Bought a DW 1911 last Aug and have put 800rds through it(I don't shoot that much anymore)and I'm still struggling with it. I shoot it more accurately than anything else I have and it carries nice but the problems I'm having are safety related.

I have small hands that aren't meaty so I installed a short trigger and thin grips to make the gun smaller for me. Problem is when I draw the gun I get such a high grip on it sometimes and that combined with my not bulky hand and high thumb position doesn't allow me to deactivate the grip safety. Sometimes I'm not even putting any pressure on it and other times just a little bit but not enough to release it. I've done some draw practice in the house and I've gotten better but still not 100%, it's worse if I draw and try to fire one handed.  Dropping my thumb down will let me put enough meat on the grip safety to disengage it but in the heat of the moment you need the trigger to go even with a sloppy draw.

Now today I started having problems bumping the thumb safety on while using the slide release to drop the slide. I'm LH and found that I can manipulate the slide release with my trigger finger but if I don't have my finger just right I will bump the safety back on as soon as the slide locks up. Going back to reaching over the slide with my off hand will solve this but it's not quite as fast as the other method(when it works). I also didn't realize that I had a flinch until the gun wouldn't go off after a reload because the safety was on.

I know if I practice a lot more I should be able to cure the issues and that having a perfect draw will make me a better shooter but it's not a perfect world and I'm starting to wonder if sticking with a plastic striker fired gun that will go bang no matter what is the best course.

Were you the actor in the Burger King commercial?

I would tell you to put a ''bump'' grip safety on it but it sounds like you would still have issues with the safety. If you can hold a plastic fantastic [Glock 17/19] in your hand properly then you really shouldn't have an issue with a 1911 and reaching the safety.

It’s a pistol that experts shoot well if you put in the work. Sounds like you might want to shave down the left sided safety so you’re less likely to engage it on slide lock. An extended slide release may help as well.

I love 1911 but I know they aren’t lefty friendly

Why are you trying to manipulate the slide release with your trigger finger? Slingshotting the slide is super simple and it doesn't mess up your grip.

Change how you run it or change the gun?

You can grip a 1911 to high that the upward pressure to the bottom of the safety is more than the forward pressure.

You can get thumb safeties where the shelf is higher or lower. I find a wilson thumb safey is perfect where as Springfields cause me to push up on the safety to much if my grip is a little wonky.

I can’t disengage a high beaver tail safety either.

I can’t use an ambi safety on one at all.

1911s ain’t for everyone.

That's what I'm going back to, I've been trying this other way for awhile and it was working but things changed.

I'll check into those other safeties. A lower shelf would actually be better since I have short thumbs. When I grip high I also keep my thumb pointed more up and I have barely any meat touching the grip safety. If I drop my thumb down to a more vertical position my whole thumb moves forwards and presses the grip safety in. I just need to train myself to keep my thumb low and vertical all the time.

ETA. I thought about adding some padding to the speed bump on the grip safety to see if the extra material would help. I know some guys deactivate the grip safety but I don't want to do that.

You can have a gunsmith weld the memory bump a bit bigger to make sure you activate it with a high grip.

As a poster above mentioned, you can trim back the unwanted excess left (or right) thumb safety paddle to a GI-size nub, like this (then it won't be in the way.  Make it fit YOU.  Those damn paddles may not be sized for small hands):



Sling-shot the slide and you won't have to reach over the top.

If the gun was blued or stainless I'd do that in a heartbeat but mine has the Duty Finish and I'd have to send it off to get refinished. I'm just going to go back to the sling shot method.

You're changing your gunfighting style to adjust for the gun, rather than making it fit you and your technique.

It'll work until it doesn't.

If your high grip is activating the safety I would either A swap to a GI safety that’s lower profile so as to not bump it or B swap to a GI Grip safety so your grip isn’t so high. One problem often encountered with the thumbs high grip that’s popular today is it’ll make your hand stick out at the back releasing the grip safety. A memory bump should fix that and is partly why they are now a thing. That said in one of I believe Ayoobs books he shows a picture of a grip that positions the thumb to the middle finger rather then thumbs high. I’ve tried it and it works for me though your mileage may very.

As for the slide release issue either an extended unit which many will say is a bad idea or simply use the sling shot method. Wilson’s is about the smallest extended John Masen is about the largest today iirc.  I am right handed but what I do is operate the magazine release and the slide release with my off hand as my fingers are just a touch short to hit them in a proper firing grip.

ETA: As pointed out above me I wouldn’t teach yourself to operate this one specific way if your running other guns differently. Invariably when you need it you’ll revert to the wrong one whether with this or the other.

Good point. My other pistols are M&Ps and I can draw, shoot, do a slide lock reload and never give any of it a second thought. But the extra mechanics of the 1911 are giving me some fits, I thought I could train through it but maybe I shouldn't.

I really like the 1911 though.

ETA. I grabbed my M&P from the nightstand and spent a half hour drawing and dryfiring and even though I haven't shot the gun for 8 months(only been shooting the 1911 since I got it)it was like I never put it down. Hand goes to the same spot every time and the draw is smooth as silk. The grip angle on the 1911 must be a touch different than the Smith though because the gun was slightly nose up when I leveled on the target but I corrected that after a couple draws.

Once upon a time Randall sold mirror-image left-hand 1911s.  They were only in business about five years, though.

I remember those.

I'd deactivate the grip safety, wrap it with electrical tape for instant, low cost success.

Is your thumb safety ambi? Are you riding the safety with your grip? Because I'd have an ambi safety and depress it as part of my grip. Also I'd stop using the slide release and just rack it. If speed of reloads is a big concern, don't shoot to slide lock.

I ride the right side safety with my thumb. The only time I've had issues contacting the left side safety was when I tried using my trigger finger to hit the slide release.

Have a gunsmith pin the grip safety. It's a mod that's been done in the past.

To drop the slide, after your right palm seats the mag, come up from underneath and trip the slide stop lever with the fingers of your right hand. Left thumb stays on the thumb safety keeping it off.

Me too with the safety on a SAI milspec, the one will the tall sights, not the GI sights.  it is an uncomfortable irritation on my thumb while gripping.  Real issue 1911s, my old series 80, my Kimber, my colt officers never rubbed me wrong there.  It is also overly stiff in the safety detent.

back to the OP, try a wedge or bumped out grip safety, I don’t like them but it sounds like it is a possible solution.

This.

I tried hard to transition to using the sllide release after a lifetime of doing the slingshot method. It's not for me. I know that other, better 1911 guys do it (Hackathorn, Vickers) but it isn't for me. It isn't about "gross motor skills"....it's about the grip.

Glocks were made for short-thumbed folks, dontcha know.

There’s a reason the grip safety didn’t really catch on.

Springfield missed the memo.

Disengage the safety with your support hand thumb.

I'm not having issues with the thumb safety other than hitting it while trying to use the slide release in a way it wasn't meant to be used, it's the grip safety that's giving me fits.

The Croatians that Springfield bought the import rights from missed the memo.

Desensitize the grip safety.

http://www.brazoscustom.com/magart/1101.htm