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I agree with zzt: Thumb rests primarily provide an additional index point when building your grip which helps makes the draw more consistent. I suppose, as far as recoil goes, it could help to prevent your support hand from sliding forward when firing many shots in a row or when fatigued, but it doesn't really tame the recoil.

It's been 6 or more years, but I don't recall doing any fitting. That said, I went downstairs, pulled the gun from the safe and looked at the NitroFin to see if I could tell if I had fit it at all. The inspection revealed that only normal wear has removed any of the finish and that is isolated to the pin itself. The finish is intact everywhere else.

I've been running the Shooting Sports Innovations NitroFin on my xx11 Limited gun for probably 6 years or more and love it! https://shootingsportsinnovations.com/nitro-fin-2011-sti-sv-mpa-prodigy-slide-lock-thumb-rest/ The only thing I really had to change about my shooting was getting my trigger finger under it when shooting WHO. It's not a problem at all after the transfer from strong hand to weak hand, but did take some dryfire to get the transfer smoothed out. Otherwise, the rest is positioned perfectly for where my support hand thumb was already at with my normal (non-rest) grip.

I've been using the SSI BITE grips since they came out. I also use the SSI DSP BITE grips: https://shootingsportsinnovations.com/1911-dsp-bite-grips/ After a year of testing both grips on several 1911s (9mm minor, 40 S&W major, 22 LR), I personally prefer the DSP grips. Pros/Cons? BITE Grips: Pretty much zero "break in" - put them on and use them. If there's a "hot spot" somewhere, the pigment goes all the way through the grip so you can sand/file that area. Even after getting rid of "hot spots", my hand shape causes these grips to create blisters on my strong hand ring and pinky fingers. (FYI, I broke the metacarpals of both of those fingers many years ago and they didn't mend right) I like these grips on my 22 LR 1911s! DSP BITE Grips: Some break-in, but not much - I used a fine file to take down the grit a little above and behind the right side of the mag release so the sharp grit doesn't cut the palm of my hand at the base of my trigger finger when I draw. You have to replace the grip tape when it wears out - I'm about to change mine for the first time on my primary gun and it's not even totally worn out; it is just thinning where I press the meat of my support hand palm into the left grip. I like these grips on my 9mm and 40 S&W 1911s! I am right handed and Single Stack is my primary division, so my primary gun probably got close to 10k match rounds through it last year in USPSA and Steel Challenge-type matches, with additional practice rounds through it and my backups. Both accept tungsten weights so you can tune the weight/balance of your 1911, which is a very nice feature! Both are also cut for Techwell magwells, if that's your thing. Pattern on my hands during dryfire: Blisters under the callouses on my hands after a Steve Anderson class last year: Let me know if you have questions or if you'd like any more photos, such as the DSP grips after almost a year of use on my primary gun (still the old tape) or DSP grips with brand new tape on my backup gun, etc.

You asked about aggressive aluminum grip panels, and I figure you’re probably asking for the texture and the weight vs most typical 1911 grips, so I will offer these two non-aluminum options: If you like grips with a pattern texture, the Shooting Sports Innovations 1911 BITE Grips are very aggressive: https://shootingsportsinnovations.com/1911-bite-grips/ If you prefer a more random or sharp texture, the Shooting Sports Innovations 1911 DSP BITE Grips with grip tape are excellent: https://shootingsportsinnovations.com/1911-dsp-bite-grips/ These have been on various 1911s of mine since they first came out and I like each one for different reasons, but both can be filed down in specific places if they create hot spots or tear your hands up too much. Should weight be an important feature for you, these grips include spaces for tungsten plates so you can tailor the weight of your gun from 1/2 oz to 5 oz in just a few minutes and you can even choose where the weights are located (towards the top of the grip, bottom of the grip, front of the grip and/or rear of the grip) to balance the gun how you like it. Oh, they are TechWell magwell compatible, too… but I stick with my Dawson ICE magwell with SSI’s left-handed Bottom Feeder insert.

Check out Dan @ D2 Customs. He's in central PA and I know a LOT of folks who are running his guns and having great success with them!

What you're describing sounds a lot like extinct IPSC Modified division... not that that's a bad thing I always thought Modified was fascinating!

This is identical to my 9mm minor setup in multiple guns.

Hunters HD Gold (glasses with both gold and ruby lenses) are full blown safety glasses. Many times, folks will not install the side shields or will remove them, which is why a lot of folks wearing HD Gold glasses on the range don't have much side protection. Not using the side shields minimizes their effectiveness, but they are available and is a choice of the shooter.

I'm currently using the Shooting Sports Innovations 1911 Bite Grips on all of my competition 1911s: https://shootingsportsinnovations.com/1911-bite-grips/ They're definitely the most aggressive grip I've ever had on my 1911s and I've used various G10 grips. Before the Bite Grips, I was using the Hogue Extreme G10 Chain Link grips: https://www.hogueinc.com/grips/1911-grips/government-commander-clones/extreme-series-g10/thin/1911-govt-3-16-thin-chain-link-solid-black-g10 The Hogue's don't look very aggressive, but they were actually the best 1911 grip that I've used ... until the Bite Grips. I found both to be better than skateboard tape/griptape grip panels at digging into my hands and keeping everything in place with major power factor ammo. (Photos from the vendor's websites, not my pistols - If you'd like pictures of mine, just let me know)

It's my understanding that the gold lenses will not change (or not change as much) when used for driving since the glass blocks a lot of the UV light that actually darkens the lenses. Just to be certain, are you wearing the gold or ruby lenses for driving? I was driving with the ruby lenses because they are always darker than my gold lenses and some colors were greatly affected. For instance, green lights were barely visible. I talked to Brian @ Hunters HD Gold about it and he said not to use them for driving and that there should have been a warning included with the glasses specifically warning NOT to use the ruby glasses for driving. The golds are good to go, though. As far as the queasiness, I'd give it a few more days to see if your eyes adjust. Queasiness is usually a disconnect between what your eyes see and the movement that your inner ear detects. The slight Rx is likely causing that; I remember when I first got glasses in elementary school, I literally could not walk for a while each time I put the glasses on because my eyes and inner ear were so out of sync. After a while it went away, but I can't recall how long that took.

Your drill press skills may be far superior to mine, but I think finding a somewhat local machinist who would drill and tap the frame would be the route I'd go. It's such a small job that sending the gun out for the work seems excessive to me. I prefer to let the professionals do permanent work on serialized parts... but that's just because I know my own limits. hehe

There are drop-in threaded barrel options available, though some may be "mostly drop-in" where you have to fit the hood and maybe lower lugs. You'll probably need to load ammo with a relatively slow powder to generate enough gas for the comp to work well. I like Blue Dot for this, but I'm sure there are other options. The more difficult part of this project may be mounting the red dot sight, assuming that you're going to add one. If you're not looking to have the frame drilled and tapped, there are dovetail mounts available that replace the rear sight or mounts that attach to the accessory rail (if you have one). At any rate, you don't need a custom, 2" @ 50 yds, bullseye-type 1911 for steel challenge... unless you want one!

Yes, they're totally ambi!

I've never been happy with the bond between inner belt and outer belt at the mag pouch or holster mounting points so always buy industrial strength hook and loop fastener tape from Home Depot or Lowes and add the hook side to the inside of every mag pouch and holster hanger I have. Supposedly, CR Speed solved this with the C-BAX belt attachments, but I've never seen that work. All I've ever seen that do is reduce the amount of material that I can add the hook tape to.