Frame thickness

[tomjerry1]

I am wondering how much metal I can remove from the grip section of a Caspian double stack frame without compromising rigidity? I am trying to get overall size down to fit my wife's smaller hand.

[caspian guy]

That kinda depends on what part of the grip you are looking to reduce.

You can get away with reducing the thickness of the front strap a fair bit... I would stay away from the trigger track area (as it's pretty thin there and in the distant past there were frame redesigns to fix cracking in that area.)

[tomjerry1]

I agree, the front strap is probably the best, just need some more so she can get a good grip. Probably could get some out of the main spring housing and grip safety. You wouldn't know anyone who has done this?

Edited October 13, 2021 by tomjerry1
addition

[rishii]

Also look at the grip safety, the rib sticks out a bunch

i have an old mclearn gun that he did a frame reduction, I don’t know what he did but it does feel smaller in the hand

you might check if he still does that kind of work

[RIIID]

The front strap can be reduced by heavy checkering. Be careful and don't go too far down on the front strap you start to get into the flare for the magwell. I was usually  able to remove 0.020 off the sides without reducing structural integrity.  You can do a wrap around checkering on the back strap area to reduce size.

Rich

[caspian guy]

13 hours ago, rishii said:

Also look at the grip safety, the rib sticks out a bunch

i have an old mclearn gun that he did a frame reduction, I don’t know what he did but it does feel smaller in the hand

you might check if he still does that kind of work

Yea i was going to suggest checking with Matt. Not sure who else is actually actively building guns who would be as familiar with that frame  as Matt (since Rich who commented above is retired.) Maybe Fred Craig if he's still around.  Or Jim Anglin (Sailor's Custom) is probably retired.

[tomjerry1]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, gives me a lot to consider, this will be a winter project. 

[Paul B]

Before cutting any metal try what I did for my wife and a para frame. No grips and just skateboard tape cut to fit. She also might like the color choices. Made a huge difference in the feel for her.

[tomjerry1]

I'm already there, I have small hands to, nothing but skate tape, and of course color. I don't think I'll have to take off much, mostly front strap so she can get her fingers around a little more.

[Richardashford]

Purchased a grip tape from Mob grip or a Grizzly griptape. grip tape cannot be too grippy, in this case, grip tapes that are extremely grippy are good for me because overtime grip strength will wear out.