safety will also release the grip safety and allow removal of the safety-detent plunger and spring. On most of the aftermarket extended thumb safeties I’ve dealt with, the

detent for the safety plunger in the replacement extended thumb safety is quite shallow. The face where the shallow detent resides should be dressed with a pillar file to clean up any irregularities in flatness but leave enough of the plunger-detent hole visible. I use a 3/32-inch (.0938) drill with a 135-degree cutting face to deepen the detent to around 1/16 inch. This will give the thumb-safety plunger a good home to enter and help it to stay put when the safety is in the "off" position.

Once the 3/32-inch hole has been drilled to depth, an escape ramp is cut with a tapered carbide burr using a rotary tool as shown. This step does require caution and a steady hand. Before any fitting is attempted, look over the safety for rough areas on the inside face that will go against the left outside face of the pistol frame. Dress any of these areas with a smooth-cut pillar file to even out and smooth up this surface.

Also, if this hasn’t already been done, crimp the spring of the slide release and safety plunger about in the middle of the spring. This crimp will help hold the spring inside the plunger tube during disassembly next time. This crimping can be done with aside-cutting pliers. Use caution to avoid cutting or nicking any of the spring coils; you just want to kink the spring slightly as shown in the photograph.

For smoother operation, it helps to polish the stand-off that fits through the sear and disconnector to eliminate any roughness on the standoff’s diameter. Fitting the Safety The thumb safety on the 1911-style semi-auto pistol is designed to block the sear movement’not the hammer, as some suspect.

If the extended thumb safety being installed is a replacement for a factory-provided thumb safety, you’ll be able to see where the factory safety has been filed for fit at the point where the sear pad on the safety engages the sear. If you’re building a 1911-style auto from the frame up, the process gets a bit more involved. On most frames, the extended safety will slip into the frame without any difficulty.

During the fitting of extended safeties on several Auto-Ordinance frames I’ve worked on, the window where the sear pad fits through had to be opened up a bit to allow entry of the sear pad. Using a cylinder-shaped carbide bit in a rotary tool, the upper rear edge of these frames may have to be relieved until the sear pad can enter. If you encounter this issue, proceed slowly and check your progress often to prevent any overenlargement of the sear-pad window.

Insert the extended-safety sear pad to see how it fits to the sear. On stainlesssteel safeties, you only need to blacken the outer face of the sear pad. On blued safeties, you’ll first need to remove the bluing on the front face of the sear pad with #400 emery paper, and then blacken the front face. With the hammer cocked all the way back, push the safety home until you feel resistance and then remove it to observe any witness mark created by contact

with the side of the sear. This will appear as a shiny line on the blackened sear-pad face. The front edge of the sear pad will now need to be dressed back with a pillar file, but don’t go past the shiny mark. Try the safety fit once again to see if it goes in all the way. If not, a few more swipes of the file will be necessary until you feel the sear pad encounter slight rubbing on the sear. This will tell you that the sear pad is engaging the sear and arresting its movement.

Reassemble the pistol, including the grips. Now check the top upper edge of the extended thumb safety to see if there is any rubbing along the bottom rails of the slide. If rubbing is detected, the upper edge of the safety that is rubbing on the slide bottom will need to be removed with a few swipes of a smooth-cut file. Activate the safety to see if the thumb extension is contacting the left grip panel on its upper edge.

If so, the Smith & Wesson Issues Product-Safety Warning and Recall Notice for Performance Center Model 460XVR Revolvers Smith & Wesson Corp. is voluntarily recalling its Performance Center Model 460XVR revolvers. This recall applies only to the Performance Center Model 460 and does not involve Smith & Wesson’s standard production Model 460 revolver. The recall applies only to revolvers that contain barrels manufactured for the Performance Center by an outside supplier.

No other firearm models within the Smith & Wesson product line are affected by the recall. The Company is initiating this recall as a result of a few isolated reports of barrel failures limited to the Performance Center 460 revolvers. Investigation has revealed that the quality of the steel in some of these barrels did not meet performance requirements. The recall applies to all Performance Center Model 460 revolvers shipped by Smith & Wesson prior to September 18, 2006.

The Company is working diligently with its distributors and dealers to identify affected customers and to provide prompt and timely notice of s who purchased the Performance Center Model not use their revolver until it has been inspecte.

The affected revolvers were sold under the following SKUs: 170262, 170263, 170267, 170268, 170280, 170281, and 170287; and are within the following serial number ranges: EBD0001 " EBD0524, EBF0002 " EBF0251, LHZ0000 " LHZ0511, LLL0000 " LLL0702, LRR0001 " LRR0552, MMM0001 " MMM1809, XMC0001 XMC0109. Anyone who currently has a Performance Center Model n call range should contact the compa ext. 3800, or through the website at grip panel will need to be relieved to allow the safety extension clearance.

Here again, only remove what’s needed to allow the safety extension some clearance above the grip’s top edge when in the off position. The last check involves removing the grip safety so that the sear can be observed more clearly. Cock the hammer back and observe the sear carefully as you place pressure on the trigger with the safety on. There should be absolutely no movement of the sear, which means you’ve successfully blocked all sear movement with your fitting process.

Conclusions Any time you choose to work on the firearm’s safety, your approach must be deliberate and cautious throughout the process. In the case of an extended thumb safety on an M1911, you must work slowly, checking your progress often. I