TexasCHLforum.com

I am curious for those 1911 shooters how many if any shoot with your thumb off the thumb safety?

Once I release the safety, my thumb is below it while actually shooting.

RPBrown wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2025 7:54 am Once I release the safety, my thumb is below it while actually shooting.

Same here!

Mel wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2025 8:18 am

RPBrown wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2025 7:54 am Once I release the safety, my thumb is below it while actually shooting.

Same here!

Ditto

I keep my thumb on top. Not sure if it helps my shooting or not, I like it as a tactile reminder of the gun's condition.

Boxerrider wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2025 10:22 am I keep my thumb on top. Not sure if it helps my shooting or not, I like it as a tactile reminder of the gun's condition.

This. Tactile reminders help me operate the pistol without conscious thought.

I am sure thankful for you few folks that are shooting with your thumb on the top of the safety I was beginning to feel almost left handed. I was taught in 1981 to grip the 1911 so your thumb is on top of the safety.

I asked because a friend has a custom 1911 he does NOT shoot with his thumb on the safety. While out shooting a few weeks ago he kept having problems with accidentally turning the safety on.

The safety on his gun is very light to me. A very very expensive custom 1911, but it got me to thinking how easy it would be to have that happen especially in a high stress shooting. Could be the gun needs to go back and that was my first suggestion. The second suggestion was change your grip. I am sure not the authority, but I have had several 1911 shooting courses and have always been taught thumb on top of safety.

Thanks
Carl

I'm with you.
Way back when I started shooting 1911s with the "modern" extended thumb safety tab, I managed to engage the thumb safety a few times while firing.
(Don't recall having that problem with the abbreviated safety, but that would have been too many years ago to remember.)
Since putting my thumb above the safety, no problems.

Always wanted to try one of these, but haven't gotten around to it. If I buy one, I'm sure I'll like it, and then will have to buy six or seven, then have them all fitted...
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/kawasak ... ead#unread

I always put my thumb on top of the 1911 thumb safety.

I've been shooting USPSA since 1997. 12 to 50 matches per year. 90% has been with 1911's or 2011's.

The thumb on top gives me a touch more control of muzzle flip.

The general 'Rule of Thumb' (pun intended!) that I teach is if your gun has a thunb safety to rest the Thumb on whichever side will disengage the safety, & keep it there during the string of fire to prevent accidentally engaging the safety. For 1911-style safeties (or Sigs / S&W M&Ps, etc) that would be keeping the Thumb on top of the safety; for a Beretta 92 (M9) that would be below the safety.

After returning the gun to Safe, I recommend re-indexing the Thumb so it's staged & ready to flip the safety to Fire when needed again.

YMMV based on hand sizes & how you grip the gun.

I carry cocked, locked with one in the pipe. I practice sweeping the safty to on as I draw. I’ve never payed attention after it was on. I guess still right there.

But I am a novice, with little professional training.

I've never really thought about putting my thumb on the safety and don't practice that method of hold. I don't have particularly large hands, even so my thumb is close to the slide when I tried that style hold on my latest 1911 acquisition, a GI model, plus it's just awkward for me. YMMV

I've taken many firearms classes but not one specifically with a 1911. I've always shot my Glock's for pistol classes and I guess the closest experience would be an AR class I took a few years back. When the rifle comes up, you toggle the safety off. When you are come off target, the safety comes back on. I've always felt that was the proper way to manipulate a 1911. Gun on target, safety gets swept off. Gun coming off of target, safety comes back on. I've seen the same for Traditional Double Action guns. Come off target, you sweep the hammer drop.

My thumb rides the top of the thumb safety when shooting.

Always thumb on top for me. It’s the one way I (personally) can be sure of not accidentally putting the safety on while shooting. But the fact is, I haven't shot one of my 1911s in a long time, and it’s been even longer since I carried one.