VZ Grips: first impressions.

[VaughnT]

Got my two pair in the mail this afternoon. First impressions were very favorable, though this might be prejudice resulting from John's most excellent customer service.

The high-gloss, black canvas is very attractive against my stainless 1991. The finish is some type of polyurethane and I'm curious to see how long it lasts. Refinishing at home shouldn't be difficult if it's ever needed. The "grip" of the grips is a bit slick, but I like having some play so I can adjust my grip if there's a hangup on the draw. This is a definite plus in my book.

The second set I orderd was blasted canvas and comparing the two only highlighted the slip in the finished pair. While the exposed canvas fibers really stick to the hand, the whitish appearance wasn't pleasing to my eye. This is an exposed-carry, stainless steel duty pistol and I like really black grips on it. As all of my other gear is jet black (kydex) or silver, I kinda wanted to maintain the motif. Fung shway and all that, you dig?

Anyhow, one of the first things I thought of when looking at the pics on the www.vzgrips.com website was to dye the exposed canvas. I have some black leather dye left over from a holster project and it needs to go somewhere, right? With that in mind, I took some q-tips and went to work. The canvas seems to have absorbed the dye quite nicely and I'll report back when they've dried. I'm hoping it won't rub off on my hands or clothes.

One of the most interesting discoveries only came to light after installing the grips on my pistol. Due to the design, the longitudinal grooves, gripping the pistol feels more like you've installed thin grip panels instead of standard-thickness grips. My hand definitely experienced more wrap-around than was previously seen with my Hogue, Ahrends, or Yost grip panels. How this will impact handling and firing is yet to be seen.

For customer service, VZ Grips receives 10 out of 10. For original design and excellent execution, I'll give them another 10/10.

How do these grips stand up to working off of an armored truck? How will they handle fast-action IDPA/IPSC competition? I'll report back in a week and let you know.

 

[mr_dove]

got an update yet? I'm curious.

 

[VaughnT]

Update? Sure, it's about time.

Well, they have seen the inside of an armored truck more times than you could imagine, and they've held up just fine. Keep in mind that nothing you can put on a pistol is going to match armor-plating for toughness, but the micarta still looks professional....and a whole lot better than my ebony grips.

Handling? Oooooh! Honestly, I was always curious about thin grips and wanted to see how these "thin-by-accident" grips would allow me to handle the pistol, especially rapid-fire and from the holster.

Just spent the weekend with Gabe Suarez running through his close-range fighting course and these grips really made the difference, in my opinion. With normal grips, I always felt like I was gripping wrong (hard to put this into words) and I wanted to readjust after getting on target. Follow-up shots were slower than I might have liked, but I could get the job done.

With the VZ Grips in place, the slimmer profile allowed me to really wrap my hand around the gun. From the holster or rapid fire, the pistol didn't torque in my hand and I didn't have to readjust after shooting. Almost six hundred rounds were burned off that weekend and I firmly believe that the grips played a large part in how well I was shooting.

I tried both sets over the weekend and didn't see any noticeable difference in handling between the coated and the blasted, though the blasted canvas would seem to offer more grip based solely on logic. I guess you could go with either and be happy. The leather dye also didn't leach out on to my hands or clothing.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this product. They are the best grips I've ever had on the pistol in terms of function (for me, you might be different), and they look great. Before you buy, however, understand that these grips are going to present a thinner cross-section and if you don't like that, you could be disappointed.

For me, I'll be buying another set or two if these ones ever give up the ghost. Don't know if that will ever happen, but....