Old Pachmayr grips slick

J

Jbearhair

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(This is closest forum I could find to subject.)

I recently purchased an older set of Pachmayr Presentation Compacs (J-frame). High quality and very well trimmed, fit great. But age has seemingly hardened the rubber and they are somewhat hard and slick now instead of softer and tacky. Anyone know how to restore tackiness? I have roughened it with 150 grit sandpaper but only minor improvement.
 
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There is really nothing that can be done, that is just what rubber does when it ages and why tires only have a maximum life of about 10 years. The easiest thing to do is just buy a replacement set of Pachmayrs. Most models are still in production from even 50 years back.
 
Don't give up on the Pachs...

Pure gum turpentine is a good way to soften those grips. Take a patch of soft cloth and dampen it with the turp, then gently apply. You might have to do this a few times, but it works.

Turpentine also works great to revitalize door and window seals on old vehicles (personal experience).
 
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Been using Pachs for a while.
Try the Turpentine. That may soften them but not fix the ugly.
Like the set in the upper top of this pic.
Got them on a used 640.
The gun looks better than the grips.
 

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Frank Pachmayr did call his choice of material 'rubber' in his patent US3672084A. But that word is like 'silver' and 'gold' and 'plastic': these words don't mean that the material is either silver, gold, or plastic. I had a holster customer who blithely changed the polymer (plastic) from nylon to delrin because it machined more easily -- and all the parts snapped! Just because both were black and were called 'plastic' didn't make their properties the same, and delrin is quite brittle vs nylon.

Pachmayr made the Bianchi grips in the late 1970s and I was the project manager assigned by JB to 'get it done'. So you'd think I'd know, eh? But they kept that to themselves.

Point: it looks and feels like rubber but Pachmayr grips are not necessarily 'rubber' and are more likely a rubberized polymer. So if you're wanting to affect your grips, you'll want to find out what material you're dealing with, then likely throw them away anyway! They'd be as much as 50 years old (date of the patent).
 
I have used Ballistol on my Pachs when they needed to be cleaned up and get that white powder look to them. Works well to restore the look but the smell of the Ballistol is rough.
 
The problem with just getting new Pachmayrs is that they have discontinued many patterns and the current fit quality is not as good as previous US production.
 
Yep - have had real issues with the current 'Made in Mexico' Pachs. Different composition and feel compared to what many of us recall. Also, fit seems to be about a 50/50 proposition.
Almost all my prior 'work guns' wore the old Pachs, back before they put the Pach medallions on them. They were great on a work gun.
 
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