TargetTalk

Why is the upper surface of the Steyr (Morini) palm shelf flat? So much shaping goes into the rest of the grip to match the human hand- should not the palm shelf have a slightly concave upper surface to provide a match to the lower edge of the hand? I know that this can be Dremel modified - but why so flat. So far I have had to relieve the back corner to cut down on the pressure of it on my hand/wrist interface.

It's not a typically beginner question. The palm bottom & back rest is very critical for the correct way of griping. In this area the pressure between hand & grip isn't constatnt in every points. The flat rest is usually the best form for the more of shooters.

I have to agree with the OP. The flat shape & sharp rear corner made it painful to even attempt to shoot. I immediately started in on it with the Dremel, although it still needs some work. It feels OK some days, but hurts on others, so I'm getting close. I prefer to go VERY slowly on grips (I hate the look of putty & Bondo)

joker wrote:So much shaping goes into the rest of the grip to match the human hand- should not the palm shelf have a slightly concave upper surface to provide a match to the lower edge of the hand? I know that this can be Dremel modified - but why so flat. So far I have had to relieve the back corner to cut down on the pressure of it on my hand/wrist interface.

Curved surfaces on the heel/palm rest in the longitudinal direction of the pistol are permitted under ISSF rules.

Other than that, beware of falling foul of ISSF rules 8.9 & 8.10

David Levene wrote:

joker wrote:So much shaping goes into the rest of the grip to match the human hand- should not the palm shelf have a slightly concave upper surface to provide a match to the lower edge of the hand? I know that this can be Dremel modified - but why so flat. So far I have had to relieve the back corner to cut down on the pressure of it on my hand/wrist interface.

Curved surfaces on the heel/palm rest in the longitudinal direction of the pistol are permitted under ISSF rules.

Other than that, beware of falling foul of ISSF rules 8.9 & 8.10

David - thanks for the Rules heads up - I reckon then I have infringed them with the work I have done on these images - heel of palm shelf scooped slightly and thumb rest sloping down?



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joker wrote:

David Levene wrote:

joker wrote:So much shaping goes into the rest of the grip to match the human hand- should not the palm shelf have a slightly concave upper surface to provide a match to the lower edge of the hand? I know that this can be Dremel modified - but why so flat. So far I have had to relieve the back corner to cut down on the pressure of it on my hand/wrist interface.

Curved surfaces on the heel/palm rest in the longitudinal direction of the pistol are permitted under ISSF rules.

Other than that, beware of falling foul of ISSF rules 8.9 & 8.10

David - thanks for the Rules heads up - I reckon then I have infringed them with the work I have done on these images - heel of palm shelf scooped slightly and thumb rest sloping down?

The thumb rest is no problem, you are above the 90 degrees shown on 8.10

The heel/palm rest is a different matter though. It certainly looks like that dip means that part of the curve will be below 90 degrees, and that's not allowed.

Thanks for the advice David. At 69 years of age I don't expect to be taking part in ISSF competitions. However I would like anything I achieve to be done under the rules. It is easy to sort out the heel of the palm rest to remove the scooped out aspect.

Cheers

IanR

joker wrote:However I would like anything I achieve to be done under the rules.

I applaud that sentiment. I am no longer a top level competitor, but my adherence to the rules is not diminished.

joker wrote:Why is the upper surface of the Steyr (Morini) palm shelf flat? So much shaping goes into the rest of the grip to match the human hand- should not the palm shelf have a slightly concave upper surface to provide a match to the lower edge of the hand? I know that this can be Dremel modified - but why so flat. So far I have had to relieve the back corner to cut down on the pressure of it on my hand/wrist interface.

Several makers used to include a little longitudinal "rocker" that more closely matches the human hand. I imagine they stopped because it costs more, as opposed to the flat shelves universally present on current grips.

Your mod is barely out of regs (and even less noticeable to the casual observer.) It is easily fixed by extending the removal to the outer edge of the shelf. I imagine that will still solve your initial fit issue.

zollman

I sanded down the heel to remove the scoped out part - it is now radiused across the full width and is actually more comfortable. Thanks.

I have to agree with the OP. The flat shape & sharp rear corner made it painful to even attempt to shoot.

Same here. I've only had my LP2 for 2 days and my solution was to remove the palm rest completely. Immediately ,I was able to shoot a group. I couldn't bring myself to cut the shelf on a 2 day new pistol. I propose to try a larger grip, the problem may not be so prominent. I hope that may be the solution

How tight do you guys have the palm shelf against your hand so that it causes pain?

I have the shelf extended at the maximum allowable adjustment

If that little corner is causing you pain and it's adjust all the way down it sounds that you might need a larger grip.

If you adjusted palm shelf all the way down and it is still little tight, you might want to use dremel to downwardly lengthen the palm shelf up-and -down adjusting slot on the grip. Cosmetically your new LP2 would still look pretty untouched.

Richard H wrote:How tight do you guys have the palm shelf against your hand so that it causes pain?

No, pain is bad. It should be snug when gripped during shooting, but not so tight it hurts or squeezes. Remember too tight forces the palm of your hand away from the grip itself.

Rob.

RB6 wrote:

I have to agree with the OP. The flat shape & sharp rear corner made it painful to even attempt to shoot.

Same here. I've only had my LP2 for 2 days and my solution was to remove the palm rest completely. Immediately ,I was able to shoot a group. I couldn't bring myself to cut the shelf on a 2 day new pistol. I propose to try a larger grip, the problem may not be so prominent. I hope that may be the solution

Match Pistol grips are only a scaffold on which we 'hang' the adjustments we require to suit out particular hand shapes. I do admit to hating the sight of putty - however removing material with a Dremel is so easy and you can even use one with the appropriate tool to re-do the stippling.

Richard H wrote:If that little corner is causing you pain and it's adjust all the way down it sounds that you might need a larger grip.

Actually, the grip is too large, in that it is overly long in the back. The problem is that the palm shelf extends so far back that the corner digs into my wrist when the pistol is angled down. I could solve the problem by cutting a quarter of an inch off the entire back of the grip, but radiusing the back edge of the palm rest involved removing a lot less wood.

Ok, buy a smaller grip then. I think the comment was meant for Joker who said the shelf was all the way down but digging into his hand.

Richard H wrote:Ok, buy a smaller grip then. I think the comment was meant for Joker who said the shelf was all the way down but digging into his hand.

The rest of my grip fits fine. The next size down would be too small everyplace else. A grip that needs a little whittling in one spot is not necessarily the wrong size.

My experience suggests that if Joker buys the next larger grip (which it sounds like he should), he may still have to trim the back corner of the palm rest. The larger grip will allow him to move the shelf up, but it will probably also extend back further, which could cause the same problem I have. I have a variety of grips on various pistols, and the Steyr grip is the one that gives me a biggest problem with the back edge of the palm rest. I recall having to do a little tweaking on some other brands, but not to the extent I have on the Steyr.