Need Less Aggressive Grip Tape

[bradhe]

Has anyone found a grip tape less aggressive than skateboard tape? Need to redo my son's 1911 frontstrap. The smooth metal is too slick for him, but the skateboard tape tears up his hands after a week of shooting. Something rubber maybe?

thanks

Brad

[kmca]

Have you checked your local hardware store? Look at stair tread tape. It's sort of a bumpy rubber.

[yoshidaex]

Try rubbing two pieces of grip tape together to knock of the high points.

Do it before sticking them on the gun. That way you'll have one to use right away and a spare if the original falls off.

[lrf]

I had Brooks Tactical A-grip on my first gun. I've grown accustomed to skateboard tape now, but A-grip gives a good grip and it not gritty at all, it is really soft. You can buy it from Brownell's.

[Lisa C]

I use the non-slip, non-abrasive grip tape that's used on boats or swimming pools. Here's a weblink I found but am not familiar with the company: http://nonsliptapes.com/home/samples/.

The one I use has the same texture as the gray sample: http://www.heskins.com/downloads/15179_NST_Non_Abrasive_Optimise.pdf

Edited May 8, 2013 by Lisa C

[fiddler]

Take a file to it. You can tame it in about a minute.

[practical_man]

Bicycle inner tube works wonders on many of my pistols. Cut a piece and slip over frame. Remove excess so grip safety etc function.

Punch holes in it if you want more grip.

Cheap and easy. Different than skateboard tape tho.

-John

[38superfan]

Have you tried just switching over to pach wraps?

[jcarpenter82]

Stair tread is cheap and works and feels exactly the way i wanted it to on my m&p

[bountyhunter]

Has anyone found a grip tape less aggressive than skateboard tape? Need to redo my son's 1911 frontstrap. The smooth metal is too slick for him, but the skateboard tape tears up his hands after a week of shooting. Something rubber maybe?

thanks

Brad

TRICK: cut the tape to size but before you install it, use a small piece of the tape to "scuff it down" to level the sharpness off some.

[bigtimelarry]

TruGrip

http://www.ericwesselman.com/store/store.html

[anachronism]

I was really happy with the grip tape I got from Dawson Precision. I didn't feel it was too agressive, nor was it too thick for comfort.

[Waterfowl-widowmaker]

2nd on the tru grip

[LexTalionis]

the skateboard tape tears up his hands after a week of shooting. Something rubber maybe?

More practice - his hands will callous up and the tape won't be a problem

If not that, then rubbing something over the surface of the tape to knock it down a little also works. My concerns with tape are usually the strength of the adhesive. They usually don't stick to the gun well enough for me.

[Delmont]

I cover my Glock grips with Jessup skateboard tape. Afterwards, I use a scrap piece to knock down the texture a little. Last time, I went a little overboard and it ended up smoother than I intended.

For a 1911 front strap, it should be easy enough to experiment a few times and get the desired level of roughness.

[kellymc]

A while back I could only get purple tape so I sprayed it with flat black spraycan primer lightly. Afterwards the tape about 30 percent less rough

[jeremy kemlo]

Another vote for trugrips. Great product but sometimes it takes over a month to get them or longer.

[TXsun]

Hi all,

New to this forum.

Recently bought a M&P40 4.25" w/15-round mags. After reading many different forums, including this one, I too went on the hunt for something to help with maintaining one's grip. Stippling was not an option and I don't want to get in the habit of wearing gloves as I bought the gun mostly for personal defense, not competition.

I found that the skateboard and anti-slip floor tape to be too coarse. I think an ideal grit would be around 120-150, not the 80 grit most of these tapes seem to use.

Not finding anything along those lines I decided to try cloth-based electrical tape. My thinking was I that the cloth might help maintain grip by absorbing some of the sweat.

I wrapped the tape all the way around the grip starting from the bottom and winding upwards. I then applied a light coat of rubber cement to selected areas to help seal the seams a bit.

Though it felt good, I felt a little "grit" would help improve things. I came across some Velcro "Ultra-mate Low Profile 1"x3/4" White Spot" applique's at Walmart (in the fabric and arts section). I applied 2 of the "hook" tabs along the backstrap and another 2 along the front strap.

I was quite pleased when I tested in at the range 2 weeks ago, though I would not quite call it ideal.

One thing I did noticed as I write this is that a few of the Velcro tabs are separating from the underlying cloth tape. Some rubber cement or silicon glue should remedy that.

[JWard79]

Grip tape and epoxy will allow you to make non-permanent adjustments, or you could forego that route find a good smith and have him checker the front strap to your liking. I would recommend handling a few of your buddy's 1911s to see what feels good in the hand and go from there. You may find that you prefer checkering over tape or vice a versa. You could also attempt to get the specs on the single stack super squads guns through internet search or by watching liveshots.net if you need further insight into which route to choose.