I have repaired a lot of old Colt grips using clear epoxy glue, not the 5 minute kind. For a simple crack I put the glue on the inside and let it fill the crack, wiping off what comes thru to the outside. If the cracked piece is loose I clamp it. Otherwise I would just settle for having the crack filled and the piece stabilized.

For worse problems with Colt grips, like a piece missing, cracked away from a corner, etc.: I fix them by cleaning and roughing up the broken surface, wax a piece of foil and place it on the gun frame. Use plenty of wax to avoid glue running away & sticking. Put the grips on, position them to avoid run-off, then fill the missing area with epoxy mixed with lamp black or carbon black. It may be necessary to do more than one application to get a good fill. After it hardens, like overnight, you re-shape the area and polish it. An almost invisible repair is possible.

If your work extends into the checkering, a miniature triangle file can be laid into the original checker grooves & extend the grooves, one by one, into the new worked area. It's not difficult & works well after doing some practice.

After notes: As with any new procedure, do a couple dry runs on scrap the get the hang of it before you risk messing up a job. Epoxy glue is very tolerant of mixing in color so long as it is not water based. Artist colors, powder and liquid, oil paints and acrylic work OK. Any additive weakens the glue but strength is not much of a factor in grip repair and only a little of the black is needed. To make your finished work shine, varnish it, a little batch of your epoxy thinned with 90% alcohol.

Grip Fix Pix --





A sidebar comment -- my postings of repair-restoration info are of what worked for me & not necessarily the only/best way of doing it. We are all interested in knowing about alternative and/or better.

There have been some postings recommending use of black model paint mixed into epoxy as a filler. I have several damaged old black plastic/hard rubber grips, but have not yet attempted their repair, it's always a "one of these days I'll get around to it" thing. I was thinking about using graphite powder as a blackening agent, but have not tried it.

Very nice job sir!

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Patriots Forever!!

I concur, nice job! I foolishly shot a nice 1927 vintage Police Positive with very nice original grips, a chunk broke off at the locator pin and was lost. I used JB weld to fill and then sanded to fit, used a bit of black paint and rubbed it into the JB very thinly with my finger tip and repeated a few times. Came out rather nicely but not quite as good as yours. Thanks for your insight on this matter!

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Stay safe people!

If I had that to do, I would probably try some Sugru.

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Not in jail.

I've heard of Sugru and seen it at Lowe's, but don't know anything about it. Is adhesive enough to stick strongly to the part to be repaired? Does it cure hard? Can it be shaped by sanding or filing when it hardens? Has anyone tried it for similar black rubber grip repairs and would it be recommended?