Posted: 7/16/2008 7:18:47 PM EDT
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Is there anything short of having a beavertail installed that will stop hammer bite on a SA mil spec? Can you bob the hammer a bit without screwing anything up? If so, will it help? |
Bite it back...teach it a lesson.  Bobbing the hammer works too, but it reduces your thumb area for cocking the hammer manually. Bobbing it is typically a quick fix for the problem, just make sure you relieve it enough to cure the problem and not more than necessary. Take care, Bob |
Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology. What you describe, is what was happening to me. Not abrading, just the edges digging in to the web of my hand. Sorry for the mix up, a-bare |
No problem, if you don't want to mess with the grip safety just get a shooting glove. 
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Thanks, I'll try bobbing it a bit. It isn't bad really, just a little annoying after a couple hundred rounds. It'll have to be tomorrow before I try it, I have to go get a chipped tooth fixed as a result of your inital advice 
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Yeah, you can bob the hammer. It helps. This was a common mod in the old days. You see it alot on guns done by the great Armand Swenson. But there's NOTHING like a good beavertail. To me, it's one of the best "modern" mods to the 1911 platform. Really does allow you to have the OPTIMUM grip for control and fast follow-ups. If you do get it done, you'll be damnded glad you did. The only way I'd get a 1911 without one would be if it was a project gun, and I'd be grindin' that frame and puttin' one on for sure! |
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Here is what you want to do with a spur hammer 1911. Bob the hammer back by 4 notches. Reprofile the tail of the hammer to the original profile. Next, soften all the rear edges of the hammer a bit from the bottom all the way around the spur. Next, you need to soften the ended of the back of the frame wherever your hand wraps around the back of frame. You also soften the edges of the grip safety wherever you hand touches ( either at rest or under recoil ) You'll be STUNNED by the difference.....no frame tang cutting or beavertail fitting required.  That is what I did with this pistol...and it's a zero bite, gun. Note, excepting the hammer mods, how little metal I had to remove to achieve that result. |
| The above is essentially what I did for my MEUSOC clone project. I haven't been able to find the right beavertail for my project, so I just modified the stock SA GI grip safety to clear a commander hammer (until I find the beavertail). In the process, I softened the edges and it feels better shooting. |
You seem to be using a lower grip than many 1911 shooters. Most of us shoot high-thumbs, with the highest grip possible - thus the desire for beavertails and the occassional under-cut relieved trigger guard. With a higher grip on a standard 1911, it is possible to actually be "bit" by the hammer at full recoil (note that the full hammer travel is slightly greater than it is when cocked). However, from my experience, most "hammer bite" scenarios with 1911s tend to be more of a grip safety issue, as others have already mentioned. I have seen (and experienced) a lot more true hammer bite from Hi-Powers and PPKs than 1911s. Dehorning/rounding the grip safety can help alleviate this problem. Or you could switch to a new grip safety; there are drop-in "wide" and beavertail safeties available, but of course they're no comparison to a true fitted beavertail. |
Couple things are going on with hammer bite that you won't experience with the .22 converison in the picture. The standard hammer comes down and follows the upper contour of the grip safety on a mil-spec government model. You have a commander type hammer. During recoil with a .45 the rear of the grip safety tends to drop down a bit into the flesh of the hand. The fleshier the hand the worse this can be. The hammer spur gets pushed down all the way to the edge of the grip safety as the slide ends it's rearward travel. This creates a pinch area at the rear of the grip safety. Many folks will bevel the rear lower edge of the hammer so that when the hammer makes contact withthe grip safety a gap will be produced at eh rearmost edge to keep it from grabbing any flesh. |
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