What guns do you come back to because “It will be different this time”?

[OlongJohnson]

I've always wondered what might be done for revolver stocks using a CNC machine and chunks of G10 material.

Here are some examples:

https://vzgrips.com/shop/revolvers/

But it's really expensive to design up a lot of variations, and if the person doing it doesn't share your thinking about designs, you're kind of out of luck. And it doesn't really address the "one size fits some" issue very well.

My understanding is that's how the old school guys like Hogue, Pachmayr, Farrant, Herrett, etc., got started: Custom grips on an individual basis.

CNC also has the challenge of unit to unit variation in frames. S&Ws aren't perfect, but Rugers are so different that Herrett won't even take a job on a GP100 unless you ship them the gun to fit it. Which adds a heck of a lot to the cost. Last I checked, it was ~$200 for the stocks, $100 for custom fit to the frame, and two-way shipping of the gun.

There's a guy in Houston making a few dozen variations of grip frames for Ruger single actions on his CNC, but they start at ~$350 each. The actual mate up to the contacted surfaces and fastener positions of the Ruger frames is very consistent, but the widths are highly variable, requiring each grip frame to be hand-fitted to the frame it's going to be paired with.

There's a guy in Michigan 3D printing handgun grips. I sent him my modified GP100 Hogue and got back an abortion. Fortunately, he was good about refunding what I'd paid him, so I only lost my time and outbound freight.

I guess something I would like to see, which might be the sweet spot of balance for CNC and hand made custom, would be CNC'ed blanks with all the inletting done, so the DIY guy could whittle as he wanted, but the precision work that isn't particularly interesting when you're trying to make the outside of it exactly what you want would be done well and efficiently for you. Rugers would have to be rough inlet, but that would still be a real benefit to have the internal cavities 95% complete, flat, uniform depth, screw hole piloted, etc.

[19852+]

For me it was the Browning High Power. I love the gun and think it's one of the sexiest ever made. Unfortunately, my hands are too big or the gun's too small depending on your point of view. I think I've owned four over the years. I guess about every decade I forget the issues I've had with it, or maybe I think FN's building them larger.

Me too... Same issues and I've had at least 4...

[ccmdfd]

Me too... Same issues and I've had at least 4...

I took a different approach, but came to the same realization with a HI Power.

Instead of purchasing one, trying it out, getting tired of it, selling it, then starting all over again; I purchased one, then sent it off for work, then sent it off for work again, then sent it off for work again. Each time to a different Major League gunsmith.

After doing this for over two years, I ended up with a gun that cost more than most custom 1911's as each trip to a smith was at least a grand, and still had a gun that I could outshoot with a standard out-of-the-box Glock, Sig, Beretta.

Just never could get it to work for me. Ended up selling it for a major loss.

[Casual Friday]

Revolvers and pump action shotguns. There are better tools for the job I would use them for but I still like them enough to forget and revisit them every few years. Then I'm reminded.

AKs. A crusty AK was my first semi auto when I turned 18 in 1998 and was my only rifle for many years. I still love them, and will always have at least one, but after spending as much time with an AR as I have over the last decade plus, there just isn't any comparison as to which one is the superior rifle. Not to mention, AK prices are retarded now.

Sitting on a mountain of 7.62x39 ammo, I dug my home built AK out of the safe a few weeks back to keep from shooting up my 5.56 stockpile. The whole time I was wishing it was one of my ARs. That has led me down the road of assembling a x39 upper as a way to conserve my 5.56 and work my way through this pile of x39 ammo. At the rate I shoot my AK, I'd probably never get through the ammo I have on hand.

[awp_101]

I took a different approach, but came to the same realization with a HI Power.

Instead of purchasing one, trying it out, getting tired of it, selling it, then starting all over again; I purchased one, then sent it off for work, then sent it off for work again, then sent it off for work again. Each time to a different Major League gunsmith.

After doing this for over two years, I ended up with a gun that cost more than most custom 1911's as each trip to a smith was at least a grand, and still had a gun that I could outshoot with a standard out-of-the-box Glock, Sig, Beretta.

Just never could get it to work for me. Ended up selling it for a major loss.

A much shallower money pit, but I’ve followed a similar path with Glocks. I haven’t sent any out but I’ve replaced the frame or built them from the ground up with P80 and Grey Ghost frames. I’ve got it in my head I need a “Glock” in the safe because of parts and magazine availability.

Now I’m looking at Shadow Systems and ZRO Delta hoping for a different end result when the smart thing would be to buy another couple M&P9s and dots. A 509T might even be smarter than trying to force this G thing.