New Grips
I've been carrying my SP101 with the stock grips and though I like them, they are a tad small for my hand. Ordered some G10 grips and they arrived yesterday. Putting them on proved to be a bit more than I asked for. Got the VZ Twister grips in black cherry with black hardware. They come with a couple of mounting pins. A large pin and a small pin that fit in a few choice holes in the grip to get a tighter fit, along with the large Ruger pin I had, used for the stock grips. Your supposed to try the small pin in 3 different locations on the grip and check for wobble in each location. I tried all three locations and didn't have any wobble with any of them. The problem that I did have was where the grips fit on the underside in front of the trigger guard. It just wasn't a good clean fit, in fact there was a large gap. Pin locations didn't seem to matter. Of course I had 2 options. Send them back or try to fix them. I chose the later, and after an hour of Dremel work, I got them to fit snug, and left the small pin out all together. I had read a review from a guy who said he did the same thing with the pin, just left it out. I sent them an email stating my disappointment, and explaining that I wasn't being paid for gunsmithing work, and at the cost of these grips, they should have mounted themselves. I told them that if I wanted to do gunsmithing, I would have ordered some grips from Thailand, or Pachmayr, where some fitting is expected................I tried to post some pics but my computer says that this site is not a secure site so it won't let me.
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Originally Posted by Bawanna
All of this is well and good but with some "makers", they're like a weatherman. What the hell, as long as I'm close, they can deal with it. That's great for grips that cost $30. Totally understandable. When you start paying in excess of $75 for little grips, my standards go up a notch. In my situation, I believe that Ruger has made 3 subtle frame changes to the SP101 since inception, identifiable by serial numbers. Usually, serial #'s below a start of 573 are one way, and above another. This is all info that is easily found on the net. You would think that someone who is an artisan in grip making would be aware of this and adjust accordingly, and ask about your serial number, and have handled the firearms themselves, so they understand the "nuances". Then people wouldn't have to either wait forever to get a replacement, which will probably be the same, or to fix it themselves, which releases the maker from any liability or warranty issues. This is not to say that ALL grip makers are like this, but many just use the "old standard". In my case, the grips were made by a large co. with large machines, and not too much hands on I would imagine. You would think that they would also be aware of the "nuances" and adjust accordingly themselves. Maybe grip makers should take a step back and realize that in the whole scheme of things, most firearm owners are not gunsmiths, and if you put a Dremel or a file in their hand, the results would be catastrophic at best. I am able to use a Dremel, so I guess you can say no harm, no foul. But for the rest of their customers, it turns in to a PITA.............................................. ..
