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View Full Version : Removing Glock finger grooves *after* stippling



masternave
11-15-13, 12:38
I stippled my G19 a while back… like it a lot and it settled down to a nice grippy texture that isn't too hard on the hands but definitely helped in the sweaty heat of my home state. :-P

I think I want to go ahead and take some sandpaper/dremel to the finger grooves… but I'm worried since I've already stippled the front strap. Should I be concerned about the structural stability of the grip? I didn't go very deep or aggressive at all on the initial stipple. I don't think it'll be a problem…*but I also don't like making assumptions. Has anyone tried this already?

21439

okie john
11-15-13, 12:41
I've done it. There's a lot of meat on the front strap. Grab a rasp and get after it, then restipple to cover where the high spots used to be.


Okie John

vigilant2
11-15-13, 18:27
Shouldn't be a problem, done it on 7 of my 8 glocks. I actually use an x-acto chisel blade and then go to the dremel with a sanding head.

Business_Casual
11-15-13, 19:03
While I agree that it is OK structurally (probably), I haven't noticed any real advantage to removing them with respect to shooting.

SPDGG
11-15-13, 22:22
Agree with above:

- Remove & Stipple the area you worked on, Done. ;)

Steve S.
11-16-13, 01:20
While I agree that it is OK structurally (probably), I haven't noticed any real advantage to removing them with respect to shooting.

Man, I've really seen a difference. Shows on the timer. Gen 2 Glocks are too hard to find these days.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/16/2eza7e9y.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/16/7ebapy8e.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/16/4uzera4e.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/16/darydagu.jpg

If you even think you want them removed.... then you will love having them removed. It's easy enough to do, and plenty of material there.

You can stipple over stippling. Just take off enough material to get the grooves and checkering off. If stippling remains, just redo it.

I suggest taping it off, go to town with the Dremel, tape again, stipple nice straight lines.

Took me about an hour, start to finish, if I remember correctly.

ETA: It's a good time to undercut your trigger guard. Do a little at a time. Helps a lot. I just don't like going so high that my strong hand middle finger rests on the mag catch.

masternave
11-16-13, 17:53
Well... I got bored this evening and took the plunge. Used the basic dremel sandpaper drum to remove the finger humps and flatten the whole thing, reduced the trigger guard just a tad, and then used a fine/rock drum to smooth the whole thing out before a restipple. Thank you for the encouragement Steve, so far I'm really glad I did it. It feels really natural and great.

In progress:
21470

Finished (until I get the urge again, I guess.)
21471

Magsz
11-17-13, 21:18
What exactly shows on a timer?

I think its a comfort thing. If you're more comfortable with the finger grooves removed, you will generally shoot better, longer.

Removing the finger grooves doesnt get your hand any higher and it sure as shit isnt going to improve your split, FAST or any other time.....lol.

Smash
11-17-13, 21:26
It's a personal thing. Certain hand/finger sizes when trying to force the hand high on the grip will be impeded by a groove. The top of the hand doesn't get higher but the other fingers don't have to compete with grooves for spacing. This removal can lead to a more positive purchase of all fingers, achieving a better grip, improving time and placement of multiple shot strings.

Magsz
11-18-13, 21:21
Shrug.

My recoil control comes from my left hand (im a right handed shooter).

So long as i get that knuckle under the triggerguard im good and IM one of the guys that doesnt LIKE finger grooves because of the above mentioned "issue". I can still however run either gun, a gen 3 or a gen 3 sans grooves equally well. I just think there's far too much mental masturbation going on here...

Surf
11-18-13, 23:21
Some of my quick thoughts.....

I have a pair of Gen4 17's and Gen4 19's. Both are identical in set up such as sights / trigger, however one 17 and one 19 is sans finger grooves, are under cut with a radius on the trigger guard and stippling. The other 17 and 19 still have finger grooves, no under cut and no stippling. I can run either set up with similar times in the .18 range on say a bill drill with all hits. I think that I am at the ragged edge of my own trigger finger speed with maintaining a good degree of accuracy, however I note that the pistols that have material removed and custom fit to my hand allow me to produce amazingly small groups at speed. With these pistols, I see far less sight lift and I can keep the sights and pistol very flat which produces some amazingly small groups at the limits of my own trigger finger speed. Therefore I can only conclude I have a better manage on the recoil, not saying that the 9mike round is a huge problem, but if I could increase my dexterity or trigger finger speed I would think that the custom fit of the pistol would shave my own times. I can see how it could increase certain shooters performance under speed. The more skilled you are, time or splits is not the only factor to glean results.

Business_Casual
11-18-13, 23:27
Shrug.

/thread

Steve S.
11-19-13, 01:06
What exactly shows on a timer?

I think its a comfort thing. If you're more comfortable with the finger grooves removed, you will generally shoot better, longer.

Removing the finger grooves doesnt get your hand any higher and it sure as shit isnt going to improve your split, FAST or any other time.....lol.

While you're right that removing the finger grooves isn't going to get the hand any higher, undercutting the trigger guard does. And doing so is going to bring your fingers right in line with the finger nubs.

But I don't remove them because of undercutting a trigger guard - that advantage would be minimal. I remove them because they just don't fit my hand. If you haven't experienced that... drive on, dude.

I moved away from Glocks a few years back for a short period. When I came back, the grooves were messing with my draw. With an RMR mounted - it became really noticeable. My fingers would land on top of the nubs and make the draw sloppy. After breaking a shot, if my fingers weren't perfectly lined up in the valleys, the RMR dot would jump as they eventually fell into place.

Try intentionally gripping your Glock with your fingers over the nubs, you'll see what I'm talking about. Glock messed up by adding them to the Gen 3s and keeping them. There's no need for finger grooves on a pistol.

I shoot other Glocks completely unmodified outside of the sights, and with no real issue. It's not like I got done dremeling the grooves off and started knocking down national competitions or knocked on Todd's door for my FAST coin. But when trying to keep my draw times where I wanted them it helped and it did away with the occasional flinch of the RMR. That's a significant difference in my book.

I'm not here a lot. I added the comment about the shot timer to keep away the "Oh yea?! What are your draw times?! Your FAST times?! Your split times?! Your IDPA ranking?!" comments. I shoot enough and just barely well enough to know when something isn't "mental masturbation".

If the finger grooves don't bother you... that's awesome. For me... I'm going to keep hunting for Gen 2s or keep Bubba'ing the hell out of my Gen 3 Glocks.

ETA: Congrats OP. And awesome post as always, Surf.

Texaspoff
11-19-13, 10:13
Finger humps just don't work for me either, so off they go.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff295/Texaspoff/DSC_0307-1_zpsd0cb1be9.jpg


TXPO