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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 06-19-2018, 12:03 AM
SquarePizza SquarePizza is online now
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Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649  
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Default Talon grip material on my 649

I have been posting a lot lately about dealing with my new uniform and trying to find something that can be EDC'd in my pocket.

My 351PD carries great, but Smith's aluminum guns get beat up bad, so I finally settled on my 649, which is now becoming an on-going evolution.

My first hurdle is my pants are black, and the 649 almost comes to the top of the pocket, so the silver backstrap shines like the sun and is visible if you are standing to my side.

I considered refinishing the gun black, but most refinishers charge around 350 for an entire gun, plus shipping both ways. I did NOT want to get that deep into this project.

Then one day I was browsing Talon Grips website and found that they offer 5"x7" sheet of their material for 10 bucks shipped. I figured I would give it a try, worse case I wouldn't be out that much money.

The material arrived today with a hand written thank you on the receipt, plus instructions and 1 alcohol prep to clean the gun.



This was how I started. First I popped off the hogue grips, then cleaned the gun and cut off a 5"x .5" piece, that I applied to the backstrap and along the bottom of the grip. Afterwards I flipped the gun over and trimmed off the overhang with a knife.

Per instructions you are supposed to heat it and press it down after installation, but I don't have a hair dryer. So tomorrow I will toss it in my sun baked truck for a few minutes and that should work just fine.



This is how it turned out, I am really happy with it. It was a very cheap way to black out the part of the gun that is visible from my pocket, and it adds a little more grip to the gun as well.

Downsides: 1- The job wasn't perfect, there are a few spots that the steel can be seen between the grip and the material. They are small and this was my first try. I am perfectly fine living with it.

2- The big downside. These are GRIPPY! Which means when I go to yank it out of my pocket, it catches. Hard.

So I found that I have to modify my draw stroke to make sure my hand is completely covering the grip and my pinky rides under the gun to keep the heel of the grip and/or the bottom of the grip from touching the pocket during exit.

Despite this, I am happy with this phase of the project and I plan on adding tape to my 686 and 657 to increase my control of those guns too.
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Old 06-19-2018, 07:30 PM
No Quarter No Quarter is offline
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Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649  
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I like it! Thanks for sharing the idea.
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Old 06-19-2018, 07:38 PM
sdb321 sdb321 is offline
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Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649  
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Great job. That looks great!
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Old 06-19-2018, 08:14 PM
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Jeppo Jeppo is offline
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Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649  
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A couple months ago, I was able to buy a huge piece of "skateboard tape" for $5 on the WM site. To me, it appears identical to the Talon granulate material.
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Old 06-19-2018, 09:25 PM
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Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649  
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Interesting idea. I've heard of "Old School" methods like wrapping the grip in electrical tape or tennis racket handle tape for a more secure grip, but your method seems like a more...elegant...solution.

One thought: Switching to granulated grip tape might improve your "grabbiness" problem. When I had a Glock 23 I had a set of Talon Grips on them. This was when they first came out and only had the granulated version. It was a little too grabby for my taste, so I used some 120-grit sandpaper and broke the sharpness a bit. I ended up with a grip that didn't snag on clothing, allowed me to shift my grip when needed, but once I applied firm pressure my grip didn't shift while firing. That might be something worth considering.
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Old 06-19-2018, 10:51 PM
SquarePizza SquarePizza is online now
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Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649  
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I've heard people love or hate their granulated grips, they offer smaller sections of tape for $2 shipped if I ever give it a try. I went with the larger sheet so I could do multiple guns.
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Old 06-20-2018, 10:49 AM
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The Gila Bender The Gila Bender is offline
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Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649 Talon grip material on my 649  
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Nice! My HK USP pistols are wearing Talon grips. This is a great idea for getting a grip on my field revolvers. Thanks for sharing!
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