1911 Front strap enhancement

[AJ]

A lot of 1911's are a little thin to checker on the front strap; Bob Chow (and others) solved this problem by stippling back in the 60's. Offers a great gripping service at a much lower cost than checkering. Here is a poor camera shot from my steam powered cell phone.

I have one something like that. Will get a picture of it posted.

 

[Eric300]

Non-Skid tape will work just fine. Home Depot, Lowe's or a good hardware store should have it.

Works like a champ. Just trim it to fit. If/when it wears out just make a new piece. One roll lasts a long time.

 

[AJ]

I have one something like that. Will get a picture of it posted.

As promised. Bought the receiver like this. It was a 1958 Colt .38 Super that had been customized to .38 Special. Now it is a .45 ACP. Who stripled the grip is anyone guess. Whoever did it, did a very good job!

 

[H Richard]

On my Springfield Armory, (30 years ago), lots of options weren't available, and I also couldn't afford the checkering, so I did a stippling job on mine, before having it Metaloyed finish. You can see some of it in this picture. It did the job, and looked pretty good also.

 

[tmd17]

A Powers Custom jig, a few hand files, lots of patience, a pinch of courage, a handful of luck and you can checker a 1911 front strap in a weekend. Stainless cleans up nicely, but carbon steel frames will require some extra attention. I have done a few and each time I started one, I was nervous. I have yet to get one 'perfect' but no one else ever notices the lines out of whack unless I point them out.

The only one I still have is the 1st one I did, an old Norinco. I was going for a battle worn look and posted the 2nd picture to help understand the coloring of the trigger guard undercut.

 

[BB57]

I have no complaints with the Wilson Combat checkered front strap. $16, tucks under the grip panels and hasn’t come loose (although as a belt and suspenders guy I used a very thin coat of rubber cement under it as well.

 

[AJ]

My original Series 70 Gold Cup National Match wears a Ranger Grip that I modified. Rangers were from Fed Ord in El Monte, Ca., now out of business. You can see the wraparound checkered front portion of the grip. I installed the EGA's over 30 years ago, still holding up after lots of rounds!

 

[cndrdk]

Thanks for all the suggestions; Someone on another forum is sending me a pre-cut piece to try.

Another suggestion (what I did), when you get the strip de-grease the area, put the strip on, fold edges to fit under the grips, THEN before putting grips on, take a file and file down the rough area of the tape that goes under the grips.

 

[tom2]

Another way to permanently texture a front of the grip frame is called stippling. I got the special stippling punch from Brownells. I had an old aftermarket frame 1911 parts gun. I applied the stippling by hitting and bouncing the punch all over the front of the frame. Takes awhile to get full coverage by hand. Strike and bounce at random working your way down. Then you have the nonslip grip area that looks like either very rough sand blast maybe or some of the texture you see on plastic grips. I just re-parkerized the frame on the stove and that was it. I guess it is considered old school.

 

[AJ]

Another way to permanently texture a front of the grip frame is called stippling. I got the special stippling punch from Brownells. I had an old aftermarket frame 1911 parts gun. I applied the stippling by hitting and bouncing the punch all over the front of the frame. Takes awhile to get full coverage by hand. Strike and bounce at random working your way down. Then you have the nonslip grip area that looks like either very rough sand blast maybe or some of the texture you see on plastic grips. I just re-parkerized the frame on the stove and that was it. I guess it is considered old school.

tom2,

The front of the grip frame in Post#23 is stripling. There are a variety of methods to accomplish this procedure. Should have mentioned the process in my post.

AJ

 

[sceva]

I went with skateboard tape. A member of a 1911 forum mailed a pre-cut piece to me. I trimmed it slightly but not perfectly and put it on. I am liking it.

 

[AJ]

I went with skateboard tape. A member of a 1911 forum mailed a pre-cut piece to me. I trimmed it slightly but not perfectly and put it on. I am liking it.

Your gun and as long as you are happy all is good!

 

[stansdds]

I went with skateboard tape. A member of a 1911 forum mailed a pre-cut piece to me. I trimmed it slightly but not perfectly and put it on. I am liking it.

Simple, effective, low cost, easily replaceable, and does no damage to the pistol. Hard to go wrong with that!

 

[oldbrownhat]

Works like a champ. Just trim it to fit. If/when it wears out just make a new piece. One roll lasts a long time.

I did similar on my STI Spartan. Don't know exactly what product I used but it works well. Adds texture w/o being too aggressive.

 

[arjay]

This checkering was done to a Springfield GI along with several other modifications by a local gun crank. He didn’t point them which gives plenty of traction without being sharp