Is this beavertail blendable?

[WTForce]

So I have a 1911builders frame with a wilson combat high-ride beavertail. I didn't use a 0.250 radius beavertail since I preferred the look of the Wilson combat

I did not realize that 1911builders does not leave enough metal in the tangs for a normal blend. I thought I'd get more feedback on this before I start filing away at the beavertail.

[MosinVirus]

Can you provide better pictures to show the gap? Shine some light in there by chance?

Wilson combat safeties use a compound radius - from .220 at the rear of the tangs to .250 at toward the bottom of the tangs.

in any case, to really comment on your fit, and possible blending, I would need to see what is gap and what is shadow.

[liber]

So, what you're asking is, "will it blend?" ???

http://www.willitblend.com/

[Dr69er]

Like MV mentioned...

OK,

A) 1911 builders normally uses a .220" tang radius, what you have is
likely a .250" radius WC beavertail...

B) You should still be able to use It, It just will require more work to
properly blend It to the rear tang area...

C) Check to see if you still get proper engagement and dis-engagement of
your grip safety (proper function) before you start filing, grinding, and
blending your grip safety.

Good Luck.

[WTForce]

Ill try to take a well lit picture

Like MV mentioned...

OK,

A) 1911 builders normally uses a .220" tang radius, what you have is
likely a .250" radius WC beavertail...

B) You should still be able to use It, It just will require more work to
properly blend It to the rear tang area...

C) Check to see if you still get proper engagement and dis-engagement of
your grip safety (proper function) before you start filing, grinding, and
blending your grip safety.

Good Luck.

Its actually the other way around the 1911builders frame was a 0.250" radius and the WC beavertail is .220" radius

The beavertail has already been fully fitted and functions as it should. The only thing left is blending.

[jmatt511]

I used a .220 from Smith & Alexander. Better fit for blending. Though the underside required more blending than other frames.

[liber]

A) 1911 builders normally uses a .220" tang radius, what you have is likely a .250" radius WC beavertail...

No, 1911Builders was using .250 radius and telling people they were using .220. When they were notified by a person that they were really .250 they said they didn't care.

I would never buy product from them, given this. I know the person that told them the radius was wrong on their site, he sold me a frame.

[MosinVirus]

As mentioned before (above)

1. Make sure that functionally the grip safety works.
2. Take a look at the gap between the mating surfaces.
If you can live with the gap, blend. Amount of material at the tangs is not important. The only thing you don't want to do is cut all the way through the thin wall of the safety in mid body on the left side as you are working on fitting the sides.

FYI: the wilson combat safeties are neither 220 or 250 radius. They use a compound radius that expands from about 220 to 250 like I mentioned before. That is why you would want to use their Jig, and not the .220 or the .250 jig. It is also why you have to have a slide on the frame when mounting their jig. It references off the bottom of the slide for proper alignment, unlike the true radius jigs. (by the way, I am not sure if the numbers are actually .220 and .250 on the WC safety, but there is a really apparent difference).

Not all 1911 builders sold frames are the same, but I have fitted 220 and 250 radius safeties to them. Recently I fitted a WC safety to one frame. It had sompletely different geometry of the tangs to begin with and very little blending will be needed. Notice how low the bottom edge relief cut is on this frame (railed 80 series) compared to yours. And notice how well the safety "meets" the frame.



You can see the clear difference between radiuses here.



All the meat I see in your image is not a problem to remove. But I am more interested in the gap between the radius on the safety and the radius of the tangs of the frame.

So if you can take some better shots we can give you a better opinion.

[mtenenhaus]

if i recall correctly EGW and Harrison Custom make .245 inch radius grip safeties in case you're close.

[smoothy8500]

Between a Dremel and Crocus cloth, anything can be "blended".

[pklin1297]

Based on what I see, I don't think the OP has cut the frame to the compound radius needed for that Wilson beavertail yet, even so, I've fitted Wilson beavertail to a 1911builder frame before and it'll be fine for fitting.

With that said, unless I really wanted the Wilson regular, or concealment beavertail, I would always choose EGW (.245), Harrison (.240), or Greg Derr (.245) beavertails to use. They're much easier to blend and offer a higher hold on the gun.

[MosinVirus]

Between a Dremel and Crocus cloth, anything can be "blended".

indeed

[WTForce]

As mentioned before (above)

1. Make sure that functionally the grip safety works.
2. Take a look at the gap between the mating surfaces.
If you can live with the gap, blend. Amount of material at the tangs is not important. The only thing you don't want to do is cut all the way through the thin wall of the safety in mid body on the left side as you are working on fitting the sides.

FYI: the wilson combat safeties are neither 220 or 250 radius. They use a compound radius that expands from about 220 to 250 like I mentioned before. That is why you would want to use their Jig, and not the .220 or the .250 jig. It is also why you have to have a slide on the frame when mounting their jig. It references off the bottom of the slide for proper alignment, unlike the true radius jigs. (by the way, I am not sure if the numbers are actually .220 and .250 on the WC safety, but there is a really apparent difference).

Not all 1911 builders sold frames are the same, but I have fitted 220 and 250 radius safeties to them. Recently I fitted a WC safety to one frame. It had sompletely different geometry of the tangs to begin with and very little blending will be needed. Notice how low the bottom edge relief cut is on this frame (railed 80 series) compared to yours. And notice how well the safety "meets" the frame.

You can see the clear difference between radiuses here.

All the meat I see in your image is not a problem to remove. But I am more interested in the gap between the radius on the safety and the radius of the tangs of the frame.

So if you can take some better shots we can give you a better opinion.

These are the gaps im talking about. I did use the wilson combat jig for fitting. Those gaps being present after fitting is what stands out to me as odd. During the initial removal of metal from the tangs using the jig the bottom portion of the tangs didnt even have to be touched for initial fitting.

Based on what I see, I don't think the OP has cut the frame to the compound radius needed for that Wilson beavertail yet, even so, I've fitted Wilson beavertail to a 1911builder frame before and it'll be fine for fitting.

I pretty sure that I have fitted the beavertail using the jig from Wilson I dont think it would be fully functional otherwise.

[MosinVirus]

Ok, looking at these pictures and if you were going to proceed and blend, you would have to reduce the underside of the beavertail all the way up to the tangs. And then take more off to blend the tangs down to the beavertail. All the while keeping in mind the hammer scallop on the safety.

Is it doable? Perhaps.

What I would do is NOT use that safety. I would get a .220 jig and a .220 safety is use that instead.

Why .220? Because the rear of the tangs are already cut to .220. And you clearly don't have enough meat for .250 as is evident by the fit of the wilson safety.

I would fit that and blend it.

Just for my own knowledge, how did you position the wilson combat jig on the frame?


Just posted pics of how my concealment one married my "large tangs" frame. Thread is "Here we go again".

[WTForce]

Ok, looking at these pictures and if you were going to proceed and blend, you would have to reduce the underside of the beavertail all the way up to the tangs. And then take more off to blend the tangs down to the beavertail. All the while keeping in mind the hammer scallop on the safety.

Is it doable? Perhaps.

What I would do is NOT use that safety. I would get a .220 jig and a .220 safety is use that instead.

Why .220? Because the rear of the tangs are already cut to .220. And you clearly don't have enough meat for .250 as is evident by the fit of the wilson safety.

I would fit that and blend it.

Just for my own knowledge, how did you position the wilson combat jig on the frame?


Just posted pics of how my concealment one married my "large tangs" frame. Thread is "Here we go again".

Buying another grip safety is what im trying to avoid unless its a must and since I already fitted the safety arm to my trigger it doesnt seem like I can sell it either.

But ill probably leave all of the blending until after im finished with the rest of the gun

I positioned the jig as parallel to the rails as possible like the instructions say, tossing on the slide also helps with that.