BK Grip Adapters

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I will take a black rd butt J frame. Send me your address and I'll put a 10 and a 5 in an envelope to you. easier than pay pal

 

[TheTinMan]

I think sticking with basic black and expanding the number of models covered would give you a bigger potential market than offering 5 or 6 colors for 1 or 2 S&W revolver frames. However, changing the color is probably a whole lot easier and less expensive than creating a new mold.

It's worth noting (for my selfish purposes) that Tyler offered one "style" that fits a LOT of old Colts: Trooper, Python, 357, New Service, Official Police, and Officers Model all fall into one style apparently.

BTW there's a new development at Tyler Mfg! The phone now rings with a fast busy signal! No more useless voicemail "greeting". (I try to call them about once a week despite the futility of the endeavor.)

 

[bobsdad]

Way to go Wrangler. I admire what you are doing. I'll allow things to calm down for you and then probably order a couple. Just a thought. I can see copies of this thread being "Historically valuable" about 50+ yrs. from now when members of this forum in the future discuss the "early days" of the BK Grip Company!

 

[.357magger]

Since you're soliciting thoughts, here's mine.

I think you're on the right track about limiting the color options, at least initially. But I also think that you might want to add gray as a basic option too. LOTS of stainless guns out there any almost any shade of gray will look better than black.

Just my .02. Congrats on your business venture and I for one would be interested in ALL frame sizes when you come fully on line.

Good luck and God Bless.

 

[shooter7]

They look good. I will follow the progression of these.

 

[bronco45]

Nice work. 2 colors:

 

[photoman]

I look forward to buying some!

 

[Loco Weed]

I agree... keep it simple to start and offer black and gray for the J frames. Add others as your expertise and time allow. Don't try to be all things to all people or you'll be swamped. You can look forward to an order from me in the future.

 

[wrangler5]

Thanks for the support. My mold didn't get made yesterday - the mold maker is almost as small a business as I am, and he simply got swamped by a more urgent customer need. I'm assured the mold will be available tomorrow, so after my scheduled lunch in another state I'll hope to pick it up and start making even better adapters tomorrow night.

In one or two colors.

 

[Reacher (Said Nothing)]

I think sticking with basic black and expanding the number of models covered would give you a bigger potential market than offering 5 or 6 colors for 1 or 2 S&W revolver frames. However, changing the color is probably a whole lot easier and less expensive than creating a new mold.

It's worth noting (for my selfish purposes) that Tyler offered one "style" that fits a LOT of old Colts: Trooper, Python, 357, New Service, Official Police, and Officers Model all fall into one style apparently.

BTW there's a new development at Tyler Mfg! The phone now rings with a fast busy signal! No more useless voicemail "greeting". (I try to call them about once a week despite the futility of the endeavor.)

Sad but I keep trying the number too. Keep hoping this is some sort of terrible misunderstanding! I dialed their number so much I have it memorized.
The future is BK Grips, the professional operator's choice!

 

[Maximumbob54]

Phase one, complete:

So far I would say the fit is near perfect. I will give the edges a very light sanding just to take the sharp edge some rounding. This Friday will be range testing... More to come...

But so far...

 

[Cooter Brown]

And a new era of old school goodness begins...


Looking forward to the range report.

 

[Kingmedicine]

Oh man. Ill buy two K frames, and 1 N frame.. I cant wait for when they are available. I feel like a kid on christmas!

 

[PALADIN85020]

Those black grip adapters look pretty good; some fine finishing of the rough edges should do wonders. Hope you can find a suitable mix that will look good with aluminum and nickeled finishes! Keep us posted on progress. I think you will have plenty of folks to sell to!

John

 

[luangtom]

Kip:

E-mail sent to new address concerning receipt of adapter and evaluation.

 

[wrangler5]

Phase one, complete:

So far I would say the fit is near perfect. I will give the edges a very light sanding just to take the sharp edge some rounding. This Friday will be range testing... More to come...

But so far...

Nice pix, Bob. Thanks for posting them. I'm always glad for people to see that there's more than just me and Photoshop behind this project

 

[luangtom]

I don't wanna rain on the parade, but I am not having alot of luck fitting the J-frame adapter to my M&P340. There is a gap of day-light between frame and adapter. I tried them on the revolver with both S&W grips and after-market grips. Pix attached.....

Should I grind into the channel to allow the frame to seat or just try them on a different J-frame?

 

[wrangler5]

I don't wanna rain on the parade, but I am not having alot of luck fitting the J-frame adapter to my M&P340. There is a gap of day-light between frame and adapter. I tried them on the revolver with both S&W grips and after-market grips. Pix attached.....

Should I grind into the channel to allow the frame to seat or just try them on a different J-frame?

No, those don't look like they're fitting quite right, Tom. I checked yours (and everybody else's I mailed out the other day) on my 49 (20 years old, steel) and they fit fine. I've also just checked another one from the same mold on my 442 which is only a couple of months old. I only have one pair of the standard (Magna) grips, so I used them on both guns.

In both cases, the top radius of the grip adapter comes at least up to if not actually a hair above the frame edge ahead of where the grip ends. It looks like yours won't go up that high. On both of mine, the front lip of the adapter also rests against the back of the trigger guard. I can't tell if yours fits well in that spot or not - looks like maybe, but not sure.

The bottom tip of the grip adapter should be about a full quarter of an inch above the bottom line of the grip frame. Looks like yours might not fit up that high.

Can you tell where the interference is coming from? Is the channel above the copper clip too narrow, such that it's bottoming out on the frame before the adapter gets fully up around it? I'm not sure why it should be doing that on your frame when it didn't on mine, but then again maybe the Scandium frames have a slightly different contour.

One thing you might check: I believe the adapters actually "bottom" (top?) out against the wood of the grips. On my grips, the bottom "tip" of the grip is exactly on top of the edge of the frame. I can't tell for sure from the photos, but it looks like on yours the left hand (cylinder latch) side grip has a tip that might come down below the edge of the frame. It looks like the adapter is pretty well snug up against the wood of the grip, but it may be the shape of the grip that won't let it get up high enough to meet the frame.

If the problem is not the grip itself keeping the adapter down away from the frame, you can certainly file or grind out the channel if you like. It's more likely to be the sides that need to be thinned than the bottom of the channel itself, but in any event please be careful doing so. I use an Xacto wood carving blade in the large handle to relieve the channel (which is completely blocked by the casting sprue when the thing comes out of the mold) but the plastic is softer when I'm carving on it. I also use a leather thimble on my carving thumb, and a full carving glove on my other hand, when I'm wielding a knife around these things. It's awfully easy to slip when carving on this relatively hard substance.

But if you'd rather not mess with it, please just send the thing back and I'll refund your original payment plus the return shipping.

Whichever way you want to go, many thanks for your feedback.

 

[sheriffoconee]

that post above is enough for me to order some whether I need them or not....and I do need K and N frame....

 

[wrangler5]

Those black grip adapters look pretty good; some fine finishing of the rough edges should do wonders. Hope you can find a suitable mix that will look good with aluminum and nickeled finishes! Keep us posted on progress.

The top edges were the worst segment of the mold that just died. There was a huge sprue that came in there, that I had to keep trimming back to get rid of air pockets that left voids. This in turn produced a ragged top edge that had to be trimmed, filed, etc. And I haven't found a polishing system that can put those edges back to fully smooth. It's all cosmetic, of course, but I'm hoping that the new mold will solve that particular problem, at least partially.

As to colors for stainless and nickel frames, I'm guessing that my light gray ( a little lighter than the gray one I photographed earlier) will be an OK solution unless and until I can find a technology that allows a true metallic look. When I get past the basic black production I'll make a few gray ones in different tones and try to find nickel and stainless frames to check 'em out on. (Note: sentence ended with TWO prepositions. Extra points. )