Serpa Mod for 1911 Hicapa

[Murk]

I just bought a Serpa for my KJW 1911 Tactical, and it is not locking the pistol into place. The mechanism that latches to the trigger guard seems to not be latching on. After I place the gun in the Serpa, I can pull it right out without touching the release.

I wanted to know if there is a way to mod the Serpa to get it to lock my pistol into place?





The pictures above show how the release latch sticks up and does not latch onto the trigger guard. If someone could help I would really appreciate it.

[Ghast]

It looks like the trigger guard is not going deep enough into the holster for the release to catch. You might be able to file down the inside of the serpa (trigger well or trigger guard catch) to get it to fit. Also from the photo's it looks like the pistol is too wide for the holster. You might have the wrong type of SERPA.

[Thor]

Yeah... your pistol is a double stacked frame. That 1911 holster is meant for single stack sized guns. You MIGHT be able to mod it to fit by taking away material from the inside of the holster, but I doubt it. Before you do that even though, see that little Phillips head screw right to the left of the latch? Try loosening that and see if you get any more play out of it. That should be a tentioner screw. If that doesn't work, I'm afraid you are out of luck. Blackhawk does not make a SERPA specifically for double-stack frames.

[Murk]

Thanks for the advice. I will make sure I try that when I get home. I will post update if it works.

[Knief]

If you can force your gun down into it far enough to engage the lock, hit the SERPA with a hair dryer on high heat. Both El and I used that trick to get a SERPA to fit a gun that was too wide for it. El got his 1911 SERPA to fit the KJW para, and I got my P226 SERPA to fit the Sig P229 (slightly wider).

[Murk]

I tried unscrewing the tension screw and that did not help. I am going to try to find a hair dryer from some girl around my apartment. Thanks again for the help. Hopefully I can get it to work.

[crazyrabbit]

Yea heat works wonders on Kydex. I used a heat gun on my Safariland to get my Kimber with a after market rail and TLR-1 to fit just perfect because my light was hitting the walls of the Safariland.

[Murk]

I finally figured out why it wouldn't lock. The trigger guard was too thick so I shaved off a little of it and it is working perfectly now. ;D



Thanks everyone for your help!!!

[Ghast]

If you could post in great detail how you fixed this, the thread might end up in the Quick Fixes and Pro Tips section.

[El Phantasamo]

Apr 6, 2009 20:49:38 GMT -5 Knief said:

If you can force your gun down into it far enough to engage the lock, hit the SERPA with a hair dryer on high heat. Both El and I used that trick to get a SERPA to fit a gun that was too wide for it. El got his 1911 SERPA to fit the KJW para, and I got my P226 SERPA to fit the Sig P229 (slightly wider).

I actually had to re-stretch my SERPA for my KJW.
The best way is to heat an oven to 200-225 deg, put the SERPA in for 5 to 8 min, then shove the pistol in and let the plastic cool. You may have to so this several times to get an effortless draw and re-holster.

I had an issue with my slide being pushed back until I used the oven method.

I did this not only with my SERPA, but a blackhawk CQC flashlight holster I use at work for a streamlight stinger.

[Murk]

I noticed that the locking mechanism would not automatically lock into place when inserting the pistol. Taking away material from inside the Serpa did not do much of anything, and I did not want to risk damaging something important. When I looked at my pistol's trigger guard I saw small markings on the left side of it. The markings were from the lock which was hitting the guard, but not able to completely go over it.

I placed my pistol back into the Serpa and attempted to forcefully press down the lock. The lock required a nice amount of force to go over the trigger guard. This is when I realized that some of the trigger guard needed to be shaved off, allowing the lock to smoothly pass over it. This is when I grabbed a small pocket knife and whittled down the left side where the lock is positioned in the holster.



The marks on the trigger guard is where I shaved it down a little. I plan on smoothing it out for looks, but it works for now and that is all that matters.

[El Phantasamo]

I still suggest you put it in the oven like i did, the plastic needs to stretch where the holster comes close to the grip

[Great Troub of Troubistan]

Apr 7, 2009 20:35:29 GMT -5 crazyrabbit said:

Yea heat works wonders on Kydex. I used a heat gun on my Safariland to get my Kimber with a after market rail and TLR-1 to fit just perfect because my light was hitting the walls of the Safariland.

I am getting the same pistol, the slide on it is a design stolen from Kimber. (This pistol is a complete mutt.)

Do you think I can make this baby fit in a Safariland with a light on it?

[crazyrabbit]

Well is the rail an aftermarket or milled into the frame? Also you will need to have a Safariland that is light compatable already, all I did was to widen the holster a small amount. This was all because the aftermarket rail sits a smidgen lower than say a factory rail. I will get pictures up in the RS section soon.

[Great Troub of Troubistan]

Yeah, Rabbit I realize I have to buy a Serpa for a light. I am just wondering if a double-stack 1911 would even work, especially with a light.