Grip Fitting

markwarren · Post by **markwarren** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:53 am

I am going to have a go at altering my own grip to fit better. I know this may be a fool hardy thing to do but I fancy having a go.

So my question is:

when I bring the pistol down on to aim currently I notice that the front sight is offset to the right slightly in my 'natural' position. I have altered the grip on the pistol (LP10) using the adjustable screws but I still have a slight offset.

Am I able to add/remove material to the grip to try and bring the foresight in to alignment and if so on which area(s) of the grip would I need to look at.

Thanks for any advice offered

Mark

therider · Post by **therider** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:13 am

Mark, I am not an expert, however I understand that if you need to rotate the front sight to the left you need to add material on the fron of the right side of the grip (assuming you shoot with the right) and remove at the back of the same side.
The grip shoud pivot on the 'ball' which fits the cave of your hand.

therider · Post by **therider** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:18 am

Also the grip strength has an influence.
For example if I squeeze too much my grip, then the front sight moves to the right too. I went back to Cesare Morini and ask him to correct this.
However he convinced me that when I grip gently, the sights are in perfect alignment.
All this reasoning was based on having a custom fitted grip, which according to CM, requires about 50-70% of the usual grip force (i am not perfectly sure of the percentage he mentioned...any way much less).

markwarren · Post by **markwarren** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:23 am

Hi therider,

Thanks for your reply. I read your post about having your grip fitted by CM and I am seriously thinking about going over to have mine done. I've looked in to flights and hotels and it would cost about 500 Euros in total ! but what an experience it would be.

I thought I would have a go first and see how I get on knowing I can always get one done by someone who knows what they are doing :)

All the best

Mark

therider · Post by **therider** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:35 am

I very much agree with you! If you have a LP10 , not lp10e, do play with your grip. I would buy the material which Cesare uses (there a a guy who sells it on eBay and costs little money).

I guess that you will be able to enjoy the eventual CM work much more, and you will be more sensitive too and be able to give him feedbacks.

The grip of lp10e is too thick and cannot be slimmed down too much particularly at the bottom. There are some pictures posted by Gerard of the k12 grip, very thin at the bottom. Well, that is not possible with LP10e, and my wrist rotates outwards. There is no way to correct that, unless you increase the whole thickness of the grip, but then the thumb is not parallel to barrel any more.
In fact if you check photos of Jong Ho you will see a strange position if his thumb.
So I really don't like the grip of E version.

If you decide to fly to Parma, don't forget to enjoy the food and wine!!!

rmca · Post by **rmca** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:54 am

Mark

Before you have a go at fitting your grip read this first:
http://www.issf-sports.org/academy/trai ... istol.ashx

Specially the "right hand position" part.

Try to match the finnish grip as closely as you can to that. Pay particular attention to the position of the fingers in relationship with the gun. This is very important!

Now, if your front sight is to the right you can add a little material to the back of the hand, as shown in the images on the link, and that will pivot your sight to the left. Try with a piece of folded target first, and get a feel for how much you need to add.

Go slow and in no time you'll have a much better fit on the grip. Shot with the gun two or three times after each change... And remember, go slow!

Hope this helps

RobStubbs · Post by **RobStubbs** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 3:45 pm

Have a play around with the grip by adding blu-tac. You can add and remove to your hearts content and it is fine to shoot with. Once you're happy with what you've done you can then remove and make permanent with the Morini grip paste.

Rob.

USMC0802 · Post by **USMC0802** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:41 am

Not sure why I am trying to give grip advice since I have been waiting on a trip to Germany later this month to have T Rink fit mine (fit 2 grips and supplied the putty for me a couple years ago at a match for around $70Eu). One of the above posters may have mis-spoke when he stated adding to the back of the grip to move the sight from the right. I think adding to the rear moves it to the right where you say you naturally point. I naturally point to the left and have to rotate the gun in my hand and then fill in the gap in the rear. In doing this, you must have a grip large enough that your fingers don't wrap around the front and they should be 90 degrees to the barrel. Modelling clay from what we call a "hobby store" in the US works really great for experimenting. Just add a little at a time. This is the same technique you will use when using something permanent.
Here is the link for Rink's guide to fitting- http://www.formgriffe.de/en/shpPfCnt.php?sCI=113
It is easy enough to get it pretty good but really is an art to get it perfect and helps a lot to have an extra set of hands and eyes. Luckily I will be at a match shortly with an expert who have very reasonable prices.

good luck

markwarren · Post by **markwarren** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:38 am

Thanks for the replies :)

@RobStubbs: Great idea thank you. I will be trying that first. Are you shooting at the ESSU?

@USMC0802: I am over in Germany later this month also with the Great Britain Junior Rifle Squad. Unfortunately, the location is so far North in Germany it is not really close enough to Rink to get there for a fitting :(

Good shooting

Mark

therider · Post by **therider** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:30 am

Mark, before you fly to Parma, Cesare Morini will be in Munich for next international competition (he told me 2 weeks ago when I drove to Matchguns). I think that is at the beginning of June. He will make grips there. However he cannot make the tail extension underneath the rear sight of the lp10 , as he does not bring all the necessary tools for that.

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:03 am

USMC0802 wrote:<snip>
Here is the link for Rink's guide to fitting- http://www.formgriffe.de/en/shpPfCnt.php?sCI=113

I noticed they recommend a two part silicone material for building up grips. I've never seen anything like this before.

Does anyone knows a source for small quantities in the US? A lot of things like this are intended for industrial use & only come in quarts (or gallons) for $$$$.

joel · Post by **joel** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:15 am

Gwhite wrote:
USMC0802 wrote:<snip>
Here is the link for Rink's guide to fitting- http://www.formgriffe.de/en/shpPfCnt.php?sCI=113
I noticed they recommend a two part silicone material for building up grips. I've never seen anything like this before.

Does anyone knows a source for small quantities in the US? A lot of things like this are intended for industrial use & only come in quarts (or gallons) for $$$$.

You might try Sugru. They sell it in small quantities and it is amazing stuff.

Joel

RobStubbs · Post by **RobStubbs** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 4:01 pm

markwarren wrote:Thanks for the replies :)

@RobStubbs: Great idea thank you. I will be trying that first. Are you shooting at the ESSU?

Good shooting

Mark

Probably not shooting at it as i dont get back from holiday until that weekend, but I may still come along as a couple of people I coach should be there.

Rob.

Andre · Post by **Andre** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:59 pm

The LP10 grip jack screws are nice, but they do not leave enough adjustment. I have the same problem, but my front sight was to the left.

Just carve until it fits. If you go too far, use some bondo with your hand as a mold to form the bondo to your hand.

ScottSimmonds · Post by **ScottSimmonds** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 7:04 am

joel wrote:You might try Sugru. They sell it in small quantities and it is amazing stuff.

Joel

I took the sugru suggestion... I had heard others talk about it. Easy to use. Sets up well and fast. Easy to add layers to layers building up small portions. It ends up as rubber.

markwarren · Post by **markwarren** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:10 am

Thank you all for the replies.

I have bought some Sugru but intend to only use it for certain areas of the grip i.e. in between the fingers on the front of the grip.

As it sets as a rubber type material I think it would not offer good sweat dispersion and therefore become quite slippery. Any comments on this?

Thanks

Mark

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:49 am

Sugru is easy to carve once it's set. When you are happy with the shaping, you can use a sharp blade to cut whatever sort of grid pattern you like removing 40-50% of the material which may be enough to allow sweat to evaporate through the channels. Of course the flesh of your hand will probably compress into the grooves a bit... so you may have to over-build some areas before grooving them. And yes, it does get a bit sweaty in my experience. I used some Sugru on the palm area of my old 46m grip. Found it too slippery after a while even with wire brush stippling of the surface made when it was soft. My fix was to put a sprinkling of 90 grit lapping compound onto a thin layer of Sugru. Once cured it was very, very grippy.

ScottSimmonds · Post by **ScottSimmonds** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 12:06 pm

Too cold in Maine right now to worry about sweating. I had not thought of that issue. I guess I'll learn more this summer.

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:26 pm

Cheap two part kneadable epoxy available cheaply at any hardware store works perfectly. It comes in a single stick. You cut/tear off a piece and knead it to a uniform color. A kid could do it.

BobGee · Post by **BobGee** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 8:18 pm

Oh to be a kid again.