A "gripping" project

[ShotgunDave]

I don't go in for BBQ guns too much, but I do like different grips than just standard wood sometimes. So I was looking for a project today, and decided to give this a try.

You guys know that I made molds and cast some faux ivory grips from urethane resin. They're a reasonable facsimile of real ones, at least as good as some I've seen for sale. Well I have always wanted a a set of jigged bone grips, so I used a pair of my faux ivory ones and got busy carving. I think they look pretty good. At least they kept my brain and hands busy for the day anyway.






I even duplicated the "pithy" look to the center of the material.



They probably won't stay on the gun forever, but for now I like them and they kept me busy for the day.

I know most of you fellas are dyed in the wool wood fans, and these won't really appeal to you. But for a little change once in a while, I like to switch them up.

[mazo kid]

Yeah, I like wood grips, but I have made a couple sets from "ivory" sheet. I think they were for making knife scales. I thought I paid too much for them several years ago, but I don't know if they even make 5 X 10" slabs anymore.

[Hawg]

I like wood but my 73 Uberti wears a set of imitation stag. I like them even if they're not historically correct.



My 1911 even wears rubber.

[ShotgunDave]

Love the stag Hawg. And those Pacmyer grips are my all time favorite for a 1911.

[Hawg]

Love the stag Hawg. And those Pacmyer grips are my all time favorite for a 1911.

Thanks. Those Pachmayrs were wraparound with a checkered front strap but they made it feel too fat. I have a nice set of cocobola double diamond grips that felt really good but Rock Islands parkerizing isn't pretty and they kinda looked like lipstick on a pig so I cut the front strap off and I like the way it looks and feels now.

[AlaskanGuy]

i was thinking it would be cool to make some out of bone.. or even whale bone..

[sourdough]

Not into ivory or bone grips. I like Hawg's 1911. I think the RIA is a good functional pistol for the money, but I do not own one.

We may be two peas in a pod somewhat Hawg. My AMT (Covina) 1911 .45 that I have had since 1992 with Pachmayr grips like yours. It has been throated and thoroughly massaged with replacement carbon steel parts to replace the soft stainless parts. It ain't pretty but it runs and has been my HD/SD/CC/truck gun since then. The Clipdraw attachment is because I don't wear a belt because of back problems, so it is suspenders for me.



I am off topic and will return to our regularly scheduled program.

Regards,

Jim



 

[ShotgunDave]

I did the same thing too Hawg. I trimmed that front strap cover off. Much better feel.

Jim, you are not off topic. We're talking about grips here, and you are right on target. Love the way that AMT looks.

Mark, if you make any from whale bone, or any bone for that matter, you better show them to us!

[Hawg]

I think the RIA is a good functional pistol for the money, but I do not own one.

It's a lot better than good and functional. I don't work for RIA but they ought to pay me because I praise them every chance I get. This thing came with a polished feed ramp, a throated chamber and a beveled mag well plus the usual tactical mods. It will feed anything you put in it including empty cases. RI is supposed to have a 500 round break in period but I have never had one single malfunction since it came out of the box. As far as accuracy and reliability I'd put it up against anybody's 1911. It may not be quite as accurate as a high end 1911 but I wouldn't bet against it. It will definitely run as good or better than anybody's high end gun.  As for cons I'm not crazy about the one piece guide rod, the ambi safety or the parkerizing. The rear sight isn't adjustable but fortunately mine hits pretty close to center windage wise. I didn't like the ACT mag it came with. I despise mags with bumpers so that one was tossed in the trash can and replaced with CMC flush mount Shooting Stars. The smooth wood grips sucked big time and were the first thing replaced. The newer models have better grips and they don't have the billboard on the slide. The trigger was a little gritty but slicked up nice with no creep. I've never used their customer service but from what I hear the're second to none. Their CEO Martin Tuason is a frequent visitor to the 1911 forum and the RIA facebook group. That's a nice looking AMT Jim. That's what my grips looked like before I cut the front strap off minus the medallion.

[mazo kid]

OK, now you've went and done it! I am going out to the shed and bring in a couple of my buffalo bones that I have had for 16+ years. Just not looking forward to the smell when sawing and sanding bone. I will be wearing a dust mask too, as bone dust is pretty nasty stuff. I hope I will have some that is big enough for grips.  I also have a piece of moose antler that I have wanted to do something with for some time now.

[ShotgunDave]

OK, now you've went and done it! I am going out to the shed and bring in a couple of my buffalo bones that I have had for 16+ years. Just not looking forward to the smell when sawing and sanding bone. I will be wearing a dust mask too, as bone dust is pretty nasty stuff. I hope I will have some that is big enough for grips.  I also have a piece of moose antler that I have wanted to do something with for some time now.

Glad I could help motivate you Em! I wish I had some real bone or antler that was big enough to make grips from. It's my favorite grip material. I have some elk antler, but it's not big enough to use for a gun. I made it into a knife handle instead.

[mazo kid]

I got this Colt about 20 years ago. It is in 41 LC as I wanted a gun to shoot the only ammo I had, 41LC in smokeless. I wanted the brass to load black powder in for my Thunderers. Fortunately Starline came out shortly with their 41LC brass and I didn't have to shoot that expensive collector stuff! The gun came with the stag grips!

[mazo kid]

The good thing is that the grips are probably worth twice what I paid for the gun.