| Experienced 1911 autopistol shooters have demanded thumb guards, or thumb shields, on their 1911s for decades. The reason for these shields has often times been misunderstood. Many people think the shields are designed to stop abrasion on a shooters thumb. The shields do accomplish this goal, but the fact is that abrasion to the shooter's thumb is a very minor issue. |
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| The real reason for thumb shields on a 1911 is that they allow the shooter to keep his thumb on top of the safety lever, and keep their thumb pressed tightly inward while firing without slowing the operation of the slide. If the slide's movement is slowed during the pistol's operation it can result in stoppages, malfunctions, and otherwise incomplete cycling of the pistol. In other words, the shooter's grip on the pistol can cause malfunctions. One of the desirable points of the high thumb grip is that it allows for great recoil control and increased shot to shot speed and accuracy. |
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| Other reasons to shoot with a high thumb grip on a 1911? There are very important reasons. Handling a cocked and locked 1911 pistol with a high thumb grip allows the shooter to keep the safety on at all times, except when actually firing, thus increasing general gun safety. Keeping things as mechanically safe as possible during general shooting and or in a defensive encounter is very important. Also in an armed encounter, if a defensive shooter is disarmed from his 'on safe' pistol, there may be a chance that the assailant will not be familiar with the 1911 design, giving the defender a chance for counter action before the assailant can get the pistol into a firing condition. |
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| Shooting with a high thumb grip also keeps the safety lever in the firing position while shooting the pistol. If a shooter moves his thumb below the thumb safety while firing the pistol, there is a good chance the safety will be unexpectedly bumped 'on' during gun handling or recoil, stopping the firing function of the pistol. |
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| Shooters who are properly trained in the high thumb grip, and use the high thumb grip can avoid the above described problems. The disadvantage of the high thumb grip is the possibility of slowing the slide to the point of mechanical pistol malfunction due to thumb drag on the slide during the slide's operation. The solution to this problem is installation of thumb shields, also know as thumb guards. |
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| Thumb shields used to be a very expensive custom upgrade when they were machine inletted into the grip panel and bolted onto the frame. Cheaper thumb guard designs have come and gone from the 1911 market because they were ineffective and added bulk and width to the pistol. |
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| The integral thumb shield and aluminum grip panel project has been a collaboration between Chris Lynch and Dave Lauck to deliver 1911 shooters a heavy duty low profile solution to the above described problems at an affordable price. The new grip design offers heavy duty grips, rigid slimline thumb shields on both sides of the pistol, and replaces staked on plunger tube housings, which often come loose from the pistol. When a plunger tube come loose from the pistol, they can lock the thumb safety on and make the pistol inoperable. |
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| This grip design has been many years in coming, but now offers a real solution to several problems at once, while being affordable, compact, and heavy duty. A highly recommended upgrade for your full sized 1911. |
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