Apple a Day
Member
I got some 'custom' grips from Makarov.com for my little PA-63. I just tried them out this morning.
I have big hands and the factory grips are hateful. That little thumb ridge is just in the wrong place for me. I couldn't bring myself to spend a third of the pistol's price on a new set of fancy wooden grips but found the new ones for $20 at Makarov.com and sent off for them. You can get them in black or something which looks like ivory. I got the black. If you are interested then go to the web site and click on the pulldown menu, go to PA-63 ITEMS.
The grips are comfortable and look good, if you care about looks, but they come with two gripes: one big, one little.
The little one is that the screw they send along with the new grips goes all the way through the grips and out the other side, extends just past flush with the grip.
The big one is that the underside of the grips are flat. The factory grips have little 'rails' that fit the cutouts of the frame handle and only rely on the screw to keep the whole thing together. The rails prevent the grips from rotating when the muzzle climbs. The new grips have no such contouring underside and tend to rotate about the axis of the screw. That left me with the decision on how much to tighten the screw to prevent rotation and risk stripping the screw/grips. I tightened it pretty well but it still bothers me.
I will ponder putting something on the underside of the grips to brace them and keep them from rotating. Now that I have some free time I am also going to make an attempt to fashion some wooden grips myself. I will update.
I have big hands and the factory grips are hateful. That little thumb ridge is just in the wrong place for me. I couldn't bring myself to spend a third of the pistol's price on a new set of fancy wooden grips but found the new ones for $20 at Makarov.com and sent off for them. You can get them in black or something which looks like ivory. I got the black. If you are interested then go to the web site and click on the pulldown menu, go to PA-63 ITEMS.
The grips are comfortable and look good, if you care about looks, but they come with two gripes: one big, one little.
The little one is that the screw they send along with the new grips goes all the way through the grips and out the other side, extends just past flush with the grip.
The big one is that the underside of the grips are flat. The factory grips have little 'rails' that fit the cutouts of the frame handle and only rely on the screw to keep the whole thing together. The rails prevent the grips from rotating when the muzzle climbs. The new grips have no such contouring underside and tend to rotate about the axis of the screw. That left me with the decision on how much to tighten the screw to prevent rotation and risk stripping the screw/grips. I tightened it pretty well but it still bothers me.
I will ponder putting something on the underside of the grips to brace them and keep them from rotating. Now that I have some free time I am also going to make an attempt to fashion some wooden grips myself. I will update.
