drewbeck Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) So it took a couple days to get the Pheonix Trinity Stainless grip and Thumb guard safety 100% done but it is now and I figured I would share my experience as detailed info was a little scarce when I was researching thee purchase. The grip took about 6 weeks to arrive from PT which was right in line with what they told me when I ordered it. I also chose to give their new thumb guard safety a try as I occasionally slow my slide down with my thumb. On arrival both parts felt awesome. The machining on the aggressive texture grip is outstanding and the sandblast finish gave it a nice dull gray. This was my first time fitting a grip or a safety so I think I definitely took more time getting it done than it would now that I know what to look for. On first try as slipping on the grip it was very tight but could be pushed on 1/2 way with the help of a rubber mallet. I covered the inside with blue and gave it another go to see where it was rubbing. TThe main areas it rubbed was at the front inlet and at the corner of the trigger guard. I picked up a fine trigger track stone and basically ended up polishing the points where it was rubbing. I didn't really need to removeany material but just flattening the sand blast to a polished state allowed the grip to slide all the way on and fit like a glove. For the trigger I went with the standard SVI and not the triglide. I spend a lot of time polishing the trigger track and made this super smooth. I also polished the trigger bow to make everything as smooth as possible. The trigger itself needed a slight radius put on the top left and right side. The way the grip was machined there is a very sharp radius where the track opens into the mag area which could catch the top of the trigger if the trigger is set up with a lot of overtravel. With that done the trigger fit great and was super smooth. I have a dawson mag release and with the button on the width of the frame wouldn't allow the release to be pushed in far enough to release the mag. I made a very thin shim to push the button away from the grip and it worked fine. I could have also take a little material off the grip to allow more travel of the release but I didn't want to do this yet. Fitting the magwell ended up being the biggest challenge. I currently have the STI stainless and I'm thinking about changing to an aluminum in the future to give me flexibility on overall weight. WIthout having other magwells to test fit I wanted to remove as little material from the grip as I could and chose to modify the magwell instead. The inside front angle of the magwell needed a fair amount of material removed but because I wanted a really tight fit, I probably marked up and test fit the magwell 100 times removing a little each time until it snaps on and the holes align. This took the most time for me but if you were comfortable with your current magwell and just took a little off the grip this would have been about a 20 minute process. The thumb safety fit was fairly straight forward. This was my first time at it so I took my time not knowing exactly what I was doing and used a little rougher stone to remove the material. I also polished the inside faces to ensure smooth travel as you engage the safety. The sand finish would probably be fine but I wanted a little smoother feel. I probably took 45 minutes for me to do this, but the next time would be much quicker. Without any lightening cuts and with a long frame, bull barrel, and stainless magwell this thing is now a Heavy gun. The balance is awesome but I may switch to an aluminum magwell to reduce the weight a little bit. I haven't weighed it yet but I'm guessing it's in the mid 50's ounce range. If you are on the fence about getting one of these from PT I would highly recommend them, the gun now balances more like a single stack (although heavier) and feels how it should be! Gonna get out blasting this weekend we'll see how it goes Edited August 8, 2014 by drewbeck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 I'll end up trimming the safety as it's designed oversized to be trimmed but I want to shoot it so I know where it rubs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent1k1 Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Nice write-up, thanks for submitting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ssanders224 Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) Looks great! I bet you are going to love the "heavy gun". The weight from the grip will really soak up recoil. Edited August 8, 2014 by Ssanders224 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 One last thing, this is designed to be drop in but nearly all of them will need some polishing due to STI frame tolerances. If you are comfortable putting a tool on a gun it's straightforward. If the thought of that scares you just have a local smith throw it on and make sure it's right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotrodder Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Great info. I ordered mine last week and was curious how much work was needed. They told me around 6 weeks also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 If you're doing it I would highly recommend the 1911 trigger track stone from brownells. Makes polishing easy and can be used for all sorts of things when you're done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholastheczar Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) Nice write up and good looking gun. I can't wait to get my Ti Grip, 11 weeks and counting...hopefully next week it ships (my fingers are crossed). Edited August 8, 2014 by nicholastheczar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TISCHLJ Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 No fitting if you are using th PT grip..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tompkins Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 No fitting if you are using th PT grip..... Ya, I will like go to a PT frame when I have a custom done. Shot it today, I definitely need to spend some time dry firing and shooting it outside of matches. The grip felt great but I have some work to do on my index as it changed slightly with the weight. Overall it felt great and I never noticed the aggressive texture other than it felt very solid and sticky but not rough at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstagn Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Read all the posts referring to your new grip. How much weight did it add to the gun? Was the recoil softer? What now is your total weight?. And I guess it moved the balance more to the rear. Thanks.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mosher Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 What is total weight on that gun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky316 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Does the PT ambi safety's come already trimmed for a right handed person or are they equal widths. Im left handed and would like a pair if not already trimmed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 Read all the posts referring to your new grip. How much weight did it add to the gun? Was the recoil softer? What now is your total weight?. And I guess it moved the balance more to the rear. Thanks.......... I'll try to get this tonight. I haven't weighed it yet and am still working. The recoil is for sure softer and better in my opinion and the balance is better even with the full weight slide, bull barrell, and long frame. I may lighten it, I've been looking at Gans but I'm hesitant with it being hard chrome already. Does anyone have experience with lightening a slide already HC'd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 Does the PT ambi safety's come already trimmed for a right handed person or are they equal widths. Im left handed and would like a pair if not already trimmed They are way oversized even on the left handed (right) side. PM inbound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudden Death Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 The ambi comes just like in the picture on post #2, they are very oversized on the thumb pads, actually they are the largest on the planet....lol They were made like that because everyone's hands are different, so there is plenty of stock to grind to fit if desired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 The ambi comes just like in the picture on post #2, they are very oversized on the thumb pads, actually they are the largest on the planet....lol They were made like that because everyone's hands are different, so there is plenty of stock to grind to fit if desired What he said...They're huge!! Personally I was looking more for the slide guard than the pad size so it's gonna take a little while to whittle them down to the size I prefer. Anyone by the way can do this with a file and sandpaper if they take a little off at a time until they like the overall size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudden Death Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Yes it is easy to do, dremel ,grinder,file, sandpaper, whatever you have to use. I also found when i was fitting the prototype months ago on my gun that a cheep fingernail file the sandpaper one works well for radius and knocking down sharp edges or whatever ,and a few rubs with the green scotch brite pad Edited August 13, 2014 by Sudden Death Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky316 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Looks like to me from the pic the right side is oversized but already cut at a angle from factory? Edited August 13, 2014 by Ricky316 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 Looks like to me from the pic the right side is oversized but already cut at a angle from factory? There is more angle on the right side than the left however, it is still wider than almost all "wide" safeties. I'll take a pic next to the standard STI one tomorrow for reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 The gun currently weighs in at 50.2oz, I didnt weigh it before but STI lists the weight at 39.2 for this gun. The PT safety is probably 2+ oz heavier than the stock one, so I'm guessing the grip is 8-9oz heavier than the plastic. I didn't have time to break it down tonight but next time I do I'll weigh it all. Does anyone have experience lightening a factory hard chrome slide??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rishii Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I had a slide that was np-3ed that I had lightened after the fact I just kept the lightening cut oiled, and never had a problem with rust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitea87 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 very nice write up. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt W Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Are these slimmer than a stock STI grip? I have smaller hands and was looking for something a tad slimmer. I know I can make my STI grip slimmer, but I like the looks of the steel grips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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