Many of us modify our carry guns so we can shoot them better.
These kinds of modifications are easily defensible in court.
Theyre right, but only half right.
Whether it’s your 1911A1 Ronin (left), or XD-M (right), DO NOT disable its grip safety!
It also matters in afalse allegationof a negligent discharge.
A hair trigger feeds perfectly into plaintiffs arguments of negligence.
A brief history is in order.
When your self-defense is presented as evidence, how will a jury see the modifications you have made?
Something like half a century ago, LAPD ordered all its service revolvers modified to double action only.
Partly because of unintentional discharges thatdidoccur with cocked revolvers (think: 3-lb.
range, little if any take-up on the trigger).
This Apex trigger package maintains factory specs on the Springfield Armory Hellcat. Ayoob sees this as an acceptable modification.
But partly, also, because the potential of such an incident allowed the false allegation of same!
LAPD was followed by Miami PD, NYPD, Montreal PD and others.
Many departments (notably our largest, NYPD) mandated double-action-only pistols when they did go to autoloaders.
It never hurts to check your triggers with your own trigger pull gauge, like this digital Lyman unit available from Brownell’s.
Americas law enforcement officers get into more shootings than any other occupational category.
We would be foolish to ignore what they have learned in their institutional history over the decades.
What Is a Hair Trigger?
Designed expressly for bullseye shooting, this long-slide Clark Custom with a 2.5-lb trigger would likely cause problems as a defense gun.
Each will vary, of course, with the given bang out of firearm.
Note that duty isnt limited to cops and soldiers, etc.
; its the unofficial industry code for a defensive pistol thats likely to be used under stress.
Carry-Comp modification by Mark Morris on 10mm 1911 should be highly defensible in court.
In a 1911, for example, that generally settles at 4-lbs.
minimum; in a striker-fired auto pistol, it seems to be at about 512 lbs.
Think about it: if people were believing you,you wouldnt be on trial.
Custom grips with owner’s initials would be hard for opposing counsel to attack in court.
That defense will crumble in a minute under skilled cross-examination.
Ladies and gentlemen,we will prove that he removes or deactivates the safety devices on lethal weapons!!
If you dont like manual safeties or grip safeties, buy a gun that wasnt manufactured with one!
Yes, Texas Rangers in days of yore tied down the grip safeties on their 1911s.
That was then, this is now, and most of us aint Texas Rangers.
Bottom Line
Action tune?
Ive had that done on many of my defensive firearms.
Every single time, in my experience, the allegation was that the pull was too light.
Some aftermarket triggers are not problematic.
An Apex aftermarket trigger was recently installed on a friendsdaily-carry Springfield Armory Hellcat.
I cant see a problem there.
Go to forum thread
1911Ronin Series
XD-MElite Series
