Vitarbo grip on S&W 41

[Guest]

Does anyone have experienced with Vitarbo grip on S&W 41?

Thank you.

[Neil Foster]

I have one on my Model 41, I normally use a medium grip in a stock grip. However, in the medium grip the top of my hand set up to close to the slide and I was fearful of getting a nasty cut from the bottom of the slide. It was suggested to use a large grip to give a bit more room. This was on a regular bullseye type grip. I did finally send it to Arnie Vitarbo and he slimmed it down to the 50mm ISSF width. It is a nice grip, but I wish it had an adjustable shelf. I think they can do that at an extra charge?? If I ever replace it, I would probably bite the "bullet". (no pun intended) and go for a RINK grip. I have it on my TOZ 35M, and it is one fine grip. Not inexpensive, however, but the fit is great. I think Larry Carter now handles RINK.
Neil

[F. Paul in Denver]

I ordered a set of Vitarbo grips for a SW52 which did not fit properly. The grips screw holes also failed to line up with those on the frame. I ended up sending the grips back and spent the extra bucks for Rink grips which turned out to be a good decision.

The Vitarbo grips I was unhappy with were NOT made by Arnie. They were made by a company in New Mexico who purchased a portion of Arnie's company. To be fair, they were very easy to deal with and were prompt about a refund.

[Neil Foster]

I should have been clearer. The grips were made by the folks in NM. However, they were away for vacation and I sent them to Arnie Vitarbo, and he slimmed them down. The folks in NM did get back to me, but by then Arnie V. had the grips. Fit to frame was fine, no problems. However, I would still go for the RINK grips.
Neil

[RJP]

I have Vitarbo on my S&W M-41, and I had to do a lot of trimming with my dremmel tool to get them to fit my large sized hand. Once the trimming was done, they feel just like any other anatomical grip without an adjustable palm shelf. One problem is that the slide sometimes drags on my hand near the base of the thumb and first finger.

I also have Vitarbo on my S&W M-52 and had the same problem with misplaced grip screw holes. Dremmel tool to the rescue again and a little wood filler to plug up the first holes. I also trimmed both grips to 50 mm wide as required by ISSF. On the M-52 the vertical height limit forced me to trim the base of the grip so that the palm shelf is only 1/4 inch thick.

[Guest]

Thank you for sharing your experience. My Vitarbo grip, Lg in size, has arrived and I put it on with my older M-41. Except some degrees of room on the palm shell and a couple of sharpy spots, the feel was great. The grip came with high grade wood figures and kind of clean milled.

I later found that the older model M-41 catches grip's internal fit. The catches prevented the trigger to fall when the triiger was pulled. I ended up filed the rear area where the hammer spring and rod located; and the result was acceptable.

Due to the fixed shell, I fill the shell area with putties and MAN! the feel of the grip is now very comfortable. My wrist can now turn to an angle for locking during firing and recoil. It is now range test time.

I will see how this puppy can do at 50 meter free pistol target. Cheers.