Wednesday, January 19, 2011

1911 Slim Grips

I have swapped out grips on my 1911 before, before setting on micarta style VZ Grips.  I have never tried the slim grips. 

I have a feeling you'd need to get screws specific to slim grips, but do you need slim grip specific grip screw bushings and grip screws?  Yes, you do.  Glad I discovered that before I bought the grips.  I hate having to wait when a new accessory is sitting around waiting to be installed.

You can get some attractive looking grip screws, with decorations on the screw head itself, too.  Pretty nice looking and an easy customization to personalize your very own gun.  At least I think they are handsome.  The prettifying doesn't overwhelm.  I'm not a big fan of torx or even hex head screws.  Why?  Because I don't carry a torx or hex tool around with me usually, and what if I need to tighten or remove a screw away from home, say at the range?  I DO carry a standard head screw driver around with me, and can improvise a screwdriver, in an emergency, from a knife blade. So, while tempting, I will probably pass on the fancy screws. 

[I have a blog category called 'gunsmithing' but I don't really do gunsmithing.  I'll swap out the easier drop-in parts.  That is hardly smithing and requires very little skill.  I know my limitations and refuse to do something permanent.  That's what real gunsmiths are for.]

3 comments:

Bubblehead Les. said...

A little piece of Trivia: according to reliable sources, one of the screw driver blades on a Swiss Army Knife was dedicated to be used to adjust the sights on the K-31 Swiss Service Rifle. In that spirit, you might try to size the screws on the piece you carry most often, and see if there is a pocket knife that has a blade that fits. I know there are specialty Multi-Tools out now that are mini-tool kits, but I feel those should be reserved for the Range bag and/or your Bug Out Bag. YMMV, of course.

Arthur said...

I heated and bent the short ends of small 1/8" and 3/32" hex wrenches into a loop and put them on my keychain so I'll always have 'em with me.

Old NFO said...

Pretty, but I'd stay with the straight slots... Same reason, I ALWAYS have a way to tighten them.