is this a new gun? If it is Taurus should pick up the shipping tab but Taurus's Customer service is real hit or miss. One person won't really help you at all and the next it helping you the way they should.
If its used then let us know, someone could probably help.
In looking at the schematic it appears your PT1911 safety is two pieces joined in the center (very unlike other 1911 safeties!). They join in a knife and fork joint. It appears the right one is only held in by the friction of that knife and fork joint. You might try gently squeezing the fork on the right one a bit to increase its tension on the knife part of the right one.
Another option MIGHT be to replace the ambidextrous safety with a regular after market left hand safety. I do not know if it will fit but your gunsmith might be able to try one from another 1911 to see if the parts are interchangeable. The regular 1911 safety has a shaft that goes all the way through with no lever on the right side. There may be other aftermarket choices that have ambidextrous levers too. A look in the Brownells 1911 catalog might reveal one similar to the Taurus part, but made a little differently and better. A call to the Brownells support line might also reveal what will fit exactly. Their staff of gunsmiths are very good.
great ideas on Brownells.....first thing in the morning....
I discovered today that the R side ambi safety is a hazard to my ingrained way of slide handling during 'stuck ammo drill'.....had purposely left a number of non-crimped ammo into my practice stash....to find ways to work with FTF episodes.
My L index finger got chewed up on the forward edge of the R safety....yet another reason to find replacement.
This is a new gun given to my by a family member last winter. It had been poorly stored and flash rusted with some deep pitting....freaked him out so bad he simply had to give it to me from frustration & guilt I guess....
Had to detail strip, sandblast, reblue & reassemble (by the smith).
Probably has ~500 rounds through it now. Takes unknown magazines for the L thumb safety to back clear out.....fired 10 full mags 2 before realizing what happened, finding the piece on the floor with the brass.
Last time the rear plunger & spring was lost, this time I caught it in time. I like the gun otherwise from this safety thing.
Yup, the Taurus factory safety lever is a poorly fitted contraption. I've had mine fall out and have seen it fail to stay in place for others too.
I replaced the factory ambi safety lever on my PT1911 with an STI brand ambi. It's the same split fork design on the cross-shaft as the Taurus piece but fitted much nicer. In the past, I've also used the Ed Brown ambi safety levers...another good unit.
If you're not a southpaw like me, you could just get a regular safety lever fitted to the gun too.
And yes, you can fit aftermarket 1911 safety levers to a Taurus 1911. It will require gunsmith fitting though to ensure a good install on the hook that retains the safety lever and on the sear block to ensure safe operation. The safety isn't a drop-in part.
How knowledgeable on the 1911 design is your gunsmith? He should have recognized the poor spring/plunger engagement to the lever "pad" as the reason that the lever is falling out. there doesn't seem to be enough bevel on that pad for the plunger to hold the lever in place with.
Remedy, Do not ever buy another Taurus. Go to their forum and read about their customer service, they are the worst in the business. You can have issues with any brand,Kimber, S&W or Springfield but the difference is the customer service.The only thing about a lifetime warranty with Taurus is it takes a lifetime to Get your gun fixed.Go to TAURUSARMED.NET and read about the dismal service. Good luck and I hope you get your weapon fixed.
Remedy, Do not ever buy another Taurus. Go to their forum and read about their customer service, they are the worst in the business. You can have issues with any brand,Kimber, S&W or Springfield but the difference is the customer service.The only thing about a lifetime warranty with Taurus is it takes a lifetime to Get your gun fixed.Go to TAURUSARMED.NET and read about the dismal service. Good luck and I hope you get your weapon fixed.
Well....I've seen bad or slow service from a lot of other "big names" too.
Taurus does have a poor customer service record, but most of their products are still just as good as others in the price range.
Ruger for one is pretty pokey (just about as bad of a turnaround time as Taurus), but the issue will be fixed when you get it back.
Beretta...We got pretty quick turnaround, but the pistol still malfunctioned the same as when it was sent in. Turned out that the barrel ramp had a flaw in it that the factory service station missed. DOH!
Remington has to this day refused to replace the laminated stock on my 597 after the forearm warped into the barrel...they swear up and down that the barrel must have gotten bent since a laminated stock won't warp (the rep's words).
Personally, I've only had to use Taurus' customer service a couple times. Once was on a 669 that the cylinder pin kept unscrewing and the other was the previously mentioned PT1911 safety. The 669 took 8 weeks to get back but has functioned great since. The PT1911, I fitted a new safety myself...I bought it used and didn't want to hassle with sending it in & waiting since I have built more than one 1911 and have all the equipment on hand to do it myself.
Since the OP is also wanting to go with a non-ambi safety, I would recommend that he not bother with the Taurus service dept and just have a local smith that knows 1911s fit a new safety lever. Will save the wait and he'll get what he's wanting. The factory service depot will just fit another stock ambi setup and it will most likely have the same problem again sometime down the road.
I can understand your smith's reluctance to work on the Taurus. Any work done on the pistol not at the factory depot and Taurus is liable to void that warranty. After that, any repairs to that pistol (even on parts not worked on elsewhere) probably won't be covered.
I do know several smiths that will work on Taurus...there was a guy locally who did magic on the Taurus DA revolver triggers. But most of them will (or should) tell you up front that the warranty is pretty much off if they make any mods.
I've used factory service and factory service stations on a couple of occasions. The Browning service station in my area were dunces. I have also used gunsmiths that were butchers. I no longer trust anyone but me to work on my guns. The problem has to be pretty tough for me not to be able to fix it or too expensive to buy the tools required to fix the problem or require new expensive parts I would have to pay for. Most often I can fix the gun myself.
While it is not hard to build a 1911, fitting of parts that fail to work with other parts can be daunting for someone who has not done it before. I replaced all the internals of my Rock Island 1911 (a project to make a RI as good as it could be, cost be damn, almost). All the trigger system after market parts worked fine in the RI frame except for the safety. I ruined the RI one trying to fit it and had to get an after market one. I finally got it but it took a lot of filing and stoning in the right places. Fitting safeties is NOT like falling off a rock. You have to understand the gun and how it works in this area.
For this poster with the Taurus PT1911 I think it best to have a known good 1911 gunsmith fit a new after market non-ambi safety if it doesn't just drop right in and work correctly.
Taurus:
They make some interesting guns but I will admit that every one I bought in the last few years has had problems. The Taurus PT99 (Beretta 92 clone) I bought 20 years ago was a fine reliable pistol where only the adjustable rear sight ever failed.
The Model 63 clone had feeding problem that took some tinkering and reading the manual which said not to load more than 10 (it holds 11) and to operate the slide button rapidly. The accuracy is only adequate. It likes only High Velocity ammo
The Thunderbolt (Colt Lightning clone rifle) also needed some tinkering until I determined that it would not cycle ammo made to the max length specs. I shortened all ammo by 20 thousandths inches and it would then feed. It also needs fast motion of the action pump to get feeding right. The accuracy again is only adequate. Both look good for fit and finish (of course they don't match the originals). But the stock is finished with a coating that shatters when bumped leaving white little bomb sites on the nearly new stock. But refinishing is in the future for both stocks.
"I can understand your smith's reluctance to work on the Taurus. Any work done on the pistol not at the factory depot and Taurus is liable to void that warranty."
PT1911 said:
"This is a new gun given to my by a family member last winter. It had been poorly stored and flash rusted with some deep pitting....freaked him out so bad he simply had to give it to me from frustration & guilt I guess....
Had to detail strip, sandblast, reblue & reassemble (by the smith)."
I am looking at this as a learning experience. I helped in the process of sandblasting, reblue and stood close watch for reassembly. My 'smith is going on 40 years pro experience but is beginning to have 'senior moments'....and tends to send out things he doesn't like....such as Tauri....
There are other local smiths I can contact to see about an a single-side thumb safety fitting. I've read about it on the links you folks provided, and it probably is above my competency level...although I can again use this as a learning point.
so here we go.....a little project.....fortunately I have some REAL 1911s to get me through until this one functions!!!!
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