A review of Boresight Solutions gripwork...

[kaltblitz]

Seems a lot of folks post here asking about grip work on Glocks and M&P's. I thought I'd take a minute to share my own experience here. My review may seem critical; however, it is made to give those considering grip work some stuff to think about. Please remember it is my opinion.

I carried a Glock 21 for two and a half years before switching to a customized Kimber 1911 this last November. I loved the gun. It was light, held fourteen rounds of 45 ACP and was extermely soft shooting. I put somewhere around 4,500 rounds through the gun in the 30 months I carried the gun on-duty and had ZERO malfunctions. Not one.



My only complaints about the gun were in regards to the thickness of the grip and slide. I found carrying the gun IWB to be a pain and impractical due to the slide thickness. I couldn't change that. I found the grip underneath the triggerguard to rub against my hand excessively, okay I can probably get that fixed. I also found that when my hands were wet with sweat or in the rain I had trouble maintaining my grip on the gun. I think I can change that to. The third thing was the sights. The Trijicon front sight had gotten that nice yellow dark hue so that it no longer stood out to me. Sights are easy to fix.

So once the gun was no longer my duty gun, I decided I'd look to have my complaints fixed. I was impressed with pictures I had seen online of our Gentle Ben's handiwork. I spoke with him back and forth via e-mail and sent the gun off to him to have his handiwork applied. While the gun was at his shop, I decided to order a set of Warren sights. The sights took a grand total of about 30 minutes to install. I got the frame back in one week. A fast turnaround for any gun work.

So here are the results and my thoughts.





I like the stippling work. It looks good. It feels good. More importantly it works well with wet hands. I shot a class this last December in the rain and it worked exteremely well allowing me to maintain a nice tight grip with little shifting in the hand.

Also, I hear people complain about how grip mods tear up clothing. I carried this gun concealed during the month of December in a Tauris high-ride holster between a t-shirt and a sweatshirt or a t-shirt and a North Face fleece and it didn't tear up or bother anything.



Relief under trigger guard. I like it! It allows me get a higher grip and is reminiscent of a 1911 with high-grip work. My only complaint and criticiscm is that by removing some of the plastic it made it so that a Surefire DG switch is much more sensitive to a tight grip and I've experienced too many white light AD's. It was enough that I removed the DG switch. This is something to consider before having this kind of work done and something I wasn't aware of prior to doing it.



Notice the stippling under the grip tang. NOT A FAN! I used this gun in a training class where we put 400 rounds down the pipe in about three hours. Now if this gun was a 9mm I don't think it would be to big of a deal. But in a 45 ACP, that nice gentle push turns painful when the stippling work digs and chews into your hand. If I could place my order again I'd specify that I wanted the stippling work to end just underneath the finger indentations on either side of the frame.



Warren Sights. These are freakin awesome! I ordered a tritium front with a plain rear and I couldn't be happier. They are tall, easy to see and fast. Any Glock I buy from now on will have these.

So what are my thoughts on the whole process? What would you change and do over again? To be honest, I don't know if I would have had the grip work done. While it works well for many people I think I would have just left my gun alone.

I've now had the chance to shoot guns worked on by Ben, Robar, Bar-Sto and Bowie. I honestly like the stock Glock grip better than all of these FOR ME and that is what I intend to stick with from now on. THIS IS JUST FOR ME. If you think that a grip reduction or stippling is the thing for you then I highly recommend Ben and his work. His turnaround time was quick and he was great to deal with and did an excellent job.

[Irish]

Thanks for a good review! I'm considering doing this to my G19 in the near future. Nice pictures and well written.

[Mark71]

Thanks for the review and pics.

[Gentle Ben]

Thanks for posting this review, Kaltblitz. I appreciate your objectivity. Due to your (and a few other people's) feedback, I've since changed the way I modify the tang area. I still texture it, but I smooth it off quite a bit so that it LOOKS textured, but doesn't FEEL as rough as the rest of the grip.

Here are a few pics that illustrate the change. I try to make it as subtle as possible, for aesthetic purposes.

If you'd like, I will upgrade the tang area as described, and will also re-detail the entire gun so that it looks more like my current work, e.g. more defined edge lines, better polish under the trigger guard. No charge charge for this "spa treatement."

[Gentle Ben]

and the days of one-week turnarounds are long gone. before I stopped accepting new orders, I was at 6-10 weeks. I'm hoping to streamline things when I open back up for business at my new shop.

[Jake0331]

Those look great! Have you done any HKs?

[Gentle Ben]

Yes, I've done several HKs. The grip material is thinner, so I can't remove as much. But the HK grips take a nice crisp texture, similar to the M&Ps. I lost most of my pics when my POS PC went T/U, but here's a USP and an M&P.





This M&P is the 10-8 Performance package, which is a collaboration between Hilton Yam and me. The grip work is done to Hilton's specs, and it includes a trigger job, 10-8 sights, and 10-8 low-profile aluminum mag baseplates.

[Jake0331]

Fantastic. When I get an HK45, it's going to you so it doesn't look like an outer space laser gun... Thanks for the pictures, guys.

[Gentle Ben]

Thanks. I'm not accepting work until my new FFL arrives (3-4 weeks I'm guessing).

Please contact me via direct email when you're ready or for further inquiries, as I don't visit this forum often. My email address is in my profile, and can also be found on my website.

[Longhorn]

This M&P is the 10-8 Performance package, which is a collaboration between Hilton Yam and me. The grip work is done to Hilton's specs, and it includes a trigger job, 10-8 sights, and 10-8 low-profile aluminum mag baseplates.

I realize you've said you wont be accepting "new work" till you're ready/FFL arrives - but @ that beauty!

When I move to Texas either this month or next and get setup with the Sheriffs Office, I think I want this package. It looks very functional and attractive.

And what you previously stated on helping out the OP on retexturixing his setup? Talk about awesome CS! This has sold me on giving Boresight a chance....simply amazing work!