100% Grip-tape Grips

[ck1]

Decided to post this "how to" as it seems most shooters haven't spent any amount of time kick-flipping down sets of stairs in their youth as I did and seem to suffer from chronic ugly grip-tape jobs... If you want to know how to apply grip-tape properly, just ask a skateboarder.

Step 1: Decide you need more grip and know that 3M stair-tape is lame and that heading to a skateshop and dropping $5 for honest-to-goodness Jessup brand grip-tape is what you want to do.

Step 2: Cut the grip-tape to larger than you'll need to cover the whole grip panel and spend a minute to make sure it gets attached all the way around.

Step 3: Scratch all the way around the panel with the shaft of a screwdriver (or something like one) making sure you're actually scratching out the true perimeter of where you want to cut and not other rises and shapes unless you wish to do so on purpose. This will not only make it possible to match the shape of the panel perfectly, but it will also keep the grip-tape from peeling up at the edges and will make it way less of a PITA to cut in Step 4. This is the step that any good skateboarder knows, and most shooter guys don't, nothing is more lame than jacking up your brand new skate deck before you've even busted your first ollie.

Edited April 17, 2011 by ck1

[ck1]

Step 4: Cut out the outline you scribed with your screwdriver using a razor of some sort at a 45 degree angle or so. If you went around the panel enough times with the screwdriver shaft this will be quick and easy, that said, try to use a sharper blade as that'll come out cleaner.

Step 5: Voila! You're done and they look as if they were born that way. Go around them once or twice again with the screwdriver shaft to make sure they won't peel up and to clean up any less than perfect cuts, cut little X's over where the screws go in so they won't bubble up around the screw recesses when you mount them on your pistol and tighten them down.

Now go buy your kid a new skate deck with the money saved from not having to go buy another set of grips. Go shoot.

Edited April 17, 2011 by ck1

[rjennings10]

Very cool.

I'll have to try this out on my tanfoglio. You made the process look very simple! Thank you.

Edited April 19, 2011 by rjennings10

[ck1]

Very cool. Now how about a glock frame

I'll have to try this out on my tanfoglio. You made the process look very simple! Thank you.

You're welcome, glad to help.

This is really just a "public service announcement" for fellow shooters really, just picked up a set of the "thick" AL grips from Czcustoms and while they certainly look cool they didn't quite deliver the kind of grip I was looking for, I've had the "aggressive checkered" one's in the past too and they are really good but still not quite what I was after. Grip-tape is the way IMHO, actually ends up grippier in most ways than the "lemon graters" as the grip-tape doesn't require any squeezing-force to bite as the checkering does, flesh touching it is enough for it to do it's thing, and it doesn't start to bite into your hands like the aggressive checkered ones do towards the tail end of prolonged 300+ round range sessions.

The screwdriver-shaft-method of getting it to stick and not peel does indeed work great with sections on Glocks too (I've done it a bunch), also works awesome on 1911's, one of my favorite 1911 grip options is the smooth grips covered using the method described above...

[highxj]

Huh, this is timely. I just spent some time enhancing the exact grips with skate tape. The included panels aren't in a very useful place for me, so I added additional strips here and there as well as on the front and rear straps. I never though to try your method as I didn't think it would actually work due to the compound curves........but apparently it does! The skate board deck tape is not Jessup brand....do I need to find this?

Dan

[ck1]

Huh, this is timely. I just spent some time enhancing the exact grips with skate tape. The included panels aren't in a very useful place for me, so I added additional strips here and there as well as on the front and rear straps. I never though to try your method as I didn't think it would actually work due to the compound curves........but apparently it does! The skate board deck tape is not Jessup brand....do I need to find this?

Dan

Ha, Jessup brand isn't really necessary, it is the best though!

[Custom Rust]

Black Magic has been and will always be the best grip!

[ck1]

Black Magic has been and will always be the best grip!

Ahh, a fine Shorty's product (probably just re-branded Jessup though).

Think my point is grip-tape from a skateshop is best, good stuff is thin, really grippy and lasts, where as stair-tape from the hardware store is usually thick and more coarse than really grippy.

[G34 CORDY]

I did the same thing to my Shadow Custom, feels great and doesnt move at all.

[eerw]

Skate tape is the best..the material is thin enough to mold to the grip and is flexible. Stair tape is too thick, too gritty.

[burningsquirrels]

lots of brands out there. just ask around, chances are people have rolls of it. i got three. i don't remember what they are though. i think i ran with 3m safety walk for whatever it was.

[burningsquirrels]

er, point being, they all seem to have different properties, so it's up to you to find what works best. i ran with the coarser stuff. it breaks in well.

[CZinSC]

I use the Shurtape Indoor/Outdoor tape. I like the coarser feel, plus after a few matches, its worn down a little, so it's not so coarse, but still very grippy ( is that a word? ).

But I like the screwdriver idea. I will have to try that if I need to replace it in the future.

[Avezorak]

Jessup is the bomb!

[ck1]

The funniest thing about this whole thing is that after trying pretty much every grip available for the CZ's think I'm going to just end up running the factory rubber one's or maybe even the factory plastic one's... doh!

[burningsquirrels]

yeah, i like the rubbers on my carry, but i can't reach the mag drop. maybe all i need is an extended mag drop. anyone got one?

[carbon9]

The only thing I don't like about the skateboard grip tapes is the grit they shed initially and I find the 3M does stay consistent longer. I agree it is a little less flexible then Jessup and does require large areas to be applied in sections. Although all grip tape adhesives suck during the summer here in AZ as the grip tape shifts slightly. I do really like the new CZ Custom shop grips with the complete coverage spray on grit. They were out of stock when I went back to buy them, dammit.

[pevadijk]

The funniest thing about this whole thing is that after trying pretty much every grip available for the CZ's think I'm going to just end up running the factory rubber one's or maybe even the factory plastic one's... doh!

Yep, I've also spend a lot of $$$ on grips but I've concluded that the CZ rubbers fit me very well.

[Neomet]

Hey Burning, flip the mag release around and use your trigger finger. I'm a lefty and have always done it that way. Reversed it to use my thumb and I was slower even with practice. At least it would let you use the rubbers.

[ck1]

I've actually gone back to using the VZ G10 grips.

Since I changed my extended 75SA-type safeties out for the higher 85-type ones, I now have more room to get my support-hand meat on the gun. Now instead of the VZ's feeling too thin, the thin-ness of the VZ grips allows me lock my support-hand around the gun like it's in a vise.

I suppose the CZC thick aggressive checkered grips would feel real close to what I've got now with the VZ's (the CZC thick grips are 1.24" wide, but are a totally flat profile), width-wise the VZ's are 1.20" across the gun but are slightly slimmer towards the frontstrap and backstrap giving them more of an arched profile, which IMHO kind of works better for getting one's support-hand aboard more so than with the aluminum grip's flat-ness.

Can't beat the G10 checkering as far as grip goes though IMO, it doesn't look like it in pics, but it's much better than grip-tape, but you can still loosen and shift your hands if you grab a bad hold.

I'm pretty happy with how mine feels in my hands now, that said, as pricey as these aftermarket grips are, I'd pay double for a set of the VZ's that were exactly the same except 1/3 to nearly twice as thick as the ones they're making now (which would still be really slim, maybe the same as a 1911 wearing slim-lines), as that would be perfect for me.

[Neomet]

Wow, I hadn't thought of that. I was using full skate taped Al on the support hand and rubber on the strong hand to make enough room. You are right though. With the 85s I have plenty of room for my support hand using Als on both sides. Good call!

Edited May 26, 2011 by Neomet

[GuyC]

Just a side note. when applying grip tape on a Glock, use one large strip and wrap it around. You will have little bumps but the best way to adhere the skate tape to the grip is use a lighter, and carefully melt the tape into the groves of the grip. After that there will me no more sliding.

[ck1]

Wow, I hadn't thought of that. I was using full skate taped Al on the support hand and rubber on the strong hand to make enough room. You are right though. With the 85s I have plenty of room for my support hand using Als on both sides. Good call!

Yeah, it's crazy how big a deal moving the safeties up a 1/4" is as far as adding room on the grip.

I think 9 times out of 10 most people tend to subjectively like the feel of a slimmer gun over a thicker one, but objectively, if the thinness means one's hands can't fit into a proper grip and "lock up", then they may actually be worse for good shooting technique than a grip that is too big. With the added room I feel like you get a gun that feels fast-handling and lithe but doesn't compromise the nuts n' bolts fundamentals of getting 360 degree contact.

[pevadijk]

I like the way the gun feels in my hand with the aluminum grips, but I have large hands and when shooting strong hand only I need to 'squeeze' a bit to get a good grip: which tells me the grips are to small for my hands.