How to get >5 oz in Gen 3 Glock Grip

[7ender]

Saw a post by geraldskip wondering how to get more weight in the gen 3 Glock grip so I thought i'd post what I did.

 

I was able to get a little over 5oz flush fitting in my gen 3 glock 17 grip.  Previously had a 2 ounce grip plug in it from Dawson.

I bought tungsten putty and tungsten shot (for the higher density) and mixed them together.  Then lined the inside of the grip with a thin layer of epoxy, and shoved it in.  Once inside the tungsten putty allows it to mold to the backstrap shape.  Added a little more epoxy after insertion to lock it in.  Once cured, sanded the epoxy flush and painted.  Can't even tell it's there unless you really look, and the shape of it acts as a small magwell.

Don't have any pics of finished product but do have a couple of the in progress.  Could up the weight even more by increasing the ratio of tungsten shot to tungsten putty.

Edited May 16, 2019 by 7ender

[cjmill87]

How much did the tungsten putty and shot cost?

[Jamese35]

My limited gun has tungsten packed I. The backstrap aswell. 

[7ender]

1 hour ago, cjmill87 said:

How much did the tungsten putty and shot cost?

~$35, so no more than a typical brass slug.

[7ender]

1 hour ago, Jamese35 said:

My limited gun has tungsten packed I. The backstrap aswell. 

Yeah, always effective but I feel where this really shines is in CO classes, where we can't just stick a fat brass magwell on where the weight is more effective.

Edited May 16, 2019 by 7ender

[geraldskip]

Cool! very good idea.

[BASE772]

Nice! I got 3oz in the grip with plumbers lead wool. 

[Jamese35]

10 hours ago, 7ender said:

Yeah, always effective but I feel where this really shines is in CO classes, where we can't just stick a fat brass magwell on where the weight is more effective.

I get it, when we came up with a design for my limited gun,we wanted to add a much weight as possible and it was another spot to put weight. Really would help alot in CO. Does CO have a weight limit? 

[Novagunner]

How hard is it when it cures? Does it get eaten up by mag insertion? 

[nick779]

Saving this thread.

[snipaz2420]

where did you purchase the putty and shot if you don't mind me asking?

[nick779]

I found it on Amazon. It's listed as pinewood derby car weights

[Pickin]

I want to try this. Have been wanting to for a while.  Need to figure out how to do it with a magwell. 

[7ender]

On 5/17/2019 at 5:14 AM, Novagunner said:

How hard is it when it cures? Does it get eaten up by mag insertion? 

So far so good. I saved maybe an 1/8" of space at the bottom to fill with epoxy, so there's a good structural layer of epoxy guide the mags in.

[7ender]

7 hours ago, snipaz2420 said:

where did you purchase the putty and shot if you don't mind me asking?

Yep- as Nick said, Amazon. Think the putty was like $15 and the shot was $20.

 

[snipaz2420]

Awesome thanks! I had been thinking of using tungsten powder but this looks like a nice way of doing it also.

[lumberjack149]

There is a decent difference in weight between using tungsten powder and tungsten shapes (spheres, blocks, plates, etc).  I would recommended using as many of the shapes as you can fit in the grip instead of powder.  Not that i think it matters on performance (i just like tinkering), i was able to get my CO glock up to 40oz by getting creative and playing around with tungsten. 

[Pickin]

1 hour ago, lumberjack149 said:

There is a decent difference in weight between using tungsten powder and tungsten shapes (spheres, blocks, plates, etc).  I would recommended using as many of the shapes as you can fit in the grip instead of powder.  Not that i think it matters on performance (i just like tinkering), i was able to get my CO glock up to 40oz by getting creative and playing around with tungsten. 

 

Did you really get 40oz?  That's heavy. Awesome you were able to make it happen. 

[cjmill87]

2 hours ago, lumberjack149 said:

There is a decent difference in weight between using tungsten powder and tungsten shapes (spheres, blocks, plates, etc).  I would recommended using as many of the shapes as you can fit in the grip instead of powder.  Not that i think it matters on performance (i just like tinkering), i was able to get my CO glock up to 40oz by getting creative and playing around with tungsten. 

 

Care to share the details?

[Shadyscott999]

3 hours ago, lumberjack149 said:

There is a decent difference in weight between using tungsten powder and tungsten shapes (spheres, blocks, plates, etc).  I would recommended using as many of the shapes as you can fit in the grip instead of powder.  Not that i think it matters on performance (i just like tinkering), i was able to get my CO glock up to 40oz by getting creative and playing around with tungsten. 

I too would like to know how you got 10+ oz of tungsten in a glock. 
(without making it the size of a brick)

 

[lumberjack149]

Yes, it weighed just over 40oz with an empty magpul mag inserted when i weighed it at the SC state match.

It started out just like this thread as far as i was just trying to add a few more ounces to a CO gun for the heck of it.  I learned that you could easily add 3oz to 7oz to a glock but i really couldnt think of much beyond that (2oz over stock weight with an extended 1/4" thick tungsten guide rod and then 3 to 5 oz in the grip depending on what type of tungsten you used and how permanent it was).  I then i read a thread on the sig 320's and about what some people have done to the grips as far as chopping them up and adding tungsten and putting them back together and i figured what the heck, i enjoy tinkering and the worse that can happen is i ruin a frame.  

I shoot my glocks with a medium size grip so i wanted to make sure when i was done that it was still a medium size grip.  I used the extra backstraps i had laying around and i made a template on the grip size and i could always take measurement off my other glocks as i went.  The first thing i did was chop away most of the back grip area with the exceptions of a few small strips of plastic left (to give something to attach to and help keep the basic grip shape).  I then went layer by layer with tungsten plates, blocks (two different sizes), and small scrap pieces of tungsten to build up the basic shape of the grip (solid tungsten adds up very quickly).  Before i started, I also roughed up the plastic surface pretty good, made small little attachment points in the plastic for the putty to tie into, and tied small stainless wire into the plastic to kind of act like rebar.  All the tungsten layers are held together by devcon steel putty (slow setting stuff).  I took quite a few different evening getting the basic shape of the grip built back up but once that was done i did lots of skim coats and then sanding to get the final shape i wanted (devcon steel putty mixed with tungsten powder since this part was just cosmetic and not structural).  I then covered it all with a silicon carbide grip job so you cant tell anything was changed unless you pick up the gun.  I forget the exact weight break down but it has a tungsten guide rod and some weight is in the lower part of the grip on the left and right hand side where it flares out slightly on the gen 5's where i just made it a small transition from mid grip to where it flares out and then the rest is where i cut the back part of the grip out and built it back up. 

I did this 6 months ago and i only have 3,500rds through it since then so we will see how it holds up long term.   

[dansedgli]

Sounds good, do you have a link to that p320 thread? 

[Paul49]

Is all that grip modification still USPSA “legal” for CO?

[speederlander]

On 5/19/2019 at 8:41 AM, lumberjack149 said:

There is a decent difference in weight between using tungsten powder and tungsten shapes (spheres, blocks, plates, etc).  I would recommended using as many of the shapes as you can fit in the grip instead of powder.  Not that i think it matters on performance (i just like tinkering), i was able to get my CO glock up to 40oz by getting creative and playing around with tungsten. 

You could drop a longer solid rod into the open area and then pack powder around it as an intermediate solution perhaps? What is the dimension of the opening on the back? I see various tungsten rods that might fit the bill.

[lumberjack149]

yes, that is one option.  Below is a website i bought off of that carry quite a few different shapes and then as you said you could fill the remaining voids with powder if you wanted. 

https://www.maximum-velocity.com/product-category/pinewood-derby-weight/tungsten-weight/