TargetTalk

Good Morning:

Need to fit a grip and what is the best product to use for a grip putty or grip bondo?

Also is it better to use plastic cling wrap for forming or a latex glove?

Got a used steyr lp50 and not to much dremel work is needed but a bit of material needs to be added.

Regards,
Crankster

PC Woody is widely available at local stores and online. It cures quickly, is durable enough to last for years and is still pretty easy to sand, file or carve as necessary. JB Kwikwood is a little harder to modify after it hardens.

First, remove any high spots on the grip. Dremel, rasps, sand paper, etc.
Second, add some two part epoxy putty on the grip low spots.
Third, lightly grease your hand with some lube (WD40 for exemple). Lightly is the key. Then grab the grip letting the putty flow. Light grab, don't squeeze too hard...
Fourth, let it harden.
Fifth, remove/sand y high spots.
Sixth, repeat as needed.

Hope this helps

Last, the objective of fitting the grip is not comfort, it's sight alignment.
You should aim for, (no pun intended) the front sight inside the rear notch when you lift your arm to the shooting position, without having to move your wrist (same goes for a red dot).

RMCA has it right, but I'll add a little. File on your grip before doing any puttying, getting rid of anything that hurts or is not aiding a good fit.

The two-part putty epoxies are available cheaply at any hardware store. Get the kneadable single stick type. Grind some hard into the wood with your thumb before adding the big chunks.

I think the rubber glove is a good idea, but I just scrubbed my hand with WD-40 when I was finished.

rmca wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2023 9:47 am . . . lightly grease your hand with some lube (WD40 for example)

Use: KIWI neutral shoe wax. As a paraffin, would provide a better boundary btn hand vs. grip. Also quite a bit easier on the skin. Further, as your putty/compound sets up, you can press&form/shape specific areas on the grip with wax on your finger or thumb, without the compound sticking to you.



As an aside, on a chemical engineering rant: WD-40 is NOT A LUBRICANT. "Water Displacement Formula 40" is a penetrating agent.

LINK: https://www.wd40.com/myths-legends-fun- ... %20removal.

atomicgale wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2023 11:56 am As an aside, on a chemical engineering rant: WD-40 is NOT A LUBRICANT. "Water Dissolvable Formula 40" is a penetrating agent.

LINK: https://www.wd40.com/myths-legends-fun- ... %20removal.

WD-40 is known as the "Locksmith's Friend". When a lock gets difficult to use with a key, lots of people grab the WD-40, and spray it inside. That will free it up, but once the solvents go away and the residue fossilizes, the lock is toast until you can flush it with solvents to free it up again. That usually results in a nice expensive house call from the local locksmith.

I won't let the stuff anywhere NEAR any of my firearms or air guns.

Completely agree with keeping well clear of WD 40 for a barrier cream and to never use it as a lubricant as it polymerises over time forming a locking gum.
My outline of how I do it is not very different to the others but here goes.
Take off high spots and the V the area that goes into the web between the thumb and first finger in experience for my hand that means mostly under the thumb watch for it going thin by light going through the wood as an indicator.
Give the whole grip a coat of linseed oil and let it soak in for a couple of days, I do this as a release agent to allow me to "pop" off the filler if I get it wrong so I can have another go.
I use a styrene free polyester wood filler, it does not smell as bad for ages like bondo it comes in a wide range of wood colours, sets quickly, flows hydraulically under the pressure of your grip on the wooden grip, the epoxy kneadable stuff is very stiff and does not flow well, the chemicals in it are less harmful than the epoxy.
Coat your hand with barrier cream or several coats of oily hand cream but club members also do use nitrile or latex gloves and pay attention to what RMCA mentioned regarding sight alignment this is king. Take a couple of goes at it building up an area at a time eg frontal area then middle to back area then refine other areas. Sometimes it takes very little filler to get what you want. Also read read Don Nygords notes on grip adjustment and where to put your efforts. I have found some very misleading stuff on grip adjustment on the net and now only say to move that front sight to where it points you need to analyse it yourself and do it by trial and error as some of the stuff written does not work.

May also consider getting a silicone based putty from Rink - https://sportshootingdepot.com/product/ ... -silicone/

Here's a "Real Time" putty application - doing this as I post PICS to Target Talk.
This is neither right or wrong, rather simply MY TECHINIQUE as I learned from my legendary Chinese Nat'l Coaches: Whey Hai and Tu Phoching Lo.
"BEFORE AND an 'After' Grip," - the 'after' grip is a practice grip lined with lead weights. Practice with lead & then your match grip feels light as a feather.


MARK AREA with Sharpie - with the Rink laminated grips, you can follow the contour lines with the laminate. NOTE: Does NOT have to be done in ONE application. Rather, apply, sand&grind, apply 2nd, et cetera. A layered "TOPO" effect.


Drill shallow holes in surface & treat with rubbing alcohol. This is when the layer will be permanent.


DevCon 10760 Titanium for first, "structural" layer. Wax a paper plate for mixing. (Next layer will be a traditional wood epoxy - after solid "structure" is established, the wood layer gives it texture and "feel."

Wooden mixing sticks, or for the purists - chopsticks! Use gloves - else you end up getting putty all over everything. Leave a glob of putty on the paper plate - use the glob as a metric for how the putty has cured, without sticking your thumb into your fresh application & messing it all up.


Use thick paper-clips as "Chop Sticks" to get fresh putty into holes you drilled.


Q-TIps to get putty to the edges & clean off over-the-line putty. Okay, now it's Sunday 1:43pm, let putty set-up, then smooth out - use wax on the surface of the putty to really give it a smooth contour. Then shoot with it. Then next layer, et cetera. I do plan on shooting this grip - this afternoon!


"Dimple" this layer with another paper clip. About 30 minutes in so far, putty is still a bit "volcanic" & not holding form yet.


Then, mix BOTH slow-setting DevCon and fast-set QuikWood, apply "middle layer":

Tamp that layer down with a wax-covered Chop Stick


Then, while the first layer is still semi-Fluid, and the second "mix" is setting up - add fast-set Quik Wood - DIRECTLY TO YOUR HAND!
(make sure you coat hand in wax first - else you're a candidate for Darwin Award):

Then MASH your grip in:

FINAL PRODUCT - Anatomically bio-mechanically topograph'd to your metacarpals & phalanges !

Now 3:21pm - LET'S SHOOT!!!

. . . wonder if anyone has ever epoxied their hand directly to the grip prior to a match? Hmmmm . . . .

Way too much work
Use IM InstaMorph Mouldable Plastic Beads
Heat in water mould to shape with your hand on the grip Let cool
easy to remove and alter
Been using this for many years does not alter original grip
Dennis

Dennis,

Do you have any pictures or examples of the Instamorph on the grip? Is it slick?

atomicgale wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2023 11:56 am As an aside, on a chemical engineering rant: WD-40 is NOT A LUBRICANT. "Water Displacement Formula 40" is a penetrating agent.

Yes, yes, I know ;) ... but for this purpose it works.
I don't use it on anything mechanical, learned that the hard way a long time ago...
The only gun related use for WD40 is to coat bullet molds between uses. They then get degreased before the next use.
On garden tools it too does an ok job... and it's cheap!

Is it really necessary to drill all those holes in a $300 Rink grip.
Surely it’s not going to fall off.

I've never had a problem getting PC Woody to stick to my grips without adding any holes. If there have been used a lot I wipe them with alcohol.

Anyone who has bought a new grip from Rink knows they arrive freshly oiled, and will stain anything they touch for a while. I wrap them in paper towels held on with rubber bands for a few days until they stop staining the towels. A quick flush with alcohol on the area to be puttied helps, and the stippling does the rest. I wouldn't automatically perforate my grip until I had a failure first.

The Finished Result:

Remember, this is supposed to be FUN!

See you guys tomorrow in Colorado!

Winter Air Gun is going to be so much FUN !!!!!!!

nick marshall wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 2:09 pm Is it really necessary to drill all those holes in a $300 Rink grip.
Surely it’s not going to fall off.

Why the hell would you bugger up a spendy Rink grip? Use whatever cheap-ass grip you can find; you're going to kludge the thing anyway.