Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruzee
All kinds of good advice boys, thanks! I am almost certain I will buy a series 80 (internal firing pin safety) due to a ridiculous policy at work. So that does limit my list of options quite a bit. I will let you guys know what I end up getting. Thanks again.  |
All new Kimbers (identified by a II on the slide after the name) have a firing pin safety (FPS) as well. The way it's disengaged is how they differ. Colt's Series 80 disengages the FPS via the trigger. Many 1911 enthusiasts felt this ruined the perfect SAO 1911 trigger. The 1911's light, crisp, and smooth trigger is one if the best aspects about a 1911 and many felt Colt disregarded that by adopting the Series 80 FPS . Anyway, Kimber uses a Swartz FPS which is disengaged via the grip safety. This preserves the original 1911 trigger pull while still incorporating a FPS for the rare occurance you should drop your pistol on the muzzle. This is a rare case that supposedly happend when a 1911 was dropped from a long distance above the ground, potentially givng the firing pin enough inertia to strike the primer with enough force to cause the round the fire. Many custom 1911 manufacturers do not incorporate FPS and instead use lightweight firing pins and stronger firing pin springs to prevent this type of rare discharge.
Here's a pic showing both systems. The plunger stopping the firing pin is identical if I remember correctly, just what activates the plunger (deactivating the FPS) is where things are different.
S&W also uses the Swartz FPS, as do others.