FireBirdDS
Expert
After much hesitation I decided to take the plunge and perform the no-finger groove modification and stipple to the grip on my Glock 19.
Project stages:
Dremeled off the finger groove ridges
Hand sanded the remainder of the groove bumps as well as the existing RTF2 texturing
Progressed from 220 grit to 400 grit to 1000 for a relatively flat, smooth grip surface
Using the same dremel sanding drum, I bored out a more pronounced trigger guard undercut. The Dremel sanding drums are the perfect size for my middle finger and made boring out the undercut that much more easy and precise. I then sanded the undercut, rounded and smoothed over the sharp edges using progressively finer grits. After all the sanding was done, I switched out the sanding drum for a polishing tip and went over the sanded surfaces. The polishing tip still had some residual metal polishing compound and served well in final finishing the sanded areas into a smooth semi-gloss surface.
After all the sanding and surface smoothing was done, then came the stippling. Using just a standard, cheap $20 soldering pen I used masking tape to mask off rectangular surfaces for the front grip and indexing points along upper body near the slide. Before stippling the actual textured surfaces, I used a metal mini ruler and the soldering tip to trace out straight-edged borders. (This first step made for a substantially more natural, professional looking finish with the goal of making my Glock appear as if it was manufactured that way)
Close up of the undercut. I did not stipple in any sort of random dot pattern, but instead went from trigger guard down to the magazine well row by row.
Overall impressions:
Range report:
Very pleased with how the gun shoots now! I almost feel more counter-leverage now against the recoil resulting in it being less felt. I was definitely getting more rounds on steel, even back at 15-20 yds. Single-handed shooting is now more manageable since I can now tighten my fingers closer together higher up on the grip. I'm thinking I just may give my G26 the same job here in the near future.
Project stages:
Dremeled off the finger groove ridges
Hand sanded the remainder of the groove bumps as well as the existing RTF2 texturing
Progressed from 220 grit to 400 grit to 1000 for a relatively flat, smooth grip surface
Using the same dremel sanding drum, I bored out a more pronounced trigger guard undercut. The Dremel sanding drums are the perfect size for my middle finger and made boring out the undercut that much more easy and precise. I then sanded the undercut, rounded and smoothed over the sharp edges using progressively finer grits. After all the sanding was done, I switched out the sanding drum for a polishing tip and went over the sanded surfaces. The polishing tip still had some residual metal polishing compound and served well in final finishing the sanded areas into a smooth semi-gloss surface.
After all the sanding and surface smoothing was done, then came the stippling. Using just a standard, cheap $20 soldering pen I used masking tape to mask off rectangular surfaces for the front grip and indexing points along upper body near the slide. Before stippling the actual textured surfaces, I used a metal mini ruler and the soldering tip to trace out straight-edged borders. (This first step made for a substantially more natural, professional looking finish with the goal of making my Glock appear as if it was manufactured that way)
Close up of the undercut. I did not stipple in any sort of random dot pattern, but instead went from trigger guard down to the magazine well row by row.
Overall impressions:
- Because of the undercut, I'm now able to get noticeably higher up on the grip
- The flat stippled surface provides as much, if not slightly more, retention (and was a necessary mod in order to benefit from the more pronounced undercut)
- Because I can get higher up on the grip, the gun overall feels much more like a part of my hand. In conjunction with the beavertail backstrap the grip now feels intuitively natural.
- With material removed from the front of the grip, the medium back strap is now needed in order to bring the grip size overall back to it's original "small" size, only this time with the benefit of having a beaver tail.
- Glocks next generation ought to feature a front back strap option to have a choice between a finger grooved surface or a flat textured surface. (the front portion of the grip has more than enough material thickness to accommodate a slide-up "front strap")
Range report:
Very pleased with how the gun shoots now! I almost feel more counter-leverage now against the recoil resulting in it being less felt. I was definitely getting more rounds on steel, even back at 15-20 yds. Single-handed shooting is now more manageable since I can now tighten my fingers closer together higher up on the grip. I'm thinking I just may give my G26 the same job here in the near future.
