Thursday, December 16, 2010

...the hobgoblin of my little mind.

I just bought myself my Christmas present from Brownells: A set of VZ "Gatorback" grip panels for my CCA custom 1911. The double-diamond checkered Ahrend's Cordia wood panels that are on there now are pretty, but less grippy than I'd like. More importantly, both the other guns have the Gatorbacks, and I like them all to feel the same in my hand. Consistency makes me happy.

The Gatorbacks are pretty much bombproof, and the thing I like best about them is that they don't get slippery when my hands get all sweaty on a hot summer day at the range.

12 comments:

  1. Tam, I've read somewhere that the reason ivory handgrips were popular was that even though they were slightly slippery, when sweaty or wet they retained the same perceived "grip" as when dry. So, slippery, but not TOO slippery. Is this true? Do any of your revolvers have ivory grips?
    Word ver. "solly", as in "solly to waste your time with silly questions"

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  2. Those VZ aftermarket grips you recommended were one of my better upgrades, thanks.

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  3. I have a set of the original VZ grips, that were sent to me by John VZ a long time ago.

    His products are probably the best for pure gripping surface.

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  4. I prefer the 320s or ETCs myself. The Gatorbacks and Operators sure are grippy, but on long shooting sessions they'd tear at the hands a bit. The 230s are just as grippy with less bite and you won't be running your hands on a cheese grater if you do another 2 day course.

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  5. I adore anyone who adores anyone who adores Emerson.

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  6. JD,

    "The 230s are just as grippy with less bite and you won't be running your hands on a cheese grater if you do another 2 day course."

    I've never got my hands tore up by the Gatorbacks. (Now frontstrap checkering? That's a different story...)

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  7. Tarb,

    IME and IMHO, ivory is beautiful, but not that good for "grippiness".

    Al

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  8. I guess on a 5" it's not as bad, ran the Gatorbacks on a 3" and it was left the hands feeling a little raw.

    As for the checkering, agreed which is why I went some some chainlink on the latest gun.

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  9. You know you haven't blogged about the CCA gun yet, other than a tease here and there.

    So, any details soon, or is there a dead tree writeup coming out soon?

    Rob (Trebor)

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  10. That hobgoblin only pertains to a "foolish consistency".

    Having all your 1911's feel sort of the same doesn't strike me as foolish.

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  11. Ivory isn't that grippy, unless you get it sculpted with some nice emplem, like a longhorn on your single action hog leg.

    I presume Tam got the Canvas finish?

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  12. Don,

    Blasted canvas, same as on the Pro. The Colt has paper.


    Rob,

    That's this weekend's project.

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