Beavertail Grip Safety, Drop-in, Commander

It is well to be reminded that drop-in for this part, and most 1911 parts, means that it fits your frame. Most likely you will still have to do some careful file work on the actuator to get this to operate properly. If you are not experienced in doing this please take it to a gunsmith. Safeties are something that need to work the first time and every time! That being said a quick search of youtube will pull up a video of the installation process. I had to fit things a bit more than that user, but his video was a wonderful starting point. It took me perhaps an hour to fit the safety and reassemble the pistol. It would likely take a gunsmith a bit less time to accomplish as I polished and painted the filed surfaces. The Wilson safety is the part that Colt should have installed. The finish is flawless. The exterior fit is much better than the original part. I am very pleased with the operation of the part and no longer catch my thumb web in the join point when I flick off the thumb safety. If you have a Colt 1911 Commander or Officer's pistol you need this part.

I USED THIS GRIP SAFETY / BEAVERTAIL ON A COLT 1911 XSE ( MADE 2011, GEN 2 W/ NOVAK SIGHTS) TO REPLACE THE FACTORY DUCKBILL GRIP SAFETY. IT REQUIRED SOME MINOR FITTING (AND SEVERAL TEST FITS) TO GET WORKING AS INTENDED. I USED A TYPE OF COLD BLUE TO RE-BLUE EXPOSED AREAS WHICH REQUIRED FILING & SANDING. THE TOTAL JOB TOOK ABOUT AN HOUR OR SO, BUT I'M A PERFECTIONIST WHEN IT COMES TO FIT AND SMOOTH OPERATION. ALL WILSON COMBAT PARTS THAT I HAVE USED INSTALLED FAIRLY EASILY BUT USUALLY REQUIRE FITTING, FILING, ETC TO SOME DEGREE. BTW, YOUTUBE HAS MANY GOOD VIDEOS ON THE SUBJECT OF 1911 PARTS FITTING.

PITA to install, had to spend a long time working on it with a file. I wish it had come with detailed instructions for fitment. Works well and looks good once installed

The quality of the part appears to be excellent but did not fit my American Tactical 1911 which is a "Colt style 1911 frame." After research, I have learned that there are actually four common variations of the 1911 frame, Colt being one of them, and am sure that this would fit well for the intended frame. The width of this grip safety is nearly 7 mics wider, aprox. .0068 mm and nearly .25 mm taller than the grip safety I was replacing. At this point it was worth throwing away rather than going through the hassle of returning so I started machining. I adjusted the width, height and the radius of the horn so that it would seat. This took a while and I was finally able to get the piece to function and the actuator to engage. I attempted to reassemble and test and found that the thumb safety rod would not install because the opening of the hole on Wilson's beavertail was off by half of a mill. I was so confused that I had to check the packaging to make sure that it came from Wilson Combat. Do not buy unless you call Wilson Combat and tell them what 1911 you have. Keep in mind that any machining to this piece will require it to be sent off to be anodized or completely stripped and blued.

What most people believe that a "drop in" grip safety is something you can just plop into your 1911 and it function flawlessly. This just isn't true. By drop in they mean that the radius at the rear of the 1911 doesn't need to be fitted to the safety and vice versa. However, the safety will have to be fitted to your trigger. This is a pretty simple and straight forward job for anybody that's mechanically inclined. I used this to replace the factory grip safety on my Colt Commander, and while the fit isn't as tight as it would be with a true fitted piece, there's no rattle and it functions smoothly, as it should.

Not so "Drop-in" Also the bluing is very thin and course. I had to custom fit mine by filing and fitting it over and over. Took about an hour. If you are not comfortable with filing and fitting gun parts I would go to a Smith and have him do it.

I installed this on my Colt Combat Commander, and it completely eliminates hammer bite. As you would expect after doing a little research, some filing is required on several surfaces of the arm to give it enough space to move out of or into the way of the trigger bow (to either prevent or allow it to trip the sear). I also had to do a little filing on the tops of the grip button and the inner radii of the beaver tail (where they contact the pistol tang) so that the holes for the thumb safety in both the frame and grip safety could align. The attached picture shows the beavertail grip safety installed in my gun. The factory rat tail grip safety is to its right.

The safety fin was too long to and didn't allow the grip safety to engage the position. Had to dremel-tool about 1/32 off the length to fit and work properly. The frame on my Colt New Agent had less metal behind the hammer so the grip safety has a gap of around 1/8 inch (my full Gov't models are longer in this area) but functions well just doesn't look like a good fit. Got it adjusted and tested, works as intended.....however, plan on modifying the part to fit and function on your pistol.