Overthinking 1911 grip panels

[Duelist]

I love 1911s. I have three sets of 1911 grips sitting in my drawer.

I do not own a 1911.

[Darth_Uno]

Many moons ago I spent way too much on 1911 grips. Such as from Sarge's Grips (if you used to be on 1911forum you know who that is) and the like. Did they help me shoot better, no. Did they look good, very much yes.

Now, if I started over, I'd just rock double diamonds or VCD and not overthink it.

[Joe in PNG]

If the gun has removeable grips, I've got at least 3 sets for it.
However, I've sorta settled on Hogue G10 as the go to for my 1911 & Beretta 92.

[CraigS]

We shoot 92s but the grip thing is similar. My wife likes wood and very little checkering. She is on her 3rd set. I like layered G10. I have gotten super anal about sanding them, a GOOD face mask and a bucket of water that I put the grip and both hands in to wash the dust away, and 90% of the time I do the sanding outside. I mod mine quite a bit and have been really surprised how strong G10 is. My 92X Defensive needs the top of the grip slim to fit under the frame mounted safety levers. I keep waiting for one of those sections to snap off but they have not so far. Like pretty much everything else I touch, I like messing w/ grips. Change it so it works a bit better for ME is my goal.

[DDTSGM]

I feel your pain. After trying all kinds of grips, I found that the best of the bunch were the butt ugly, IMO, Kensight Sharkskin grips that Bob Marvel provides in his builders classes.

https://kensight.com/kensight-sharks...11-grip-black/

I do have a set of grips worked over by VDC and they are a close second.

I have six 1911 pattern pistols, the other four all have LOK Bogeys in various patterns/colors. So that leaves me boc o; stock grips and a couple after markets I tried and didn't like.

[358156hp]

Yeah I have a whole box of various 1911 stocks/grips/panels.

I've never been big on the fancy stocks in exotic woods. My preference is for either full-checkered wood stocks or full-checkered rubber or plastic grip panels. I have VCD grips on some of my guns and they work really well.

G-10 grips work fine but add some weight over wood/rubber/plastic. Micarta grips by companies like Navidrex are an OG option that still work.

I favor thin grips on 1911s, and my all-time favorite has been a (discontinued) set of Navidrex fully checkered thins. I'd buy a lot more of them if they still made them.

[JonInWA]

1911 grips for me have been, and continue to be a journey. Yes, I'll grant that a simple set of walnut double-diamond grips can more than adequately get the job done, but I've found that there are ergonomic and quantifiable improvements that enhance my 1911 shooting capabilities.

In the inexpensive end of the spectrum, there's a huge value to be found with VCD, Magpul and Ergo polymer grips.

Moving upstream, I prefer BH Spring Solutions checkered Masters Grips; their subtle shaping and vestigial, but effective thumb shelves really assist, particularly when shooting single-handedly.

With G10 grips, I'm preferring a set of VZ Operator II with palm swells.

Any and all of these I've had excellent operational results (including mixing them, using a VCD Practitioner polymer thumb scoop grip on the left, and a BH Spring Solutions walnut Masters Grip on the right).

Best, Jon

[RJ]

I don't have a "box o' 1911 grips" like I do a "box o' holsters" but it's close. I had no idea when I bought my (first, only) 1911 in 2022 that grips would become an accessory not unlike my wife's shoes.

But seriously: My options are somewhat limited, as I use the thin ones due to hand size. I have one set of wood (Springfield) which came on the gun (oddly I didn't realize until I bought it the Garrison comes with thin grips and bushings). I bought a "GI" brown rubber set on eBay I really liked, for a while. They were serviceable but maybe a touch slippery. I have a few of the "Cool Hand" brand. At $20 a throw, they allow you to experiment with colors. Good solid option. I tried a set of VCD's but could not make the standard thickness work for me.

I finally ordered a set of VZ Operator II's in black. Black because it goes with everything. I got them with a magwell cut, since I put a Stan Chen SI on at the same time. Shooting them they are great and seem to key into my hands very well. Fit and finish is excellent, and despite them being thin, kinda sorta match up with the magwell at the bottom. I have them on Challis thin bushings with plain black slotted Challis screws. I'm very happy with the VZs; they have been on the gun since August of last year. But I have to say, if I was invited to a BBQ, I'd put the original Springfield wood grips back on.

[CSW]

I am sitting here today with snow up to my butt and too much time, which led me to some drawers full of crap I was going to sort through last winter (and didn't). First off was the drawer of 1911 grips. I have a lot of 1911 grips. Wood grips, G10 grips, Micarta grips, more wood grips, even more wood grips, etc, etc. The only thing I don't have is rubber grips, because I gave those away a couple years ago.

I dropped a bit of coin on the current G10 grips, and about the only "benefit" of them I can now detect is that they have rubbed more bluing off the frame than the micarta grips did, which themselves rubbed away more finish than the wood grips... (which wore away nothing).

So here I am with a hell of a lot of checkered, double-diamond, regular thickness grip panels, basically all alike save for the material they are made of. And try as I might, I can't say any particular set made me shoot better or has been any functional improvement over another.

I have always had a problem ending up with too many holsters as I look for a holy grail, now I believe I have done the same with 1911 grip panels. Anyone else have a pile of "just had to get these" 1911 grip panels that ended up doing nothing better than the ones that came on the gun? I mean, aside from not desecrating the landscape aesthetically.*


*Like a bringback 1911 with old plexiglas grips having a picture of the owner's wife circa 1944/45. Great testament to true love, longing, etc, but kinda garish.

I went thru "grip-quest" as well. Six months of buying, then trying different types of grips. I've come to find;

I prefer wood, half checkered, and thin grips have the feel I'm desiring. I found a distributor/maker on Ebay, and bought two pairs. One pair is a fully checkered white cocobolo set, the other's are the cocobolo half checkered.
Haven't changed out the half checkered since I put them on, except for a fit of 'want-to-try-some-new-grips' overtook me. That lasted a day, and back to the half checkered.

So I have a box of ambi cut grips I should probably list for sale here on the classifieds.....

[awmp]