1911 Thumb Safety

[Smedley]

Greetings
First, I want to praise Springfield Armory for providing the Mil Spec 1911.
I served as a United States Marine from 1967 to 71 and I’m very familiar with a 1911. My Springfield Mil Spec is superior in quality and superior in accuracy to issued 1911s which were excellent too.

With one touchy Springfield exception. The thumb safety was way too gritty…sticky to readily move off and on.

So … I removed the thumb safety, lightly hand stoned manufacturing marks off the detent engagement area. There was a slight manufacturing burr ridge adjacent to the detent depression. Then I polished with a Dremel tool pad. Pad….for polishing. NOT a cutting tool!!

Also did same to detent rod end … which had a manufacturing dimple mark on end.

There were no sparks nor filings. I may have removed .001 of material?
The parts needed polishing and burr removal. That’s all.

Now the Springfield has the same arsenal established, distinct click, on and off, as the USMC issued 1911s.

Also — the Springfields (I own 3) all have much tighter barrel bushings than the military version. This improves accuracy. I suspect that the military 1911s had a slightly looser tolerance to tolerate the extreme and dirty conditions of prolonged combat grime and grit. I suspect that the Springfield would do just as well…because of the high polish on the barrel and bushing which will resist dirt and carbon from sticking.

So….Springfield…bravo!!!! Superb Mil-Spec which only needed a tad touch of polish around the thumb safety detent.

Gratitude! Smedley. Semper Fi

 

[HansGruber]

Nice!

One word of warning, though: Springfield uses MIM (Metal Injection Molded) small parts (safety, hammer, sear, etc..) …that dimple you saw is from the molding process.

Sometimes, these parts don’t take well to polishing like a tool-steel part will.

Probably nothing to be too concerned about, but if it does…I’d recommend replacing them with Wilson Bulletproof, Ed Brown, etc. parts.

 

[Smedley]

Thanks Hans
What could go wrong? Cracks in metal or rust? I can easily get another thumb safety as you describe. Smedley

 

[HansGruber]

Thanks Hans
What could go wrong? Cracks in metal or rust? I can easily get another thumb safety as you describe. Smedley

MIM parts can often only be surface hardened, not hardened all the way through…rust, yes, but also accelerated wear on friction points if the hardened layer is removed.

With just a light polish, probably nothing to be too concerned with…but if you’d ever have to remove fair amount of metal to fit one, it can be an issue.