1911 "love bites"

[.452browning]

i have a springfield champion 1911 .45acp and i love shooting it. however one problem has always been there. when i shoot it the grip safety kicks back into my hand and will leave little love bites after only one 8 round magazine. i was thinking about getting a larger grip safety to fix the problem. so i was wondering if i can purchase any grip safety i desire to replace it or do i have to go through springfield to get a larger one? and does anyone else have a problem with getting bit by a 1911?

 

[JetGirl]

Never heard of that happening before.
Is it some kind of pinch you're getting? Or exceptionally rough checkering scratching you? Or what?
Not that it should make a difference, but does your grip safety have a memory bump?

 

[.452browning]

its a standard grip safety with no bump...its a pretty narrow grip safety compared to my hand size. what is actually causing the problem is the 2 sides of the grip safety. they are not sharp per say but they are sharp enough to scratch my hand when recoiling, and the recoil is not harsh at all on me. just enough to cause marks

 

[Kick]

If he's got fat hands and a high grip like me, its prolly from the hammer coming down and pinching the web of his hand... There are a lot of aftermarket grip safeties out there... Some of them can even be installed with little or no modification to the frame.... However, if you are going to spend the money on a new safety, I would go through a gunsmith and have it professionally fitted...

 

[printcraft]

Weird. x 2

Could you take out the safety and hone the rear edges to remove any sharpness?

 

[combat45acp]

If you replace the grip safety they come "long" and have to be filed down to work. There is an arm so to speak on the inside that engages the safety, you would need to file the two angles down little by little till it works. Or maybe sand down existing safeties side?

 

[JetGirl]

they are sharp enough to scratch my hand when recoiling, and the recoil is not harsh at all on me. just enough to cause marks

Can you take some macro pics of the backstrap?

 

[.452browning]

i do have fat hands and run a high grip. im sure i can file down the sharpness on the sides to see if that makes the difference, wonder if it would be worth purchasing a new grip safety and have a gunsmith install it instead

 

[sakima]

Pinch

If you don't have a beavertail safety on your 1911, I'll bet the web of your hand is being pinched between the spurred hammer and the safety tang. I put a drop-in beavertail and combat hammer on my old Series 70 and eliminated that problem.

 

[Squib]

What sakima said. In the meantime, wear a shooting glove.

 

[Drail]

For 80% of people the GI grip safety will need to have the sharp corners radiused a little. For the other 20% who have a little more meat on the web of their hand the problem is caused by some flesh getting under the hammer. (much pain and some blood, not conducive to accurate firing) In that case you really need to have a aftermarket grip safety fitted to the frame (which will also require a commander style hammer). This will enable you to fire a thousand rounds at one session with no discomfort or bllod. A few smiths have actually just taken the GI grip safety and ground the spur completely off. Some people use a high grip and some will grip the gun lower. There's no right or wrong here but a higher grip will get your hand and wrist closer to the bore line and make rapid shooting easier.