No More Grip Safety

Novak's, purveyor of fine firearms and custom sights has developed a new idea for the 1911. It's a one piece backstrap that extends from the beavertail to the butt of the 1911. One solid piece. No pivoting grip safety. I was reading about this piece in Custom Combat Handguns #46 last night. Novak's is calling this new item "The Answer".

I am certain that a product developed and produced by Novak's will be absolutely top of the line. Novak's is a recognized top dog among shooters, and is often a dark horse in competition. They don't advertise much. They don't have to. They are that good. Their guns run and run and run.

Still, if this is "The Answer", I have to ask "What is the question?" If a person has a problem disengaging a grip safety, there are many options. The shooter should first examine his grip. The grip safety can be tuned to a lighter release by a knowledgeable 1911 man. It can be replaced with a "speed bump" type safety. There are many solutions to the problem, and no one answer to the question.

I am against pinned grip safeties. Even though Col. Jeff Cooper advocated pinning the grip safety, and a great many crusty old shooters agree with him, I can not agree. As such, I cannot agree with it's elimination by way of a solid backstrap "Answer". When a man has carried a cocked & locked 1911 in a properly constructed holster, and taken every precaution to prevent the thumb safety from disengaging, yet has still found a cocked and unlocked gun in his holster, that grip safety has significance. Novak's might have a cool idea for a race gun but I personally would never have it on a gun I carried day in and day out.

FWIW, I also noticed Novak's Practical Grip Screws on the same webpage. One of the quirks of a custom gun is looks are as important as function to a customer. A tell tale indicator of a properly built custom 1911 has long been indexed grip screws. Hex head grip screws became popular on custom guns because they allowed lazy harried gunsmiths to get away with not indexing slotted grip screws. These new Novak screws have slots across the hex so a regular screwdriver can be used. Now the screws have to be indexed again. What the hell is the point? If you are going to index the things anyway, just install regular slotted screws and throw away the stupid allen wrench! Here we see a dubious solution to a non-existent problem wiped away by a silly solution that recreates the original non-existent problem. Geeze! It's just a damned pistol anyway. Who cares if all your screw slots are oriented North or South-West?