I have a pair of Uncle Mikes grips on my S&W 13-3, and the front edge on one side sticks out a bit, not matching the other. It abrades my fingers.

I could try trimming it with a craft blade, but I'd hate to slip and hack up the grip. Can it be sanded by hand or with a dremel tool? Or would that melt the rubber/plastic?

I have trimmed the inside so that a grip made to convert a round grip revolver to a square grip shape could fit on a square grip frame. The rubber cut easily with a utility knife, but of course it didn't show because the work was done on the inside.

If you can do your trimming on the inside to make it fit better on the outside you will be better off.

Usually the Uncle Mikes grips are pretty good. If you mess up on the one you have it is usually possible to find either new or nice condition used ones for relatively little money by checking GunBroker or other sites.

Bill

Fitting & shaping of a recoil pad or rubber pistol grips is traditionally done with a belt or disc grinder.

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Doug

I have successfully done minor reshaping using a variable-speed Dremel with the sanding drum attachment.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Freeze it.

Put it in the freeze until it is frozen hard, then you can work with it - file, sand etc. Old tip from a rubber butt plate installer.



Charlie

Great Tip.... Charlie.
Thanks! 586L-Frame

Forget the belt sander and the Dremel tool, the belt sander is most useful in removing large amounts of material and is hard for the occasional user to control. The Dremel tends to bounce around and is hard to control. For finer fitting as you are trying to do, 180 grit wet or dry paper wrapped around a sanding block is the way to go. For small jobs I use an Art Gum eraser if working on flat surfaces or a piece of rubber tubing if working on curved areas. Put the grips in the freezer and leave them overnight and the rubber will be firm enough to sand readily. When the shape suits you switch to a finer grade of abraisive paper and wet sand with WD 40 or similar to lube. It is the way that I have gotten professional results in fitting recoil pads for years. Good luck with your project.

I cut the bottom third from a J frame Uncle Mike's three finger combat grip. I'm done with shaping the bottom to my liking and have smoothed it with 220 grit so far. I'm going to try the freeze and some oiled 600 next to get as close as I can to making it look like it came from the factory that way.

So yes, you can cut and shape away at Uncle Mike's. I really wish they would come to an agreement and start making these again. Most of them are really good grips and can be tuned to your liking.

You can cold blue the exposed metal at the bottoms, That's what I did when I cut a set down years ago..Yup there's metal in them there grips.
Would love to see a picture when you get them done..
Gary/Hk

Great advice, thanks. I sanded the grips, and am pleased with the results.