'06 AE woes

[ithacaartist]

In comparing the two grip safeties from my '06 AEs, they are the same shape and function. I think there is no connection to anything Navy since the part is numbered to the gun, #48, and the work is so obviously a repair. There is a bronze/brass cast to the area of the repair's joint., which is located just below the lug on the grip lever that is engaged by the little lug on the back side of the internal end of the safety lever. The safety lever side of the frame ears is correctly milled white. The top surface of the repaired part, exposed when it is in place and the left grip is off, presents porosity and the yellow brazing line/joint. The back side, facing the frame, has a reinforcing patch straddling the repair. The patch is thin, but still presents enough dimension to be a problem for the spine of the safety, which must slide between the frame and grips--it scrubs in a couple of spots as it travels. An edge view of the part reveals that it is not straight and true: From the pivot at the bottom, it rises slightly out of parallel with the frame. Then the patch on the back starts, at the apex of this rise. Above that point, the back patch is tapered to allow the surface of the grip's spine to go back downhill, to the place where its front lug engages the safety lever. Then it straightens out to almost parallel with the frame again, and rides at about the distance parallel to the frame as it did at the start. So, looking at on edge, the spine has a slight serpentine offset and recovery. It is straight when the view is of the part's broad dimension.
I theorize that it was broken when the safety lever was applied and either the pistol was dropped, to impact the beaver tail, or forced mightily.

Tell ya what, I'll try to get some pics of it on here. Then perhaps the technical writing about it might not rise to the level of obfuscation! To tell the truth, it gets a little confusing, trying to be accurate and coherent in my descriptions.

David Parker