Just thought I'd post a few pics of my Glock 17 before/during/after it's grip reduction. I cut it down to a 19 sized grip and stippled much of the frame. I think it feels MUCH better then a stock 19 and it shoots a little better as well. The extra weight up front helps recoil a bit although the differences are quite small. You'll see that by the end I cut off the slide lock, my thumb was riding it so I cut it off...the lever is still there and the slide will no lock back regardless of where my thumb is.
After initial cut. A lot of sanding still needed to get it just right.
After some finish sanding and full frame stippling.
After stippling everything and finish sanding. The magwell could still use a little work but it's functional right now.
Note the slide lock lever
Overall I think this pistol is fantastic. You can see that I ground down the finger grooves a bit as well - they're still there just nearly as pronounced. The stipple job makes it super easy to grab onto even when sweating or while it's raining. The slide lock lever can still be engaged if you push hard enough, so it's still good for matches and such where you have to show the gun being clear. I also rounded out the trigger guard a bit so my middle finger wouldn't get blisters (hard to see in the pics). I found that cutting down a 17 grip to 19 size got rid of a lot of the 'hump' Glocks are known for...so now it handles extremely well, is very comfortable and very easy to shoot. I carry it daily and haven't had an issue yet. Anyone with even a minute amount of 'DIY experience' can do this.
I used a simple fine tooth hack saw to cut off the bulk of the grip, then a dremel vibrating sander for the finishing work. I used course paper to start and finished it off with fine paper. I hand sanded it when I was done to finish everything off. The stippling was done with a standard soldering iron with fine tip attachment.
The only 'quirk' I've found is that older mags (without the small exposed metal 'patch' in front) fit higher in the pistol then the new mags. New mags fit extremely well in the gun but I needed to sand it down even further to make sure the old mags fit well.
After initial cut. A lot of sanding still needed to get it just right.
After some finish sanding and full frame stippling.
After stippling everything and finish sanding. The magwell could still use a little work but it's functional right now.
Note the slide lock lever
Overall I think this pistol is fantastic. You can see that I ground down the finger grooves a bit as well - they're still there just nearly as pronounced. The stipple job makes it super easy to grab onto even when sweating or while it's raining. The slide lock lever can still be engaged if you push hard enough, so it's still good for matches and such where you have to show the gun being clear. I also rounded out the trigger guard a bit so my middle finger wouldn't get blisters (hard to see in the pics). I found that cutting down a 17 grip to 19 size got rid of a lot of the 'hump' Glocks are known for...so now it handles extremely well, is very comfortable and very easy to shoot. I carry it daily and haven't had an issue yet. Anyone with even a minute amount of 'DIY experience' can do this.
I used a simple fine tooth hack saw to cut off the bulk of the grip, then a dremel vibrating sander for the finishing work. I used course paper to start and finished it off with fine paper. I hand sanded it when I was done to finish everything off. The stippling was done with a standard soldering iron with fine tip attachment.
The only 'quirk' I've found is that older mags (without the small exposed metal 'patch' in front) fit higher in the pistol then the new mags. New mags fit extremely well in the gun but I needed to sand it down even further to make sure the old mags fit well.
