TM Recon 1911 question

[fortdick]

Anyone have any luck finding a beaver tail that is drop in, or semi drop in for the TM 80%'er?

I am working on my first build and having a lot of fun with it, but grinding, filings, sanding and stoning is not my favorite part of the project. Which grip safety is best?

Thanks in advance.

[mtenenhaus]

i believe someone once posted the drop in wilson combat beaver tail...
if it required fitting it was minimal....but if my recollection was correct it paled in comparison to a nicely fit unit. unsightly gap but functional. I guess it depends upon your requirements/desires

[pklin1297]

What radius is it cut for already? If you want to have a beavertail fit to be proud of, keep grinding, filing, sanding and stoning away...

So far I've found EGW grip safeties to offer the most "meat" to blend with. They offer it in both .220 and .250 radii.

[vlady]

My frame "fit" a .250 radius but is fugly. Works, but not pretty. I would have needed to add material to the tangs to make the beavertail fit better.

[pklin1297]

My frame "fit" a .250 radius but is fugly. Works, but not pretty. I would have needed to add material to make it fit better.

Totally understand. I've got a 1911builders' bobtail commander frame that is over-cut on the top of the tangs so I would have to file down pretty low in order to fit it, and still not sure if that will take care of the gap. Am planning to re-cut the tangs to either Wilson or .220 to see if it'll fit better. Upon preliminary inspection, the .220 should work well.

[dwalker]

I believe i used a Wilson, but it might have been an Ed Brown, let me look through my parts notes.

[dwalker]

Looks liek an Ed Brown was used and hand matched.

[fortdick]

Thanks for the input.

pklin1297, you are saying the .220 has more room for fitting?

[pklin1297]

Depends. If your frame tangs were not cut at all to begin with, that's the best case scenario because then you can choose any radius, and you can leave the top and bottom of the tangs over-sized for a gap-less fit. If it was pre-cut for a .250 radius like most frames these days, you might be lucky and there'll be plenty of "meat" left for fitting on the tangs, or in the case of my bobtail commander frame, have to resort to a smaller radius to give myself more material to work with rather than welding up the frame tangs.

I just got my Wilson jig and Wilson grip safety tonight, and upon initial inspection, it looks to be a great fit for this bobtail commander frame so I'm excited. Can't wait to fit it up. I have the jigs for all three radii so when in doubt, I can just put the jig on and see how much room I have to work with, then pick the best radius.

[MosinVirus]

I believe EGW .250 radius are actually .245 radius, so even if tangs are cut using a 250 jig, there will be room to make it pretty nice and seamless.

Anyone tried lapping the safety to the frame? I can see how any medium between parts will result in a seam (though it could be a very small seam). I may try this some time.

[vlady]

Anyone tried lapping the safety to the frame? I can see how any medium between parts will result in a seam (though it could be a very small seam). I may try this some time.

Seems like that would take a very long time as there isn't much travel to get good friction between the two surfaces.

[mtenenhaus]

Pklin, really curious to see how the Wilson cut works out....I've been contemplating that myself.

I recently overcut a .250 radius grip but just a hair but i wanted a more aesthetic fit...so i went to the .220 SA grip and managed to hide my error nicely. For some reason the SA contour feels particularly comfortable to me.

The EGW beavertail works out well for the reasons stated by Mosin...it really does look good when completed....but for my hands they're just a bit wide at the tail, I probably should have tailored them to fit me better.

[pklin1297]

MV, the EGWs are very nice IF the frame tangs are cut correctly, or even slightly off. It doesn't work well when the frame supplier decides to flatten the top of the tangs or slope them down for whatever reason...

Some illustrations to hopefully show what I'm referring to. These are all pictures I've found online with my own comments added:

This is how the radius should look after cutting with jig:




This is how my current EGW would look like fitted to the 1911builders' bobtail commander frame; notice the slope down on top of the tangs, and the top of the grip safety going over the top of the tangs. Mine looks worse than this currently, which is why I am changing the radius:




Pictures explains all:




Shameless plug for my own install:









OP, based on what I can see from the TM website (maybe their rep here an confirm), the tangs are cut for .250 radius. Best way to make sure is to get a jig and install it to verify. If you really want to go with a drop-in, Wilson is fine, or you can find a milspec safety or rat tail safety to install. All will probably require some fitting on the safety arm to your trigger bow. If you spend the time and do it right, nothing beats a nicely fitted, and safe grip safety...

[fortdick]

Right now, I am leaning towards the Ed Brown .220. The tangs look to be UN cut on the frame, so I figure that gives me the most options. I am cheap, so I won't spring for the EGW on this build, but after this, I am going to try a .40 Commander with my son. Damn hipster doesn't want the .45 because he likes the ballistics of the .40 for some reason. No Black Rifle Coffee for him!

[ThatFishGuy]

If the tangs are uncut, I would suggest doing a .250 first. That way if you over cut it, you can drop down to the .220. But as you may have noticed by now, most supplied frames that claim a .250 radius tend to be over cut. Another reason is that you can pick up .250 beavertail for sale much more often in the classifieds than the other options if cost is a factor