Custom Grips, Stainless and Your Carry Piece...

[Werewolf]

How many of you have custom grips on your conceal carry piece or conceal carry a stainless pistol/revolver?

I ask because over the years I've noted more than once that the usually standard black grips on my black/blued pistols pretty much help in keeping them invisible while carrying. On the other hand custom grips seem to make the darn things stand out like a sore thumb (simulated ivory or a lightly colored wood for example). And I would never consider carrying a stainless or nickle plated pimp gun as a carry piece because they are just too visible.

Normally I wear dark patterned shirts with a dark IWB holster. This combination results in my carry piece being pretty difficult to see/notice unless one looks directly at it (once I forgot to put my wind breaker on and wandered around a Best Buy for the better part of an hour and no one noticed - or at least got riled up - that little incident really bothered me - I make darn sure now that the piece is covered). I don't really worry about the wind blowing an untucked shirt up (though I usually make an effort to prevent it) or leaving a jacket unbuttoned or unzipped. But I would worry about those things if I carried a piece with a custom grip or that was stainless.

How about y'all? Anyone carry a pimp gun or a fancy pistol with fancy custom grips that really stand out?

 

[scbair]

Well,

I wouldn't call it a "pimp" gun but I do have "custom" grips on one EDC piece, which also happens to be stainless. My NAA Black Widow .22WMR ("everywhere" sidearm) has rosewood stocks that I've dremeled, sanded and refinished to fit my hand and offer maximum concealibility. As it rides in a pocket holster, "flashiness" is not an issue.

 

[middy]

There's nothing "pimp" about stainless, chrome, or ivory...

Georgie Patton would have tanned your hide for that remark. Dang Okie's

Mother-of-pearl, on the other hand... that's pimp.

 

[dairycreek]

Not sure how fancy but........

these hogue "camo" grips on my S&W 686+ "snubby" make for a very effective carry combination. FWIW - Good shooting

 

[middy]

More to the point, with the stag grips and engraved chrome on my SAA, everyone just thinks it's a cap gun...

 

[farscott]

I carry both stainless guns (Colt 1911's and S&W revolvers), all of which have custom grips. Most of the 1911's wear Navidrex micarta and the revolvers wear Eagle Secret Service grips. Properly concealed the finish of the pistol and the color of the grips do not matter.

 

[Ultraman]

Personally I think too much is made about shiny carry guns.

I'm no sniper, hidden in a lair, hoping the sun reflecting off my gun will not give away my position.

My carry gun (S&W 640) is nestled in a pocket holster in my pocket. If I have to pull it out, it will be going BANG-BANG within half a second! I don't really care if the bad guy sees it for that brief millisecond or not. No matter what I pull out, the bad guy may see my "move" anyhow.

As to custom grips... I LOVE THEM!!! But I save them for show & tell.
My working grips are plain old Uncle Mikes Boot grips.

 

[nemesis]

I ask because over the years I've noted more than once that the usually standard black grips on my black/blued pistols pretty much help in keeping them invisible while carrying. On the other hand custom grips seem to make the darn things stand out like a sore thumb (simulated ivory or a lightly colored wood for example). And I would never consider carrying a stainless or nickle plated pimp gun as a carry piece because they are just too visible.

Wow, that makes me curious. What kind of shirts do you wear? I'm aware that black/dark guns or grips are sometimes evident through white or light colored shirts but I wasn't aware that custom grips are so obvious even though I carry full time, daily.

 

[wintermute76]

Not really custom, but I have olive Alumagrips on my stainless Kimber Pro Carry HD II.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

I carry a stainless SP101 with rubber houge grips. Stainless for finish durability, grips for controlling that little beast.

 

[Wakal]

I don't have much choice in grips...I carry a Commander-length STI in 9 by 23 Supercomp...but it is matte hard chromed. Milt Sparks SS/2 IWB hides it, hard chrome keeps it from rusting





Alex

 

[shoobe01]

I also do not in general buy that black=most-hidden. You are very easy to see wearing black when sneaking around in the woods. Various conventional camo colors are best.

For concealment type things, shadows seem to work. Shiny things reflect what they are near, so will be black, and matted stainless things will simply get darker gray, a fine state for hidden things.

I personally wear very little black. In fact, all my leather (incl. belts, shoes, etc.) is brown, instead of black. Black guns, if flashed, would be more obvious on me than the brown of wooden stocks.

 

[shooter1]

Well, I carry 24/7, stainless is the way to go. I have some of the Ninja (black) guns as well. I must say the tenifer finish is quite durable and rust resistant too. I have several stainless carry guns and the visibility of them is not a concern. I see no difference in concealing them or a black one.
If you can see a stainless gun thru clothing, you can see a black one as well. I have custom smooth wood grips on some as well. Some of the sticky rubber grips have a tendency to catch clothing and cause printing. Mark me down for stainless and custom wood grips.
str1

 

[Dave T]

If it is properly concealed what possible difference can the finish, color or grips make. This is silly!

 

[Valkman]

Got these on gungrips.net - engraved Alumagrips!

 

[shooter1]

Thank you Dave T. That's what I was trying to say.
str1

 

[Werewolf]

If it is properly concealed what possible difference can the finish, color or grips make. This is silly!

Well imagine you're wearing a windbreaker over an IWB holster with shirt tucked under the holster (you could see gun and holster if windbreaker is off I don't have a tuckable holster and never will - tried one once and they don't work all that great with a fullsize pistol like a Sig P220, CZ75 or Glock 22 which is what I carry).

My point was that custom grips stand out against the gun. I normally wear dark patterned shirts. If one doesn't take a really close look the camoflage effect cuts in with a dark holster and pistol and most folks won't even notice the weapon even with the windbreaker off. Normally I wear a light jacket zipped or buttoned about a 1/3 of the way up. I don't really have to worry about anyone noticing my weapon. If I had a SS gun or a blued one with ivory grips it'd get noticed if the jacket blew open - maybe.

Of course I suppose I'm doing a crappy job of concealment but I don't exacerbate the problem by having contrasting grips or a stainless weapon.

 

[MICHAEL T]

I carry a stainless PPK/S with Ivory and Iam not a pimp nor does anybody notice it IWB.

 

[CrudeGT]

Unless you are carrying a DE.50 the style of gun, color, or grips should have absolutely nothing to do with your ability to conceal it. I suggest you rethink your wardrobe. There are two phrases you will hear on this forum.

1. Dress around your gun
2. You gun is there to comfort you, not to be comfortable.

I suggest wearing a sport coat, which stays buttoned, if you prefer to wear business clothing, or untuck your shirt. I would not wear a coat that has a possibility of getting blown upwards exposing the concealed carry. if the wind is that strong, zip up the coat. And i would not wear a coat that is in any way transparent.

 

[farscott]

Normally I wear a light jacket zipped or buttoned about a 1/3 of the way up. I don't really have to worry about anyone noticing my weapon.

What do you do during the heat of the summer? Anyone wearing a jacket zipped or buttoned (other than a suit jacket) in public at this time of the year is going to get some extra scrutiny, especially when shopping (security might peg you as a possible shoplifter). The extra scrutiny will cancel any perceived benefits of your method of concealment.

While I agree that tuckable holsters are a pain, dressing around IWB carry is easy as long as you have a good holster and belt. I agree that you need to rethink your wardrobe and carry approach. Then you too can carry a stainless 1911 with ivory grips.

 

[Werewolf]

What do you do during the heat of the summer?

I wear mostly Hawaiian style shirts or if a normal shirt then it is untucked. There is usually (not always of course) a 5 to 10 mph wind blowing where I live. In summer I'm pretty careful to not let the wind blow my shirt up.

I've tried paddle holsters to keep my carry piece up higher but they seem to print some with the full size pistols I carry as opposed to IWB which is for all practical purposes invisible under an untucked shirt, Hawaiian shirt, polo shirt or jacket.

My whole point in asking the original question basically boiled down to custom grips generally contrast with the rest of a pistol thus making it more visible.

As many have pointed out if a weapon is properly concealed then contrasting grips or shiny SS shouldn't matter.

Unfortunately sometimes even the best laid plans go awry and a properly concealed weapon gets unconcealed even if only for a moment. In OK that's a no-no. So in my estimation minimizing the ability of folks to notice a weapon if it is inadvertantly revealed by not having flashy grips or shiny metal is important. I seem to be in the minority when it comes to that particular opinion.

 

[farscott]

So in my estimation minimizing the ability of folks to notice a weapon if it is inadvertantly revealed by not having flashy grips or shiny metal is important.

If that statement is a given, stainless is a good choice since the grip frames of many pistols are matte and the shiny slides are hidden in the IWB holster. Thus, there is little or no reflection. In fact, some of my blued 1911's actually shine much more than my stainless 1911's. Same thing with grips. Micarta and many woods do not flash or shine.

Of course, the contrast of your clothes to the pistol is important. If you carry a "black" handgun, dark colored clothes make sense. Likewise, stainless goes well with lighter colors. I choose to carry stainless and usually wear lighter shirts to keep as cool as possible in the summer.

 

[GunGeek]

I always but my gun under an untucked shirt, even if I wear a jacket over it. That way there is no chance I forget to put my jacket on and walk around with my gun showing.

Your gun can be bright pink with flowers as long as it is covered, now if you forget to cover it that is your screw up and you shouldn't count on your gun blending into your shirt color to prevent people from noticing.

 

[lycanthrope]

I carry A Kimber compact with a stainless slide and aluminum frame.....with clear alumagrips.

I've considered brushing the slide flats to a shine as well.

 

[TarpleyG]

I just ordered these for a Kimber TLE...

Greg