Home made Miculek grips
Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:33 pm
The K/L square butt frame Miculek grips are on backorder and none of the forums have coughed any up so I got tired of waiting and made my own.
I started with a very old set of hard nylon Hogue mono grips, my dremel tool and a rasp file. I had my 625 with real Miculek grips close by to look at while grinding away on the nylon Hogue's. This is a mighty messy operation so you definitely want to be outside, a smock and safety glasses are must haves.
Another thing is that the larger filings should be saved in a small dish to repair any bubbles in the nylon that are found while grinding them to the desired shape. I found several porous spots, inconvenient but not a disaster. Just use a soldering iron and dip it in the dish of saved filings and fill the holes with molton nylon, then resand.
Good ventilation is required since the melting material makes toxic fumes.
Anyway, the pics show the grips I started with, what I ended up with and how they compare to the $70 Miculeks. They may not be pretty but my total investment was less than $10 (hard nylon Hogue's are cheap) and about 3 hours labor. Hey I had the time so might as well be productive right?
Now my model 10 is really starting to come together. I've already got the Miculek 7 lb spring kit and newer style slanted thumb piece installed as well as polished all the internals.
grips before being put to the grinder:
After grinding and filing:
Compared to actual Miculek grips:
If you can't buy what you want, make it yourself.
I started with a very old set of hard nylon Hogue mono grips, my dremel tool and a rasp file. I had my 625 with real Miculek grips close by to look at while grinding away on the nylon Hogue's. This is a mighty messy operation so you definitely want to be outside, a smock and safety glasses are must haves.
Another thing is that the larger filings should be saved in a small dish to repair any bubbles in the nylon that are found while grinding them to the desired shape. I found several porous spots, inconvenient but not a disaster. Just use a soldering iron and dip it in the dish of saved filings and fill the holes with molton nylon, then resand.
Good ventilation is required since the melting material makes toxic fumes.
Anyway, the pics show the grips I started with, what I ended up with and how they compare to the $70 Miculeks. They may not be pretty but my total investment was less than $10 (hard nylon Hogue's are cheap) and about 3 hours labor. Hey I had the time so might as well be productive right?
Now my model 10 is really starting to come together. I've already got the Miculek 7 lb spring kit and newer style slanted thumb piece installed as well as polished all the internals.
grips before being put to the grinder:
After grinding and filing:
Compared to actual Miculek grips:
If you can't buy what you want, make it yourself.
