Ambidextrous thumb safety
OwnerWilfred C. Schuemanninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ambidextrous thumb safety for a Model 1911A-1 type semiautomatic pistol includes a pair of pivoting interconnected left and right thumb safeties operating in concert and responsive to a thumbing action imposed upon either one. The left-hand thumb safety on the right side of the pistol includes a forwardly extending tang slidably guided within a retaining slot formed in the right side of the frame of the pistol to guide the thumb safety through a limited arcuate movement and to prevent outward translation of the left-hand thumb safety along its pivot axis.
Claims15
Apparatus for retaining and guiding a left-hand thumb safety engaged with and operating in concert with a right-hand thumb safety, each of the left-hand and right-hand thumb safeties being pivotally mounted in a frame of a piston, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- a) a first pivot shaft extending from the right-hand thumb safety into the frame of the pistol;
- b) a second pivot shaft extending from the left-hand thumb safety into the frame of the pistol;
- c) means for interconnecting said first and second pivot shafts to prevent independent rotation between the left and right-hand thumb safeties;
- d) a tang extending from the left-hand thumb safety;
- and
- e) a slot disposed in the frame of the pistol for receiving said tang, for guiding said tang upon pivotal movement of the left-hand thumb safety and for preventing disengagement of the left-hand thumb safety from the right-hand thumb safety while said tang is disposed within said slot.
Apparatus for retaining and guiding a left-hand thumb safety operating in concert with a right-hand thumb safety of a pistol having a unitary frame, said apparatus comprising in combination;
- a) means for pivoting in concert the left-hand and right-hand thumb safeties about a common pivot axis;
- and
- b) means for inhibiting lateral movement of the left-hand thumb safety along the pivot axis, said inhibiting means including tang means extending from the left-hand thumb safety and slot means disposed in the unitary frame for receiving said tang means, for guiding said tang means upon pivotal movement of the left-hand thumb safety about the pivot axis and for preventing displacement of the left-hand thumb safety along the pivot axis while said tang means is disposed in said slot means.
Apparatus for providing an ambidextrous safety for a semiautomatic handgun, said apparatus comprising in combination:
- a) a frame for the handgun;
- b) a right-hand thumb safety;
- c) means for pivotally mounting said right-hand thumb safety with said frame;
- d) a left-hand thumb safety;
- e) means for pivotally mounting said left-hand thumb safety with said frame;
- f) means for interconnecting said right and left-hand thumb safeties;
- g) an extension extending from said left-hand thumb safety;
- h) means disposed in said frame for slidably receiving said extension to prevent disengagement of said left-hand thumb safety from said frame while accommodating pivotal movement of said left-hand and right-hand thumb safeties;
- and
- i) means for disengaging said extension from said receiving means upon field stripping the handgun.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.