Who's made grips?

by Catoosa, Thursday, January 12, 2012, 10:15 (4699 days ago) @ Slow Hand

Doug, I just finished shaping a pair for the old Colt PPS I bought last week. Made them from a scrap piece of furniture walnut I had lying around. You really don't need a bandsaw or planer just to make one or two sets. I traced one side of a factory grip from a DS I already had onto a piece of card stock and used that as a template to transfer the outline to the wood, then cut the blanks out with a coping saw. The wood was too thick, so I cut off about a third with one of those Japanese razor saws that cuts on the backstroke. This one has a spine along the back of the blade so it is very stiff and makes a straight cut. It's a VERY handy saw to have around for all sorts of wood work.

The other things you really need are a small belt sander and a Dremel with sanding drums. Fit the upper corner of each grip to the frame first, and then locate and drill the hole for the pin, making sure the pin hole forces the grip up into tight contact with the frame. I failed to do that with the first one and had to plug the pin hole and redrill to get the grip to fit tight.

I had already stripped the frame so I didn't worry about the finish when shaping the grips, but a couple layers of masking tape would be in order on a gun that's not to be reblued. Be REAL careful working around the edges with the Dremel - that sanding drum will eat through masking tape quickly. I really like the foam-backed sanding sponges for final shaping.

Brownells has escutcheon screws that are long enough to work with almost anything. Fit 'em and then cut to the proper length. Drill a pilot hole just large enough for the screw shank first, then counterbore just far enough to seat the escutcheons a bit below flush to allow for final sanding. Be careful to use a counterbore drill large enough for the escutcheons to slip into the counterbores without too much force as you tighten the screw to draw them in. If the hole's too small you can split the grip.

That's about it - good luck and good whittling!

Catoosa