BK Grip Adapters

wrangler5,

I may have missed a post or two, but I assume the adapters are cast solid. The Tyler Ts don't fit my hand exactly and I would like to grind your adapter a tad bit, and make it in between a Tyler and a Pachmayr grip adapter in profile.

The castings are indeed solid. I actually do quite a bit of grinding on the "inside" of each adapter after it comes out of the mold, to get rid of the sprue and the residue of the parting lines. When just out of the mold the material is soft enough to carve with sharp knives, but within a half hour I have to shift to a small milling cutter in a flexible shaft tool.

You certainly can grind or sand on the face of the adapter as well, and the entire pour is tinted so the color is consistent throughout the part. But be aware of a couple of things: First, the resin often releases lots of very tiny bubbles as it sets up in the mold. These bubbles generally stay away from the surface of the mold, which is why I get a smooth working surface (I suspect that the outer surface of the part starts to set up before the bubbles begin to form.) But "inside" you are likely to run into them pretty much everywhere, and when you do they will give you a non-smooth surface anywhere you expose one of 'em. You can sand your new surface smooth, but the sanding dust (which will be white) will fill in the tiny pores these bubbles will leave, and you'll have a speckled surface to look at. It may be so smooth that you won't really feel the pores, but it probably won't look very good.

And second, I haven't found anything yet that lets me polish this stuff as smooth as it comes out of the mold. So if you carve away at the face of the adapter, you may not be able to get even the solid areas back to as smooth a surface as you started from.

I have spoken with my materials supplier and they say that the bubbles that form during setup are just part of the chemical process going on during the cure. The particular material that I use is designed to be tinted, so the fact that it may contain internal bubbles when hard isn't a real concern. I would use other materials if I needed crystal clear parts, but those materials don't lend themselves to coloring as well as what I use.
 
Kip,

I've linked to this topic on my blog, with a direct e-mail link. If you have or come up with a web site I'll add that.

People are asking me about this all the time and I get a number of hits on this subject. Might as well let them know you're there!

Interesting history on the Tyler situation, Hobie. That's more than I've seen anywhere else. I'd guess that your speculation on the difficulties of the probate/succession transition are pretty close to the mark.

And many thanks for the link. What I offer isn't metal, it isn't shiny, and it's only available in black (so far), but as I say in the classified ads I've posted for BK Grip Adapters, it's intended to be a utilitarian device for a working gun.
 
Wrangler, any idea when you might have N-frame adapters in production?

My J frame mold died yesterday so I'm in the queue at my mold maker's for a new one of those. Probably ready on Monday, as he's leaving town tonight for the weekend.

My next size will be for the K frame square butt, hopefully within the next week or two. When I get that one done I will ask for a few prototypers to examine the first run, but I will be asking for folks who have BOTH an K square butt AND an N frame gun.

The K frame adapter that I will be starting with actually fits my 1917 N frame better than the adapter that's supposedly made just for the N frames. If early tests confirm this to be the case on other N frame models owned by other people then I may not ever make a designated N frame version, as the K square version will do the job.

We'll just have to wait and see. But thanks for the continuing interest.
 
Model 49 by Smith and Wesson
Stocks by Executioner
Adapter by BK....
I got my BK adapter today and am VERY pleased...It is on my 49 now, my new to me 40 that is inbound will be wearing it soon..
I am VERY pleased with the fit, feel and SERVICE....Kip, you done good....keep me in the loop, I want to order more
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Received my black j-frame adapter today from BK Grips. Looks good, feels good, fits great. My m-36 couldn't be happier. Gentlemen, we definitely have a winner here! Old fashioned American ingenuity is still alive and well. Way to go, Kip.
 
BK adapter on my M 40....
For what it is worth, I was cleaning this M 40 today and sprayed Birchwood Casey bore solvent all over the adapter...and it sat there for about 5-10 minutes before I noticed it....I wiped it off with no effect whatsoever to the adapter, other than to make it look shiny.....
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Got mine today and immediately put it on the Model 36. Looks good and feels good. Will post more after the next range day.
 
I just wanted to chime in with a "congrats" to Wrangler5 for all his work and to wish him a ton of good luck!

At the SHOT Show in January, I spoke with the owner of Pachmayr in their booth about bringing back their grip adaptor. He looked at me like i was crazy and basically told me that there aren't enough revolver owners out there to make it worth their while. I told him I strongly disagreed, but...oh well.

I hope Wrangler5 does great!
 
Finally, I got to shoot mine today. Life has been very busy and today is my first chance to fire my M36 with the new BK Adapters installed. I only went through 25 rounds of 158 gr. SWC handloads but the performance was excellent.

I have average size hands but the square butt factory grips are just too small for good control. With the BK Adapter it was much better. I was pleased with DA results from 7 - 25 yards.

Sorry, no picture but the black BK Adapter on my blue M36 looks just like photos previously posted by others. Fit and finish are WNL, to say the least.

Here is what I consider a high level compliment: Once I started shooting with the BK Adapters in place I never gave them another thought. They are simply "right" -- in looks, in feel, in performance.

Thanks for a great product!

(Now if I can just get my $57 back from Tyler OR if they will ship the two grips I ordered in late 2010 I will be truly happy.)
 
Bring on the K frame grips!!!!!

Well, the master for a square butt K frame grip adapter is with my mold maker as I type this. Unfortunately he has other clients with bigger budgets ahead of me in line, and he seems to think it would be a good business practice to pay attention to them first. But I hope to have a working mold for a K frame adapter this coming week.

Just so you know, when I do get some K frame adapters made I will FIRST ask for customers who have BOTH a square butt K frame AND an N frame revolver. As I've mentioned before, my K frame adapter fits my 1917 N frame better than an original one designated as being for an N frame. That may be a fluke of my particular N frame adapter. But in case the BK adapter I'm going to make for K frames will actually fit and function properly on an N frame as well, I will be able to satisfy more people sooner.

But I won't want to advertise it that way until there is some feedback to support it. SO - when the time comes, I hope some of you with both guns will step up first, check out the new one on both guns, and give some feedback (and pictures) for the rest to see.

When I have some to deliver I'll post an announcement on this forum, probably in a separate thread that will have "BK" and "K frame" in the title. Until then . . . patience. It's on the way. :)
 
Future BK Grips needs:

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My K Sq Tyler doesn't fit my M28 very well at all...
 
K/N Frame BK Grip Adapters

O.K. Kip, I'll step up to the plate and give it a try. I have both and would be proud to give you feed back on the next version. I also have a #4 Tyler which is for the N-Frame (shush, somebody will be breaking into my house if they knew I had one!) so I could compare and contrast it to the BK K/N frame model. :)
 
Kip:
I'm real happy with the J Frame grip,and would very open to trying K and N when available, just email me what you need in payment. I'll post pictures.

One thing I used to do when sanding/filing plastics was to use Acetone on a cotton ball to wipe the surface after sanding, and it sort of "smoothed" the surface out, leaving no marks. Not sure if would wofk with the particular compound you are using or not.
 
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