Grips for Shadow 2. Non Palm Swell

[darthdively]

So I'm on the search for the perfect grips for my hands for the shadow 2. I wear size XL Nitril gloves if that helps with any leads. I'm a right handed shooter and I'm currently using the stock shadow 2 grip panel on the right side and a LOK grid lock palm swell on the left side. I noticed my recoil was a lot more squirrelly with matching LOK grip panels. when i put the stock on the right side my recoil management was much more vertical. So I have been looking around for non palm swelled grip panels that are not thin. It seems really hard to find. it looks like Shooting Sports Innovations has some that are not thin and not in the palm swell category. Scales 4.0 modular I think. Does anyone have any experience with those? They are not cheap. If anyone had a pair they would be willing to send for me to try, I'd be willing to pay shipping both ways. I don't have my heart set on those. I'm willing to check out other options or brands.

 

Criteria:

Not thin, I wear L-XL gloves

Not Palm Swell

 

Thanks in advance!

[darthdively]

Well it looks like I may have found an answer to my own question. Any further info you all have would be appreciated too. I found that LOK has a size guide and they have non swell type grip panels that are bigger than the standard stock panels. I did this thing called reading I probably would have found it lol.

[hijinx]

Armanov has grips with a size guide as well. Really liking mine so far.

[ColoradoNick]

I wear a size 11 glove- XL. I’ve tried a bunch of grips and even went as far as picking up a hand dyno to test grip strength at various thickness’. Even with big hands, when using palm swells my support hand grip strength is roughly 10% lower than with LOK thin grips.

[DeepFried]

I have large hands as well. The lok palm swells may look nice in pictures from the rear of the gun, but in my experience, they are actually very small in circumference.

 

have not tried the thin ones, does it leave space to fit your support hand?

[darthdively]

55 minutes ago, Seoderus said:

I have large hands as well. The lok palm swells may look nice in pictures from the rear of the gun, but in my experience, they are actually very small in circumference.

 

have not tried the thin ones, does it leave space to fit your support hand?

Not with the stock shadow 2 grip panels. With the LOK palm swell the only effective contact with my support hand is on the swell itself. Which is not ideal i think.

[GMP]

Been awhile since I've been on here but timely return.  I had the exact same issue and wound up making custom thickness silicon carbide panels from a set of thin G10 panels.  Easy, just built up the weak hand (left) panel with an extra layer of epoxy and grit.  Just enough so I don't have to cam my hand in to far for full contact and allow best strength.  My hands sweat really bad in summer and this has been the solution.

[ColoradoNick]

12 minutes ago, GMP said:

Been awhile since I've been on here but timely return.  I had the exact same issue and wound up making custom thickness silicon carbide panels from a set of thin G10 panels.  Easy, just built up the weak hand (left) panel with an extra layer of epoxy and grit.  Just enough so I don't have to cam my hand in to far for full contact and allow best strength.  My hands sweat really bad in summer and this has been the solution.

ironic, I did the same thing. Not pretty but far more effective. 

[DeepFried]

We need pics! Never tried the epoxy or silicon carbide..testing on grips is a place to start instead of a plastic framed gun. 

[GMP]

I'll try this week.  I've done several sets as well as the frame of a P09 I converted to a poor mans open gun for steel with an SAO conversion and small comp.  To me, most stock guns are like eels in the summer, and even the Lok Bogies were not that great.    

[ColoradoNick]

14 minutes ago, Seoderus said:

We need pics! Never tried the epoxy or silicon carbide..testing on grips is a place to start instead of a plastic framed gun. 

These are a set of old palm swells I initially did. 36 grit from amazon. I like the 36 grit a lot but I caution you to be careful initially and find the sharp spots. Both sets I've done have required some sanding and the first draw I did I cut my hand open enough to bleed all over my gun LOL. Now that I've sanded it down in places (trigger finger area/tops of both sides) and all the edges I love them. My LOK flats look identical to this but started life as their "thin" version and picked up a bit of girth with the silicone carbide. I painted on 5 minute epoxy, sprinkled over the SC, and pressed on it with wax paper. When it dried I brushed off the loose stuff and they were good to go. 

[GMP]

Yeah they are not for the soft of hand!   I do the same grit, but use the original slow cure JB Weld.  It self levels to the point of eliminating any variation in thickness as applied, but will not run.  I block the screw holes and mask the backs.  I use a long strip of masking tape, doubled over a couple inches on each side, gives you a good way to hole the panels during the process.  Apply the epoxy for full coverage but as thin as possible.  Roll gently in a Tupperware of the #36 grit, shake off excess.  When they start to cure a little I carefully scrape the edges square with a razor blade, remove the hole plugs, and clean the hole edges. Detail when fully cured.  Yes, you have to account for a little extra thickness so if starting with G10s you need to sand them down about half way through the pattern to retain the approx starting girth.  To go thicker just build another layer.  If you don't like it, you can file / Dremel them down and do over.  My S2 set are almost 4 years old and just now starting to develop a sharp edge near the rear of the support hand where some grit has been lost, easy to fix.

[fbzero]

I originally started with Hennings, which I found to be too thin despite liking the shape and texture.  Because they didn't fill the pocket between my thumb and index finger, I would sometimes get left/right deviation on quick draws leaving me hunting for the dot.  Then I tried Lok G10 Palm Swells, which helped alleviate that problem, but because of the shape didn't feel like I got good support on my offhand.

Then I heard about SSI Scale 4.0's, and a lot of people were claiming that they made their S2 feel more "2011-like".  I don't know about all that, but it does fill my hand, give me more consistent draws, and have a good grippy texture.  Only annoyance I have is that they do not have a short version, so if LO is something you are interested in, magwell choices would be limited.  All I'm aware of for full grips is Springer, and I hear they don't work with the Henning base pads...

*EDIT*  Some people also say they needed to relieve them for their mag release, but I just got a G10 mag release and filed it down as necessary instead.

Edited June 14, 2023 by fbzero

[darthdively]

On 6/14/2023 at 9:09 AM, fbzero said:

I originally started with Hennings, which I found to be too thin despite liking the shape and texture.  Because they didn't fill the pocket between my thumb and index finger, I would sometimes get left/right deviation on quick draws leaving me hunting for the dot.  Then I tried Lok G10 Palm Swells, which helped alleviate that problem, but because of the shape didn't feel like I got good support on my offhand.

Then I heard about SSI Scale 4.0's, and a lot of people were claiming that they made their S2 feel more "2011-like".  I don't know about all that, but it does fill my hand, give me more consistent draws, and have a good grippy texture.  Only annoyance I have is that they do not have a short version, so if LO is something you are interested in, magwell choices would be limited.  All I'm aware of for full grips is Springer, and I hear they don't work with the Henning base pads...

*EDIT*  Some people also say they needed to relieve them for their mag release, but I just got a G10 mag release and filed it down as necessary instead.

So I ordered some standard size LOK bogies to give them a try. I may pick up a set of Scales 4.0. Do you need to buy the weighted inserts?

[fbzero]

10 hours ago, darthdively said:

So I ordered some standard size LOK bogies to give them a try. I may pick up a set of Scales 4.0. Do you need to buy the weighted inserts?

 

No, you do not need the weighted inserts if you don't want to use them. 

 

I'm not currently using them, though I have considered trying them in the future to see if it might help with the nose-heavy balance.  Recently a friend switched to LO and said that adding the brass magwell from LOK and their aluminum palm swell grips greatly improve the balance to him.  The brass inserts would be almost the exact same amount of weight into the grip area, so when I see him, I wanted to feel if I think it would be worth messing with or not.

[darthdively]

On 6/12/2023 at 4:12 AM, hijinx said:

Armanov has grips with a size guide as well. Really liking mine so far.

Where did you get yours? I was about to order from their website tonight but shipping is $25. Must be coming from overseas?

[hijinx]

15 hours ago, darthdively said:

Where did you get yours? I was about to order from their website tonight but shipping is $25. Must be coming from overseas?

Ordered directly from them. They are in Slovenia. Must have had a shipping deal when I got mine. I don't remember paying that in shipping.

[SV650Squid]

Thick and not palm swell is SSI Scales 4.0 in my mind.

 

Had LOK brass palmswells.  Didn't point well from the draw consistently.

 

SSI does better for me.

[DeepFried]

On 6/18/2023 at 9:58 PM, darthdively said:

So I ordered some standard size LOK bogies to give them a try. I may pick up a set of Scales 4.0. Do you need to buy the weighted inserts?

 So what do you think about the size of those standard bogies? Large enough? 

[darthdively]

2 minutes ago, Seoderus said:

 So what do you think about the size of those standard bogies? Large enough? 

I got them but I sent them back. They did not like them as well as I thought I would. They were nice enough to send me a link to make a custom thickness but it was a bit too much for me to figure out a custom thickness. There was an earlier reply to this thread about Armanov grips. So I picked up a pair.

 

https://www.armanov.com/shop/pistol-grips-maxxxgrip-technology-for-cz-shadow-2-sp01-151?category=76#attr=272,268

 

About the grips: They are very reminiscent of DAA SP01 thick grips I bought 7 years ago. Almost built the same. So I checked out DAA to see if they still had them and they did. But, they had those proprietary cut grip tape. The Armanov had a grip tape pattern I can replicate myself if needed. The Armanov website even had a fit guide with measurements to help determine grip size. So I rolled the dice and ordered some. Ordered midnight on a Monday night and they arrived via UPS Thursday and was able to use them at a Classifier match that weekend. They were great.

 

My recoil management is much better and more vertical now. I like them a lot. I can get good contact with more surface area at the back end of grip with my support hand. They also add the extra thickness at the top end of the grip panel that I was seeking. I cannot say I could recommend these because I don't know how easy returning the product would be and I would feel bad if you dropped $100 on grips that didn't work out. What I will say is that I like them enough that I would order another pair if I get another Shadow 2

[DeepFried]

Appreciate your input. I’m trying to waste the least amount of money on grips but it’s just part of the game I suppose. 

how do Your hands measure per Armanovs guide? 
 

the patriot defense palm swell ones are almost great for me but just a little small leaving too little support hand space. Plus coming from Glock I’m sorta used to holding a brick and wider flat grips may still be the ticket. 
 

custom thickness LOK flat bogies will likely be my next attempt.  Don’t think I’ve seen pics of what that actually looks like, especially at the top where most grips get real thing and fit up to the frame. 
 

edit: another thought is to take the factory blue grips and expoy a layer of something on them and then do silicone carbide. Labor intensive but would let me shape them before adding grit. 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Seoderus

[crg]

On 8/6/2023 at 7:03 AM, Seoderus said:

edit: another thought is to take the factory blue grips and expoy a layer of something on them and then do silicone carbide. Labor intensive but would let me shape them before adding grit. 

 

I just bought a spare set of factory grips to attempt this. I want to leave them flat but try to build up the thickness a little more. I'm thinking of just applying an extra layer or two of epoxy and allowing it to cure before doing the epoxy+silicon carbide layer unless anyone knows a better way.

[mveto]

When I was shooting my SP01 Bull shadow I went with the SSI 4.0’s with brass inserts, really helped to balance the gun out. I tried so many different grips over the years to get that perfect feel and the SSI’s were the best I tried. Had multiple sets of Loks, the armanovs, Vytal mfg and Hennings. I pretty sure I spent as much in grips as I did to buy and build out the gun.

[MNshooter]

On 8/11/2023 at 8:40 PM, mveto said:

When I was shooting my SP01 Bull shadow I went with the SSI 4.0’s with brass inserts, really helped to balance the gun out. I tried so many different grips over the years to get that perfect feel and the SSI’s were the best I tried. Had multiple sets of Loks, the armanovs, Vytal mfg and Hennings. I pretty sure I spent as much in grips as I did to buy and build out the gun.

This was my experience, too. One day I just ordered ALL of the grips. Kinda expensive.  Tried them until I found the best for me and sold the rest here on enos. I generally got $0.80 on the dollar but it was a worthwhile exercise. 

[858]

Have you guys tried practicing? That seems to help more than constantly changing parts