Can anyone tell me why...

[Volzfan]

...people love 1911's so much but will bash XD's because of the grip safety?

I have never shot a 1911 but once owned an XD-40. I never had any issue with the grip safety.

Just wondering!

Edited May 10, 2012 by Volzfan

[TNWNGR]

Because grip safety's are something people have griped about for the last hundred or so year's.

[Reservoir Dog]

Who wouldn't complain about a grip safety!

I despise any type of manual safety on a carry gun.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Just pin the grip safety down if it is a bone of contention. Or you could just grind the leg off that blocks the trigger if the grip safety is depressed. The grip safety isn't that important to the 1911 being safe. It has more to do with making sure the gun it gripped correctly before firing.

The 1911 is one of the least sensitive guns to limp wristing. Try shooting a Glock while limp wristing, most times it will not even extract the round from the chamber.

Here are some very telling videos about the reliability of the "ancient" 1911 platform:

If you don't like the grip safety of the 1911 remove it. It still has the thumb safety which is a much better safety than the grip safety anyways.

The grip safety only prevents the trigger from being pulled, thats it. It doesn't keep the hammer from falling. The gun is stil capable of firing if dropped and the thumb safety is not engaged. The reason is because the grip safety only blocks the rearward movement of the trigger. And because of this the sear can be bumped off the hammer hook if dropped or jarred. This is why it is important to ALWAYS use the thumb safety. I have known people who believe the grip safety is all that is needed on a 1911. And that is about as far from the truth as you can get.

The thumb safety on the other hand locks the sear in place preventing the hammer from falling. And because the sear is locked in place AGAINST the hammer hook the hammer cannot drop no matter the reason. The thumb safety prevents the gun from firing no matter the amount of dropping or jarring it is subjected to. A properly fitted thumb safety will not allow the 1911's hammer to fall no matter the reason.

This is why it is so important to have a qualified gunsmith or someone intimately familiar with the 1911 fit the thumb safety. It is the second most important safety, the first being the shooter's brain.

Dolomite

[timcalhoun]

I imagine the same folks that dislike them on the XD don't like them on a 1911 either.

The fact is that many people have trouble with grip safeties and even with a good grip they don't disengage sometimes. It seems like folks with big meaty hands suffer the most.

The XDs , grip safety (unlike the 1911) actually blocks the sear and since the XD is a true single action pistol it is really necessary. (the 1903 colt hammerless grip safety was the same)

Dolomite covered most of what I would say about the 1911s grip safety. I will just add that in addition to pinning or disabling the 1911 gs, you can adjust it so that is still works but takes very little movement to disengage, making it a non issue while still having a fully functioning gun.

Edited May 10, 2012 by timcalhoun

[Jonnin]

...people love 1911's so much but will bash XD's because of the grip safety?

I have never shot a 1911 but once owned an XD-40. I never had any issue with the grip safety.

Just wondering!

I love the 1911 because it is accurate and because I like short, light, SAO triggers. The trigger is 90% of it --- I am certain accuracy could be had in other designs that had a SAO trigger --- easily seen in the few .22 caliber SAO guns. The grip safety on both guns is, IMHO, stupid. The bushing on the 1911 is also, IMHO, a poor design. I would *love* to see some other SAO designs, but there are not any. I do not bash the XD, but I do not really care for it either, the trigger is no good for me. In general, I dislike any extra safety features on any gun --- which boils down to ANY safety on guns that are not SAO and a simple thumb saftey on the SAO designs. Anything else is overblown and in my way.

[Fourtyfive]

Love the vids Dolo !

[BigK]

Excellent videos.

I saw this first hand last weekend. I took a friend who's never shot a handgun with me to the range. I watched my 1911 waggle around in his hand like a fish, but it cycled every darn time. Can't say the same for G17 or C9, they choked every single shot until he finally listened to me about how to grip it.

[mav]

I love the 1911 because it is accurate and because I like short, light, SAO triggers. The trigger is 90% of it

Second.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Love the vids Dolo !

Not me or my videos. Just something I found on YouTube.

After viewing them the first time I duplicated the results with my Glock and 1911.

Dolomite

[gregintenn]

I like 1911s but not xds simply because the xd is ULGY!

[Guest 6.8 AR]

To be fair, though, the Glock 17C was the one that didn't want to cycle at all. Don't know what the difference is

in the handling of a compensated Glock compared to my regular ones. No dog in the fight here as I like both

1911's and Glocks, but how many times will you limp wrist fire anything? Maybe in an injured situation? I know

offhand is bad enough unless you really practice it.

The grip safety on 1911's don't bother me, especially enough to grind that piece of metal off. Interesting to see

how the different makes of guns did function.

[Jonnin]

To be fair, though, the Glock 17C was the one that didn't want to cycle at all. Don't know what the difference is

in the handling of a compensated Glock compared to my regular ones. No dog in the fight here as I like both

1911's and Glocks, but how many times will you limp wrist fire anything? Maybe in an injured situation? I know

offhand is bad enough unless you really practice it.

The grip safety on 1911's don't bother me, especially enough to grind that piece of metal off. Interesting to see

how the different makes of guns did function.

Not everyone is a 25 year old big ol' bubba built like a plumber. I can point you to at least 4 women I know that LW jam a glock at least once per mag, if not more. (Plenty of women can handle the guns, this is a strength issue with specific individuals). My wife is one of them. And, the problem was at its worst when she got in a hurry, for example trying to do drills with multiple targets. Its not a glock thing, many lightweight, subcompact guns are prone to LW problems, but such guns are a constant source of problems to weaker/infirm shooters and, worse, many of those shooters are unable to diagnose what the source of the problem even is (inexperienced shooters). I can shoot the 17c without LW jams but it still had so much recoil I had to re-aim after every shot because of the jerks. I am not strong enough to hold lightweights on target for rapid fire.

[BigK]

I like 1911s but not xds simply because the xd is ULGY!

I can't disagree, but I've seen you shooting a Glock too and they're almost as ugly

[Guest bulluck533]

I have to say the Glock is way uglier than the XD. I actually like a grip safety.

[StPatrick]

Can a limp wrist cause a double feed?* Saw this happen today with a recoil-averse female shooter who was trying out a commander length 1911 in .45acp. The gun and magazine involved had no issues for other shooters, so intuitively I think that's the cause, but I don't fully understand the mechanics of a double feed, so I can't easily diagnose the issue.

In the case of this particular FTF/FTE combo, the chambered round was unfired, if that helps at all.

*I did search a bit, but the signal to noise ratio was about 0.10. I have a more trust in most TGOers than random internet hits. Thanks, ladies and gentlemen.