Grips doth a gun make.??

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P95Carry

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So - does your choice of grips make the (any) gun better? I think so.

These days most std grips are pretty fair ..... but the one variable is .... we are not all built the same. Hands vary in size and proportion and here I reckon comes the need for finding the right grips.

I like Hogues for the most part but .. NOT for carry! Too much snagging. I do tho like CT's for revo carry ... the grips suit me and the laser is there if light low.

On bullseye guns they are even more important IMO .. I used to shoot .22 bullseye and had a Walther GSP .. that had grips hand made for the guy I bought it from ... and fortunately they were a close match to my hand .... they had an anjustable palm shelf and by time I had em set up .. I could take all fingers off and gun stayed put!

For defensive pistols I think the grip must allow for good immediate registration of the gun ... avoiding any need to ''adjust''. Another factor with grips is how they allow you to control the gun's center of mass ... meaning .. letting you hold high or low as you prefer. And of course .. ''whatever works for you'' .... the ol' final analysis.

BTW .. love the look of some cocobolo grips but hate the feel of em!!
 
Agreed. I replace almost all of my grips. The single actions all have faux ivory and smooth grips. They can "roll" in my hand better and withstand field use. I like Spegal thin and checkered wood grips on my 1911s and BHPs. My S&Ws mostly have Magna grips for comfort. I favor Pachmayr rubber grips though. They fit my larger hands well. Oddly enough, I prefer small grips on my J frames. I used to put Hogue finger groove slip-ons on my Ruger semi-autos though.
 
One other factor I forgot to mention is .. (and I sweat a lot) ...... the grip's ability to cope with wet. I know Josey you mentioned re smooth on S/A's ... yeah can see that tho I still prefer something less ''slippy'' ... but for defensive I do have to consider the ''sweat factor'' .. thus some sort of chequering or pattern for me.

That I guess is a reason for not wanting the smooth cocobolo type grips, attractive tho they are.
 
I too agree grips are extremely important. On every handgun that I shoot with any frequency, I always end up changing the grips, sometimes a couple of times, before I achieve a comfort level.

And, I too tend to prefer the wooden Hogue grips - they really fit my hand well.

I have a Python that came with rubber grips, Pachmeyers, that feel terrible. They just don't conform to my hand. I don't shoot that one very often so replacing them hasn't been a priority. First I think I'll dress it up with fake ivories or maybe stag, then I think no, I'll go with a set of Hogues. Can't make up my mind, so there it sits.

The other thing I find very important is sights. Unless the action it pretty bad I don't do much more than clean em up, but sights on a shooter I give serious thought to. Ah - a topic for another thread?
 
I wear gloves to shoot most of the time. I wear deerskin gloves and rub them with neutral wax. The wax provides slight adhesion. I do have currently thumbrest/checkered grips on my CCW BHP.
 
Yes, stocks are important. For my smith with wraparounds I went with Hogue wood, but they were too thick. Slimmed them with a belt sander and lots of hand work, then Defthane. Note that, to me, Defthane is quite grippy when you hold onto the gun with any force, even when wet. So its not as slippery as it looks.
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Note that if you try this yourself, the screws will be too long. A friend has a machine shop, though. This thing draws praise on its looks from the local pretty-1911-admirers crowd, and aside from the springs and stocks, its a box-stock 5946.
 
Grips make the gun.
My first handgun was a Colt King Cobra. The stock grips were terrible, but a set of pachmayer decelerators made it much more pleasent. The original grip works much better as the stickshift knob on my Jeep.
On this note though- grips are the main reason i dont shoot revolvers much. I dont understand why most revolvers are still built w/ a grip frame than spans the length of the grip. The way ruger does it w/ a single post surrounded by the rubber grip seems to allow better recoil absorbsion and greater variety of grip shapes and sizes.
 
Standing Wolf ...

Is not only a right smart fellow in more than subject , he also reminded me of something , though taught as a wee lad, I have become very guilty of.

STOCKS are wood or ivory.

Grips are rubber , plastic , aluminum...

Yep, no matter what you have, they do make the firearm, look good, fit the shooter better, better enables one to hit what aiming for.

Thanks SW !
 
I agree, my Ruger P89 has hogue grips that are incredibly comfortable. However, they are a bit of a nuisance for concealed carry. I see all they great grips for 1911's and revolvers. Are there any good places to look for grips for a semi? namely for a XD40, aside from hogue?
 
Grips are critical.

I shoot from a Weaver hold, and always feel best when my forearm bones line up perfectly with the barrel as you look down on the gun in a neutral wrist position and a one-handed hold.

This minimizes the "torquing" on the wrist on firing, leaving only a "straight up twist" versus side to side. You then control vertical rise with the off-hand wrapped around the strong, not "cupped" underneath.

Grip diameter is the key to getting this alignment, and is a big reason I like wheelguns to slideguns.
 
big reason I like wheelguns to slideguns.
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Somewhat same here Jim ..... seems easier to find grips that fill the hand with revo's ..... some being way too slim .. even some Hogues are a bit that way. A bit of ''palm swell'' suits my hand nicely.

The best auto's i have for grips are the fugly P95 and 97 .. fat grips . and with Hogue HandAlls .. nice and hand filling. A 1911 never quite makes that nice feel for me.
 
Grips or Stocks DO make the weapon...I have "paws" in stead of hands...Finding a factory grip or stock that I like tends to be difficult...I have a Ruger Security Six that I put some "homemade" gunstocks on and it works fine now, when before I couldnt hit crap with it and it bumped my hand..

BTW...I am ONE DAY going to get me a pair of grips scrimshawed (sp?) with the Azrael's Custom Leather name and Logo...Look on the website if ya lost..lol...BTW I wonder if that would be tax deductable?:D
 
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