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Grip safety is loose. Issue or not?

18K views 42 replies 13 participants last post by  srv1 
#1 ·
Since new, the grip safety has always rattled. Actually, you can dry fire the gun by giving the gun a quick jerk downward without having your hand on the safety. If your just holding it in any position, it will not fire, but I do not know if this is a safety issue or not. Maybe this is normal? I'm trying to describe it the best I can. Here is a video. Sorry about the quality I normally do not do videos. ~James

http://youtu.be/G2G2_E9HuMY
 
#3 · (Edited)
I had this issue on a used Series I Kimber Classic Custom I had picked up from an estate sale. The deceased's son had told me his father had something "strange" done to it where the grip safety became innactive, not pinned though. So I took it at the price it went for and had the same functionality issues your video shows. Upon dissasembly I noticed where someone very meticulously filed at the armature where the trigger stirrup or bow engages the grip safety and or holds it from firing. So the short story was for whatever reason, the previous owner felt that the grip safety was a hinderance, try taking that to court, lol, so I ordered a new standard grip safety, blued, from Kimber it showed up with the exact finish of the original and I dropped it in. It was slightly gritty when I first function tested it so I began fitting it in and a couple file strokes later the trigger engagements were like it was a hot knife through butter. So I guess yours is new so it may have been "over fitted" from Ruger, they are cranking these particular pistols out so darn fast, issues are sure to be abound, one of the reasons I have yet to buy one. Locally they are around $699.99 plus tax when in stock, but only the douches are acting like they are unobtainium, lol. Either take it apart (only if you are qualified, or at least know your way around the 1911 platform inside and out) to inspect the "finger" that comes off the grip safety towards the trigger, send back to Ruger, or have them send you a new grip safety that you can have a competent gunsmith fit in for you. I have a feeling since generally these are fitted parts, (most drop in but a true fit gets all the gritty feel away and sharp edging off) Ruger will have you send it back....Good luck with whatever you do and don't use this as a self defense weapon or you may be in for more of a shocker if ever needing to go to court....neglegence is a hard one to beat, and owning a weapon they figure you must be responsible enough to know your weapon and how it is to operate, as well as the laws in your area against "modified" weapons. You can tell em "Ruger did it" all day long but it is still your responsibility to ensure the pistol functions properly. And as far as the thing rattling, most do and yes tweaking only one of the springs will get some of that out as well as keep it from lifting off the trigger stirrup. As far as an issue, if it were mine, I'd say "YES".

SEE ALSO THIS THREAD WITHIN THIS FORUM FOR HOW THESE FUNCTION OR DON'T FUNCTION TOGETHER:

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=123244
 
#4 ·
Yeah it is loose and rattles. I will take it apart and see what the deal is. I do not use it as a carry and only use it for the range so I'm not concerned with it for safety reason but I do want to fix it. There is a lot of play in it like their is no spring tension on it. My XD is nice and firm and it does not rattle but I do not know how the internals of the XD safety works compared to a 1911. Other than that, I found no other defects and it has been running flawlessly. I doubt I will send it back to Ruger since it will take too long and I was thinking of changing to a stainless grip safety anyways. I will take it apart and post some pictures.

James
 
#8 · (Edited)
I can't speak for the SR1911 service - it might be different since it is a whole new ball game for Ruger and the 1911 is a more precision/hand-fit platform than what Ruger usually does. However, when it comes to their other handguns like LCP and LC9 most recently, their customer service has been exemplary (check out the LCP forum) and it's one of the reasons I had no reservations about buying their 1911. Once they get a handle on things, I expect you'll see great CS on this gun too. To say RCS "sucks", even from what has been written here, is not fair in my opinion. Go look at any other manufacturer's forum on here and you'll see similar CS complaints to the ones posted here (and much worse on many of them).
 
#11 ·
From what I gather they all rattle and not necessarily the Ruger's. Other 1911's do the same but my issue along with the rattle is that it does not take much pressure to activate the grip safety and I was wondering if this is an issue. So far from what I read that it is.

James
 
#30 ·
I sent the gun out on the 1st and they received it on Monday the 4th. Today I got a courtesy call stating they received it. Do they normally do this? Just curious. I thought it was nice to let me know where my gun is. This is the first time I have dealt with Ruger and hopefully it will be the last.

James
 
#32 ·
Yes: I re tensioned my SR1911s GS the first day that I recieved it. There was hardly any spring tension on the GS out of the box. After I conducted a basic 1911 function/safety check and determined that the gun was in safe shooting order, I removed the sear spring and re tensioned the GS finger. The gun now has enough spring tension to push the GS all the way out, but still easy to dis engage while gripping the pistol. Range testing with approx. 800 rounds of LSWC target ammo determined the gun to be 100% reliable.
 
#34 ·
after watching your video and reading this thread, i too have had this happen to my RIA tac 9mm, 4 out of 5 trys, and my grip safety has always be loose and rattled. i know this is not the RIA forum, but i'm still concerned. i've never taken a 1911 apart, should i too send it back? thanks for bringing this to my attention.
 
#35 ·
Only send it back if you are not confident enough to fix it yourself. I have no experience with 1911's and most likely I could fix it but I bought the gun new and it should have not left the factory this way. They paid for the shipping both ways and they have all the knowledge and tools to fix it the right way so for me, the best option was to let Ruger fix it. Also, I received a tracking number on Friday 6/8 from Ruger so my gun is already on the way back to me! That is some quick turnaround time!! We will see if they made it right.
 
#38 ·
Hey there, I'm new to the forum and have come to it via google with the problem I am having with my Brand new SR1911. I realize this is an old thread, but it is very similar to the issue with the SR1911 I got today. My grip safety when I opened it up was also noticeably very loose also, almost seems as if there were no tension whatsoever. So anyway, I decided to check and see if it were engaging the trigger at all, and it was not. I held the pistol without touching the grip safety at all and pulled the trigger and it fired right away. It was as if there were no grip safety at all. I didn't need to aim the gun down or shake as you did. I simply aimed it straight ahead and fired it without touching the grip safety.
Now that you had yours fixed, would you suggest that I call Ruger and have this sent back or do you think I may be able to bring it to the retailer as I haven't even had this for even 24hrs or should I attempt to repair it myself?

Thanks
 
#39 ·
I'd start with the retailer - right away (as in go get your keys now). That's a DANGEROUS gun and he should be more than willing to get it back from you and out of use where it could be a huge liability. If he's an idiot and won't help, then yes, back to Ruger. At least you can always count on them to make it right. I'd still be going for an exchange (or refund if no more in stock) with the retailer first.
 
#40 ·
I agree, if the grip safety is not working then try and take it back to the retailer first, and if that does not work then send it to Ruger. I now have a couple SR1911s plus I have shot a few others friends have and they are 100%, but every company has a bad one make it through every now and then.
 
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