1911 ambi safety, pro or con

[Double Naught Spy]

I have had them and loved them, but find them too delicate and end up with strong side only. I have replaced them multiple times. Why? It is the part that protrudes when worn on the hip and so there is a good chance that if you catch your gun on something, you often will be doing it with the safety selector. The two halves couple together in the middle with a dovetail joint that isn't particularly strong. Eventually, you break one of the wings off the female side of the joint and the ambi-side will cease to function.

 

[Jim Watson]

There are better designs now, but I recall one ham handed southpaw who hammered his way through two Baers. I showed him the King's, which held up better but eventually failed. The last time I saw him, he was shooting a Glock.

This was the guy who wired broken parts to a board and walked through the SHOT Show displaying it to all the 1911 manufacturers.

 

[gnappi]

I'm pro ambi safety but no longer go out of my way to install one, but will favor a pistol if purchased new with an ambi already installed

 

[redlightrich]

Interesting conversation. I am building a 2011 now, and even though it appears to be cut on the right for ambi, I have decided against it for all the reasons stated above. I am right hand. If I were lefty, that would be another story.

 

[44caliberkid]

Ambi safeties sound practical, but are not in use. I really regret putting them on AR’s, because the right side lever digs into my hand upon recoil.

 

[TunnelRat]

Ambi safeties sound practical, but are not in use. I really regret putting them on AR’s, because the right side lever digs into my hand upon recoil.

The make ambi safeties for ARs that are shorter on one side to prevent that from being an issue.

 

[Dfariswheel]

The 1911 ambi safety was once a "must have" item for gun gamers for off-hand shooting.
Today on a defense gun they're an unnecessary complication, and complications can cause problems.

It's entirely different if you're a left hand shooter and then its a necessary piece of equipment that allows effective use of the gun.

 

[radom]

yep left hand they are a need..us righties its tits on a bore hog and get in the way

 

[RickB]

I've always found it fascinating that right-handed shooters, who presumably use the ambi feature only rarely, struggle with safeties breaking and disengaging in the holster?
I'm a lefty, and in 25+ years have never broken one, of the six or eight I've installed, nor had one disengage in the holster . . .
The lever on the left side of the gun, the one I rarely use as anything but a thumb rest, though usually wider than the lever I do use, never "gets in the way".
Do I just accept or overlook issues with having levers on both sides, because I absolutely need the lever on the right side?

 

[jar]

I've never had an issue with ambi safties regardless of type of pistol. It's simply a non-issue.

But the answer is really really simple.

Buy pistols that don't have ambi-safeties or modify the ones you did buy to have but a single safety.

 

[GeauxTide]

I'm left handed, but shoot ambidextrous. Have a standard sized safety and it doesn't get in the way.

 

[TRX]

> Mandatory for me as I'm left handed. Not so if I were a righty.

I'm a lefty, but I shot 1911s for decades before I got one with an ambi safety. So far, the various ones I've had turned out to be sloppy, fragile, and a hassle when detail-stripping the gun. Since they're all hand-fitted I haven't changed any back to wrong-side, but I did go back to shooting the 1911 the way I'd always done it - ignore the thumb safety, and just thumb the hammer back like an old Colt single-action revolver when I'm ready to shoot. No problem for me; I have big hands and long thumbs.

It's probably not as convenient as a thumb safety, but it works for me. It worked for John Browning too; that's why none of his big autoloaders had a thumb safety until he bodged one in for Colt when they were pursuing the new Army pistol contract and the US Army decided they wanted a thumb safety. Earlier designs just had a "half cock" position. I let my hammer all the way down; I'd rather spend an extra couple of milliseconds pulling it back then risk having it knocked off half-cock. Plus the grip safeties are all still there and functional; I never had a problem with one, so I never fell into the New Greatest Thing fad of pinning them down.

 

[TRX]

> Ambi safeties sound practical, but are not in use. I really regret putting them on AR’s, because the right side lever digs into my hand upon recoil.
---
I have a left-hand Stag AR. The bolt and upper receiver were left-handed, but those were the only left-hand bits.

Everything else was ordinary right-hand stuff. Even the ejection port cover, which flips up instead of down. I added a left-hand safety, charging handle, magazine release, and bolt release. Well, the bolt release isn't actually left-handed, but the paddle goes back far enough that I can, with some effort, operate it with my left index finger.

It's really nice to shoot a rifle that doesn't eject across my face, though.

 

[44 AMP]

I really regret putting them on AR’s, because the right side lever digs into my hand upon recoil.

I am having a hard time visualizing this. First, that the AR has recoil () but mostly, where are you putting your hand that the safety lever ever touches it, in the normal shooting grip??

 

[FITASC]

For those of us in the 15% who are LH, ambi safeties on ARs, 1911s, etc are a must; and I prefer them to be factory installed and not by bubba the shade tree gunsmith

 

[TunnelRat]

For those of us in the 15% who are LH, ambi safeties on ARs, 1911s, etc are a must; and I prefer them to be factory installed and not by bubba the shade tree gunsmith

While a 1911 safety may need some fitting, on an AR it’s generally a drop in part. Even Bubba can do it.

 

[44 AMP]

It worked for John Browning too; that's why none of his big autoloaders had a thumb safety until he bodged one in for Colt when they were pursuing the new Army pistol contract and the US Army decided they wanted a thumb safety. Earlier designs just had a "half cock" position.

While it appears that Browning felt a grip safety was enough (based on his earlier designs) the ARMY, and specifically the Cavalry (which was still at that time the prestige arm of the Army) felt it was needed.

The concern was that a mounted man, possibly moving at speed might need to reholster his pistol, with it loaded or partially loaded. HE has only one hand to do that, the gun is cocked and he is holding the pistol which negates the grip safety function.

Sure, the smart guy will take his finger off the trigger, but without a manual safety engaged, trying to shove a loaded cocked pistol into a holster while riding a galloping horse is just asking for trouble. The original term for the thumb safety was "Safety Lock", (because that's what it did, it locked the gun on safe) and Army manuals in the 1970s still used that name as the part name.

The requirement was not only reasonable, it made good sense, and Browning wasn't an Austrian engineer who thought his product was perfection, he was an American who recognized that, if it was what the customer wanted, it was what he would build, and redesigned his original prototype to include the safety lock (aka thumb safety).

I was a Small Arms Repairman in the Army in the mid 70s. The 1911A1 was still the standard service pistol. GI spec pistols and GI spec parts don't need fitting. Any part that doesn't "drop in and function" doesn't get fitted, it gets tossed and a different part installed, and, if necessary (a very rare thing) the process is repeated until you get a part from the bin that does drop in and work. Guns and parts not made to the GI specs can be anything and fitting can be required.

Still waiting for an answer about where you put your hand so that an AR safety lever (either side) digs into your hand during recoil. I wear a size 9 glove, and the lever is no where near my hand when I am shooting.

 

[L-2]

I only had one 1911 (Kimber SIS 5") which came with an ambi-1911 safety. At some point, the ambi-side's female-type dovetail broke and I replaced it with a single-side safety.

Not being left-handed, I never needed an ambi-1911 safety, but while I had it, I never had a problem when carrying/using the ambi safety. I do realize the safety on a 1911 is somewhat hard-to-use with only my left-hand, moreso than using a pistol's mag catch or with my ARs' safeties where one's left index finger is easily used.

I did hear Wilson and at least one other brand came out with extra-robust ambi safeties, but I'd never fitted a 1911 safety before and didn't want to try and fail with a $100+ part:
https://wilsoncombat.com/thumb-safety-ambidextrous-tactical-lever-1911-bullet-proof-blue.html

https://www.egwguns.com/hd-1911-ambi-thumb-safety-slim-paddles-stainless-steel-1

Plus, I don't TIG-weld should I file too much and might need to add-back material. (Maybe I'll try to fit a 1911 thumb-safety someday...but it's not a pressing goal to do so.)

 

[radom]

Here I just deal with them as they are not a big deal but all in all being right handed they are why for me as makes the gun wider in the ribs and holsters is all.