Filled, chopped, bobbed, gripped, and stippled...
Nope, it's not a new style of Waffle House hash browns, it's my Glock 23!!!
When I was on patrol I carried a Glock 35, and you could typically bet I would a 96-100 shooter with it. But when I became a secret squirrel, I picked up a 23 as it is more concealable and wears a little better than the 35. I quickly learned that I was not nearly as good with the 23 as I am with a 35 or 22 even, and my scores started taking a Southward path and the last few times I've qualled I've been in the 92-96 range, and the last time I shot it was a 90! That is where I drew the line, and I began investigating what in the heck the problem was.
Other than I don't have time to shoot quite as much as I used to, there has been no difference in how I shoot from one gun to the next, so I was really at a loss. So one day I just sat down and looked at the gun in my hand. That is when I realized that the "hump" that is found on the backstrap of Glocks was the ONLY part of the backstrap that was contacting my hand. I have pretty big (and meaty) hands, and the pistol was just kind of floating off of that one point of contact.
It just so happens that I had recently talked to a local guy (also a LEO) who does alterations to plastic guns, and I was telling him the problems I had with getting bit by the slide, and that I had beavertailed all of my guns to combat that issue. But he told me that I didn't need to do that, but that I just needed to change the grip angle, and it would solve my woes. Now this gentleman does EXCELLENT work, and it does not come cheap (and nor should it) but I am cheap. Since I've tinkered with Glocks a bit in the past (and I've gotten pretty good with working on plastic through my holster biz) I decided to dive in...
First, I filled the hollow area behind the magazine well with steel putty and let that set over night. Then, I came back and sketched out the alterations I wanted to make with a Sharpie and fired up the belt sander. I straightened out the hump and then just knocked down the backstrap in general until I was happy with the feel.
Then, I decided that since I was committed to the experiment, that I would "bobtail" the grip since there was little bit frame hanging out of the bottom of my grip that wasn't doing any good anyway. The added benefit was that by bobtailing it, there was less of "print" when wearing the gun.
Next, I Dremeled the "checkered" area in the finger grooves as I generally don't care for the squarish checkering on Glocks anyway, and then plugged up the soldering iron.
I've done a little bit of soldering iron stippling before, and though it provides an excellent grip it looks like pure hell. So I studied some of the aforementioned gentleman's work and tried to replicate it to the best of my abilities. Again, I laid everything out in Sharpie and went to work, one dot at the time. Stippled the whole backstrap and grip panel area, and then got the finger grooves and the "finger off of the trigger area" just under the slide.
When all was said and done I was EXTREMELY pleased with the finished product, both aesthitically as well as functionally. So I decided that I would share it with you guys!
(Disclaimer: I will not do this to your gun... But I can certainly get you in touch with the man who can!)
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