Pt 1911

carprivershooter · December 18, 2008, 11:47 PM

I have a PT 1911 and I am not happy with the the feel of it in my hand. I have a Springfield 1911 A1 I think a series 70 ( no beaver tail) and a hump on the grip. and I like the the fit in my hand. So what i would like to do is remove the beaver tail safety and add the spring hump. (as you can tell I ain't no gun expert) is this something a none expert could do. I have been wanting to try my hand a modifying a 1911. I would guess the parts I would need would be easy to come by?

**Unclenick** · December 19, 2008, 01:21 AM

I, too, favor the "hump" of the rounded mainspring housing to a flat mainspring housing. That's easy. Go buy a rounded mainspring housing and switch out the mainspring detent plunger at the bottom of the spring, the hammer strut plunger at the top of the spring, and the mainspring and mainspring retaining pin. To disassemble, you put the housing in a padded vice and get a good hold of it and depress the hammer strut plunger with something soft like a big nail. While it is depressed, push the pin out with a small drift punch or finishing nail. Release the plunger slowly and remove it and the spring for swapping into the new housing. The latter is assembled by reversing the process.

As to the beavertail, that is tougher. Many beavertails require a frame alteration, shortening and rounding the recoil frame profile (protrusions behind the thumb safety pin). You can't really put that metal back. If your beavertail was the drop-in kind (no alteration) then you can just put a GI grip safety in its place. You may have to do a bit of filing to trim the step in the end of the blocking extension to get it to work properly. Using the GI type with the altered frame will function, but looks a little odd and may bother your hand more. Personally, I prefer the beavertail because the standard safety makes my hand sore in the thumb-to-index finger web after a protracted shooting session; but everyone's hands are different.

P.S. I looked up a photo of the PT 1911. The frame is the altered style, though the safety does not ride as low as the Les Baer and has not got complete coverage of the underside of the frame so it doesn't completely prevent annoying contact with the thumb-to-index finger web. You might find that design suits your hands better.

carprivershooter · December 19, 2008, 09:49 PM

Thank you uncle Nick you make sound easy I wil be giving it a try. but of course I could just place a my name on the wait list for a Springfield mil spec. and use the pt1911 as a trader. MY hands don't normal bother me is my forearm that feel unconfortable he next day. thanks again

**Unclenick** · December 19, 2008, 11:51 PM

The forearm usually comes from sustaining a hard grip for too long. It leads to what is commonly called "shooter's elbow"; basically the same thing as tennis elbow. You can look up all the standard PT (physical therapy, in this case) exercises for tennis elbow and do them preemptively.

It may be the shape of the Taurus is exaggerating that for you? Swapping the mainspring housing is undone by putting the original back, so you could try that to see if it helps. Just keep the original, and you won't affect the gun's value.

For awhile, a lot of Bullseye shooters got left hand twist barrels which were supposed to ease the elbow problem. For me, it exaggerated the problem. Bullseye shooters are shooting offhand (one-hand hold) so this gets to them more frequently, despite the loads usually being lighter. People using two-handed grips are prone to the weak hand pulling the wrist of the strong hand, such that the two fight each other. Sore forearms and shooter's elbow also result. You can try retraining your grip by going through the motions at a snail's pace to identify and consciously neutralize the undesirable force if that is the problem you are having?

WESHOOT2 · December 22, 2008, 12:26 PM

Good idea; get gun you like more.

December 18, 2008, 11:47 PM	#1
carprivershooter Senior Member Join Date: February 16, 2008 Location: Michigan, Upper Pennsula Posts: 396	Pt 1911 I have a PT 1911 and I am not happy with the the feel of it in my hand. I have a Springfield 1911 A1 I think a series 70 ( no beaver tail) and a hump on the grip. and I like the the fit in my hand. So what i would like to do is remove the beaver tail safety and add the spring hump. (as you can tell I ain't no gun expert) is this something a none expert could do. I have been wanting to try my hand a modifying a 1911. I would guess the parts I would need would be easy to come by?

December 19, 2008, 01:21 AM	#2
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,732	I, too, favor the "hump" of the rounded mainspring housing to a flat mainspring housing. That's easy. Go buy a rounded mainspring housing and switch out the mainspring detent plunger at the bottom of the spring, the hammer strut plunger at the top of the spring, and the mainspring and mainspring retaining pin. To disassemble, you put the housing in a padded vice and get a good hold of it and depress the hammer strut plunger with something soft like a big nail. While it is depressed, push the pin out with a small drift punch or finishing nail. Release the plunger slowly and remove it and the spring for swapping into the new housing. The latter is assembled by reversing the process. As to the beavertail, that is tougher. Many beavertails require a frame alteration, shortening and rounding the recoil frame profile (protrusions behind the thumb safety pin). You can't really put that metal back. If your beavertail was the drop-in kind (no alteration) then you can just put a GI grip safety in its place. You may have to do a bit of filing to trim the step in the end of the blocking extension to get it to work properly. Using the GI type with the altered frame will function, but looks a little odd and may bother your hand more. Personally, I prefer the beavertail because the standard safety makes my hand sore in the thumb-to-index finger web after a protracted shooting session; but everyone's hands are different. P.S. I looked up a photo of the PT 1911. The frame is the altered style, though the safety does not ride as low as the Les Baer and has not got complete coverage of the underside of the frame so it doesn't completely prevent annoying contact with the thumb-to-index finger web. You might find that design suits your hands better. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle Last edited by Unclenick; December 19, 2008 at 01:45 AM. Reason: Added P.S.

December 19, 2008, 09:49 PM	#3
carprivershooter Senior Member Join Date: February 16, 2008 Location: Michigan, Upper Pennsula Posts: 396	1911 mod Thank you uncle Nick you make sound easy I wil be giving it a try. but of course I could just place a my name on the wait list for a Springfield mil spec. and use the pt1911 as a trader. MY hands don't normal bother me is my forearm that feel unconfortable he next day. thanks again

December 19, 2008, 11:51 PM	#4
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,732	The forearm usually comes from sustaining a hard grip for too long. It leads to what is commonly called "shooter's elbow"; basically the same thing as tennis elbow. You can look up all the standard PT (physical therapy, in this case) exercises for tennis elbow and do them preemptively. It may be the shape of the Taurus is exaggerating that for you? Swapping the mainspring housing is undone by putting the original back, so you could try that to see if it helps. Just keep the original, and you won't affect the gun's value. For awhile, a lot of Bullseye shooters got left hand twist barrels which were supposed to ease the elbow problem. For me, it exaggerated the problem. Bullseye shooters are shooting offhand (one-hand hold) so this gets to them more frequently, despite the loads usually being lighter. People using two-handed grips are prone to the weak hand pulling the wrist of the strong hand, such that the two fight each other. Sore forearms and shooter's elbow also result. You can try retraining your grip by going through the motions at a snail's pace to identify and consciously neutralize the undesirable force if that is the problem you are having? __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

December 22, 2008, 12:26 PM	#5
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	bye-bye Good idea; get gun you like more.