1911s For Noobs, Part 3

Got a text from my good buddy Dragon over the weekend. He's in the process of obtaining his first 1911, and had a very good question regarding some 1911 terminology:

What, praytell, is an arched mainspring housing as opposed to flat in a 1911?

The mainspring housing is the part of the grip that touches the web of your hand - look at the gun as it points away from you, follow the trigger down, the mainspring housing is the part between the grips looking at you. This:

Hope this helps!

This mainspring housing is flat. Here's a good picture showing 1911s with arched and flat mainspring housings. Basically, if the back of the frame is straight, it's a flat mainspring housing. If it bulges backwards into your hand, it's arched.

You could also just go read T-bolt's excellent summation, too...

That is all.