[Rolex]

Looking for some help- purchasing some parts for my new SA .45.
Looking to purchase- ambi-safety,mag well and flat main spring
housing,drilled and tapped mag release,new sights-has Bomer rear,
dove tail front cut, and needs a new trigger-like bad.
So who make the good stuff and what will fit?
Thanks

[KING 45ACP]

I really like the Ed Brown wide extended ambi-thumb safety. You could try a Smith & Alexander mainspring housing\magwell combo,and blend the magwell to the frame. Check out Dawson Precision sights, there relly good and for a trigger go with a Infinity tri-glide. For the drilled and tapped mag release I don't know,I never had one. All these parts will require some minor fitting.

[jasmap]

Rolex, on Aug 29 2009, 09:59 AM, said:

Looking for some help- purchasing some parts for my new SA .45.
Looking to purchase- ambi-safety,mag well and flat main spring
housing,drilled and tapped mag release,new sights-has Bomer rear,
dove tail front cut, and needs a new trigger-like bad.
So who make the good stuff and what will fit?
Thanks

I'd also go with the Ed Brown wide-ambi safety. The magwell would either be a S&A or the new Dawson magwell. The midsized Techwell is very nice also. Just use an STI drilled & tapped mag release and I prefer the Brazos Lightning Rod front sight but the Dawson works very well also. I like the SV tri-glide trigger system with the Enos top-curve trigger face.

This is all personal choice of course but I have played around with a lot of stuff and always come back to these items.

[G-ManBart]

Rolex, on Aug 29 2009, 12:59 PM, said:

Looking for some help- purchasing some parts for my new SA .45.
Looking to purchase- ambi-safety,mag well and flat main spring
housing,drilled and tapped mag release,new sights-has Bomer rear,
dove tail front cut, and needs a new trigger-like bad.
So who make the good stuff and what will fit?
Thanks

SV ambis are the best you can buy....they cost more than the Ed Browns, but are worth it when you go to fit them and they're made better. For the magwell I'd go with a Techwell and matching grips in either the medium or small size (depending on your intended use). SV mainspring housing are probably the "best" but it's not exactly a part that makes a huge difference so a ZM flat mainspring housing would save you a few bucks. I really like Ed Brown's d&t mag release with button...it's just long enough to work well, but not long enough to pop mags out on table starts. With Bo-Mar gone I'm still not sure who makes the best rear sight....the Wilson looks to be well made (Ed Brown seems well made too). For triggers I prefer the SV with inserts but they can be a little harder to fit on some frames (not a big deal really, but not always truly drop in). R,

[bullitt5172]

Rolex, on Aug 29 2009, 09:59 AM, said:

Looking for some help- purchasing some parts for my new SA .45.
Looking to purchase- ambi-safety,mag well and flat main spring
housing,drilled and tapped mag release,new sights-has Bomer rear,
dove tail front cut, and needs a new trigger-like bad.
So who make the good stuff and what will fit?
Thanks

If it were me:

Ed Brown ambi-safety
S&A or Dawson magwell
Ed Brown mag release
Dawson front sight
10-8 solid trigger

[Liv2h2oski]

I am just curious if anybody knows what kind of trigger pull does the SV Tri-Glide trigger has?

[Nemo]

Rick,

- If you want a big magwell check out the Dawson, the SV or the Techwell. I believe for the only one you'd need a mainspring housing would be the TW, so any MSH would do, don't go crazy spending money on that part. For a regular slim magwell the Smith & Alexander is the one.

- D&T mag release & button, I use the Ed Brown. In the past have also used the Brazos Cyclone and Dawson buttons but always come back to the EB.

- The Ed Brown ambis are a great product but for me the corner of the right side paddle would dig into my knuckle. Now I use THESE and don't have to shape them to avoid the pain.

- The SV interchangeable shoe trigger systems are VERY NICE but I've always used STI short triggers (plasitc shoe) and never had a problem.

- To replace the BoMar sight, I think there's a new company out there but can't recall the name. DAWSON makes a Bomar replacement, while you're there get yourself a front sight.

- Pedro can do the dovetail cut for the front sight or ask Matt Cheely.

Good luck!

[steel1212]

What I use on my guns:

Ed Brown Ambis, but SVI are very nice
Briley Trigger Kit ( or soon will be)
SVI long flat trigger
Dawson FO front sight
Dawson ICE magwell
I just use the EGW raised mag release and its the IDPA legal length but if you want drilled and tapped I would go with the Ed Brown.

[Duane Thomas]

The best ambi safety I have found is the unit from Kimber. And yes indeed, they do sell this as an aftermarket part, not just put it on their factory guns.

The reason it works so well is that, compared to the typical Swenson-pattern ambi (Wilson, Ed Brown, etc.) where the offside lever is retained through having a tab off the front of the lever hook into a slot cut into a modified grip panel, the Kimber unit does it by having a slot in the back face of the lever body hook over an elongated sear pin. This snugs the lever nice and tight and secure to the side of the gun. I have seen several Swenson-pattern ambis over the years that had become so loose the offside lever fell out of the gun when going from a table start. That can't happen with the Kimber because in this design the offside lever is actually held to the side of the gun with metal-in-metal. Also you don't need a modified grip panel, you can just run standard grips.

King's has been using a very similar system for years, but on the King's the lever slot is open on the top, thus thumb pressure on the offside lever, unless it happens to bottom out on the grip panel (and this is very much a function of how the safety is fit to that particular gun), can twist and tweak the male/female connection of the two pieces of the unit where they mate inside the gun. It also means that disassembling the gun now requires removing the right grip panel since you can't rotate the safety lever downward far enough to remove it from the sear pin with the grip panel in place.

I had thought for years the King's was the best ambi safety design out there, but could be considerably improved if they'd just reverse the configuration of the slot so it was closed at top, open at bottom instead of the other way around. That way the safety in the off-Safe position would bottom out on the sear pin instead of overtravelling when held down by thumb pressure, so you wouldn't twist the connection point inside the gun. Also you could disassemble the gun without needing to remove the grip panel because the safety lever would twist up to remove, not down.

That's what they've done with the Kimber ambi design. It's like a product improved King's ambi and thus the best thing of its type IMHO.

I assure you, if you put a Kimber part on your Springfield 1911, the gun doesn't actually immediately explode.

[Rolex]

Nemo- PM on the way!

[USCSBarney]

If you decide on the Techwell (big XT model), let me know, I have two sets I would be willing to let go of for a decent price. Works wonders for competition but just don't need them anymore.

[open17]

Are you setting it up for Single Stack Division?


My SA 45 (started as a target loaded)has:

The stock SA ambi safeties
Cylinder and Slide Super Match trigger kit (had it lying around from another project)
Stock FLGR, 14 lb spring
VZ Grips Flat Aluminum mainspring housing
Mid size Tech-Well grips/magwell
Stock SA rear adjustable sight with a .090 FO Dawson front
Mag release is a Wilson "Oversize mag release" with the rectangular paddle--I've got short thumbs

41.4 oz, and fits the box with a McCormick 8 rd mag.

[MTBfarms]

steel1212, on Sep 29 2009, 12:09 AM, said:

What I use on my guns:

Ed Brown Ambis, but SVI are very nice
Briley Trigger Kit ( or soon will be)
SVI long flat trigger
Dawson FO front sight
Dawson ICE magwell
I just use the EGW raised mag release and its the IDPA legal length but if you want drilled and tapped I would go with the Ed Brown.

+1