Grips for 1911-A1 | Suggestions Please

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Pistol Meister

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I have a Springfield Armory 1911-A1 Full Size. I've never been a fan of the grips that it came with. I have Hogue finger groove grips on my SIG's and I was contemplating the Hogue grips for the S/A.

Any comments from 1911/Hogue users?

There also is a grip called AlumaGrip. Any feedback on that?

Also, any good tips on stainless steel HEX head grip screws for the S/A?

RKD
 
Greetings and welcome to TFL

You can get the hex heads at Brownells or Midway or Dillon . . . .

IMHO, the best grips for the 1911 are the checkered double-diamond pattern, in the exotic wood or other material of your choice.

I have some in epoxy-impregnated rosewood (Dymondwood?) from Brownell's that I like. And some Cocobolo ones on my Officer's.

I advise against the Ajax fake ivory. Looks plasticky.

Regards.
 
Hogues on a 1911... My Thoughts:

I love the 1911 and the way it feels and looks with a nice set of custom wood grips. It gives the naturally good feeling 1911 a more natural feeling.
But...
To be honest for some reason I shoot MUCH BETTER with the Hogue rubber finger groove grips. Seriously. I've done the Pachmars (hate the feel) and I've even done the Pearce Grips Modular system. Even did the modular finger grooves with a nice set of woods. That was the best compromise by far... The good look of wood, but with the soft rubber grooves for feel. You could use any regular style 1911 grip panels you wanted... Mix and match all you like. But the best feel overall are the simple Hogues. Nothing fancy... Nothing special... They just WORK.
They don't look that bad, especially on my stainless framed/blued slide Government model... Handsome in its own way. I'm getting ready for a Match coming up in Sep. Because of that Match, I had to ask myself what I really needed to shoot my best. The answer was Hogue grips.
 
Blindhogg 's prices are a suprise.
Click to expand...

Yes, and that's *delivered* and handmade. I "splurged" and got a set of figured African mahogany grips for the ridiculous price of $30. If you like smooth grips, as opposed to checkered, you can't go wrong.

I really like those tulipwood grips for all of $20, so one of you had better grab them before I do. And I like G10 because I'm a pocketknife collector, but I can't decide whether to get them oiled or plain...

Here are the ones I own:

KimberLeftPlusCaps.jpg
 
If you like the grip shape of the 1911 stay away from the finger groove IMHO. Try the Hogue palm swells and the skateboard tape if you are not into looks.
 
That's stair tape from Home Depot. It's easy to get it to look that good on a 1911 because the frontstrap has a curve in only one direction.

Get the 2" version, take off the grips, clean the frontstrap. Apply as high as you like, without running into the compound curve under the trigger guard. Apply it nice and straight, adhering it to everywhere it'll stick. Then put a new, sharp blade on your utility knife or xacto (do NOT use your Spyderco or Benchmade to cut stair tape) and trim it flush with every angle. Re-install grips. (Don't crank down too hard on wood grips.) Enjoy. It took me about four minutes and cost about a dollar for four guns' worth.

If you find the tape grit to be a little too aggressive, just rub it gently with another piece of the same tape. It'll take it down a notch and then it'll be perfect.

The best part about using stair tape: it's BETTER than checkering or stippling.
 
I can't say I care for the finger groove grips like some. To me, that's just too much handle and really makes the weapon feel blockier. To each his own.

I can say that absolutely love my Ahrend's Double-diamond Gabooooooon Ebony grips. They look gorgeous on my Stainless Colt, especially when combined with the black base pad of a Wilson 47D magazine and black stair tape.

The stair tape is far better than checkering and lends an "operator-ish" look to the weapon. You can run the tape up under the trigger guard's compound curve if you make a small relief cut down the center of the tape strip. This allows the two smaller tongues to bend about the curve and adhere tight. I love having the stuff up as high as possible for increased grip.

Wish I had a camera to put of a shot of my baby. She's absolutely gorgeous.
 
I have a set of Ahrends Tactical checkered grips in Gaboon Ebony on my Kimber stainless 5". I can't say enough good about the grips or the company. I bought mine from Brownells (also a good source for hex head grip screws...they also have torx head grip screws) but I have spoken with somebody on the phone at Ahrends...I think it was the owner (Kim Ahrends, I think is his name) and he was extremely helpful, and friendly.

On another note...does anybody know of any source for monogramed grips like the alumagrips, but in wood? I think my initials on my gun's grips would be cool and unique, but I can't get into aluminum grips.
 
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