Now, my wife will be quick to tell you that I just can't leave anything alone. Home Improvement's Tim Taylor has nothing on me! Her favorite question is "Have you ever done this before?" My patent response is, "No, but I think I can figure it out." Luckily, I am pretty handy and mechanically inclined and rarely have to call a professional for assistance. Of course, my wife would also tell you she believes that before I finish any project it ends up costing twice what a professional would have charged, but that's another story. Because of this penchant for customizing I have been known to take stock wood grips and add my own touches. I decided that little tung oil can work wonders on a boring set of stock grips. Even polishing with a good wax will provide an appearance change. Nonetheless, I am far from skilled when it comes to customizing a grip.

For that reason I called the guys who do know. The companies listed in this article are by no means all of the available suppliers. They are just a handful of the ones I was familiar with or had been lead to in the past. You should check around in your area and look through some of the fine handgunning publications available today to get names of other available suppliers. My purpose in this article is to introduce you to some of the suppliers of single action grips. Many of them can also provide grips for almost any gun you might own.

Due to the surge in interest in traditional single action guns many of these grip makers are having trouble keeping up with demand. Almost everyone I know who is even remotely interested in the single action scene has put custom grips on their guns. They not only serve to beautify and customize your individual gun, but they can also provide a needed quality improvement. Now, this is not to say that the quality of production grips is poor. However, when you do a lot of shooting, sometimes a grip change can improve gun and shooter performance. I spend a lot of time with my Ruger Super Blackhawk, 44 mag, in hand. After a while it starts to hurt even a big guy like me. So my cure was to move to a Hogue rubber grip. Although I love wood, this grip lets me shoot that gun longer with less fatigue. I have a large hand and it fits my hand better than the factory unit. I also like the coverage of this grip on the dragoon trigger guard that always seems to dust my knuckle. Many of the suppliers I've listed here have oversized or finger grip models available to assure a cure for these types of shooting problems.

Proper grip size can be a major factor in gun fit. Possibly as big as any other single component. Someone with a small hand may need to switch to a thinner grip to accommodate their hand size. A big handed person as well may need a larger grip to properly seat the gun in their hand. What it all boils down to is personal preferences. I prefer a slightly oversized wood grip that does not interfere with the line of the gun.

Heavy calibers can present a problem when it comes to grip design. The Casull, for instance, is a gun that doesn't seem to benefit from a rubber type grip, although probably some would disagree. Unfortunately, I don't have the pleasure of owning a Casull so I talked to Larry Gresham of Silhouette Precision Sport (1103 S. Josey Lane, Carrollton, TX. 75006) about its grip design. Larry is an accomplished handgun hunter and silhouette competitor. His shop specializes in pistol-smithing, and he assisted me recently in getting my Super Blackhawk in shape for hunting. He told, in his opinion, on a heavy caliber that a wood grip is a better choice. The wood lets the gun slip slightly in your hand, thus absorbing some of the power and making the gun shoot more comfortably. He felt that rubber grips tend to bunch up or bite the hand instead of slipping properly. He had switched to a custom Rosewood grip, but he feels the factory grips are well made and works well with the gun. Again, personal preference.

Almost any of the suppliers can assist you in custom fitting to your requirements over the phone. You should explain both your hand size and you shooting preferences so that they can help fit you to the proper grip.

Below is a listing of each of the grip suppliers that I contacted with a description on products and services each supply. Because of the difficulty of fitting some of the imports and the custom nature of a Colt SAA grip, I based my findings on my Ruger Vaquero, Old Army and Super Blackhawk. Grips for the Ruger line will usually fit properly out of the box if they are made well. If interested, you should give the supplier a call and ask them about your specific grip requirements. Many offer extensive lines, custom work and fitting.

Altamont (Box 309, Thomasboro, IL 61872, 217-643-3125) Ken Enright was good enough to give me some of his time and explain their operation. Altamont has been in the single action grip business for over 15 years. They started doing custom Ivory grips for Colt SAA prior to their hard times and have recently picked that business back up. They are mostly a contract shop that does custom work for many of the SA manufactures. He listed Ubirty, EMF, Colt and some work for Ruger. Their current emphasis is on the Ruger Vaquero and they have quite a few offerings in that area. While they are primarily a production company supplier they are coming out with a full line catalog soon. Ken sent me a set of their simulated Ivory grips. They are bonded Ivory and are made from a filled epoxy base. When I first received them I was convinced by the look and feel that they were actually Ivory. The color, weight and texture is so like Ivory that they would easily pass for the real thing. Fit and finish were excellent and I really liked the smoothness of the grip.

Ajax Custom Grips, Inc., (Box 29529, Dallas, TX 75229, 214-630-8893) is a local supplier that I have dealt with in the past for Hogue grips. Aside from reselling they also custom make their own grips. I talked to Paul Rosenberg with Ajax and he informed me that they did a large volume of contract work for Colt. They also have supplied the movie industry with authentic period grips for a multitude of films. Most recently they did the grip work for Chuck Norris' gun in upcoming "Walker, Texas Ranger" episodes. As far as standard grips go they have an extensive line that encompasses over 300 variations of grips. They can also handle custom work for almost any gun you might own. I asked Paul specifically about the imports as I felt they would be hard to fit. He assured me that if the customer would send in their gun that they could fit it with a grip. Paul was good enough to send me some samples of their Stag, Ivory Polymer and White Pearlite grips. OK, let me state that I always thought a stainless or nickeled gun needed dark grips. Ajax's grips proved me wrong. All three looked great on both my Vaquero and Old Army. The Stag is a classic look that just goes with the Vaquero and the White Pearlite I liked best on the Old Army. The Ivory Polymer looked good but were my least favorite, of course I never really liked genuine Ivory grips, again personal preference. The fit on all was exceptional even with the subtle variances on grip frames between the Vaquero and the Old army. Aside from these three they also offer Super Walnut, Cherrywood, Black Silverwood, Rosewood, Black Pearlite, Staglite and Genuine Ivory. I am very impressed with the workmanship and finish on these grips and prices are reasonable.

Eagle Grips (460 Randy Road, Carol Stream, IL 60188, 708-260-0400) Eagle is a well known name in the grip industry. They have been in the business for 21 years and have done past work for Colt as a grip fitter. A real plus is their ability to custom fit a grip in, a stated, 10-12 days for only $30-40, plus the cost of the grips. Boy, that's real attractive to me. It takes me longer than that to get a gun drilled and tapped locally. Eagle offers grips in Rosewood, Ebony, Buffalo Horn, Stag and Mother of Pearl. They also have oversize and finger position grips available. They will soon offer a Rosewood, French fitted presentation case.

Gunsight (1712 N. Placentia Ave., Fullerton CA 92634, 714-993-6550) I talked to George Dileo, owner of Gunsight to find out what his company offered. He has been working on both custom and out of the box single action grips for 35 years. Impressive in anybody's book. Most of his work is with various woods, Ivory, stag and Mother of Pearl. His services are available to the general public and include polishing, plating and general gunsmithing as well. He will build grips to the customers request or to a standard grip design. Custom work is George's strong suite. He will custom fit any single action with handmade grips. George is working up a flyer that should be available very soon.

Harrett Stocks (Box 741, Twin Falls, ID 83303, 208-733-1498) I spoke with Dee Eiselein about Harrett's offerings. She explained that Harrett had been working up grips, ah, I mean stocks, you might note that Harrett refers to them as stocks, for over 40 years. They require the customers gun for all stock fitting. She said this way they could make sure the stock they made fit the gun perfectly. The majority of their work is done in American Black Walnut but they also offer Rosewood, English and French Walnut. In what I feel is a nice twist, they will take customer wood and fashion it into a grip. Now, before you run out and pickup some driftwood or start pulling up the picket fence, you should probably give them a call. I'm sure some wood might not work well as stock material. They will also custom design a stock to your specifications. One piece and two piece stocks are available. The Single Action Trooper is their most popular stock. The backstrap is open to allow the gun to roll in your hand properly when fired. One feature of their Made-to-Measure stocks is their hand diagramming. Not only do they custom fit each stock to the gun, but ask for you to send a diagram of your hand to properly fit the gun hand. I would suspect that aside from being there during the entire process you could not get a more personal fit in a stock. Dee said they are working on a new catalog that should be available after the first of the year.

Lett Custom Grips (672 Currier Rd. Hopkinton, NH 03229, 603-225-7818) Lett is not a very well known grip maker, that is unless you are a big Ruger fan. Lett is the OEM maker of almost all of the grips the come stock on Ruger guns. If you get a Ruger catalog, Lett is now noted in each one. I spoke to Bill Lett Sr. and Bill Lett Jr. on their products. Lett has been making Ruger grips and stock inserts since 1955. They mainly work in wood and have probably the widest variety and prettiest laminates available. You would be hard pressed not to find a color combination you didn't like or they didn't have. They also offer simulated ivory grips, Goncalo Alves, Bolivian Rosewood, Zebrawood, Fancy Walnut and Hybrids. The hybrid is a beautiful blend of simulated ivory and laminates that has to be seen to be appreciated. In 1990 Lett started doing custom work. This is mostly the custom scrimshaw designs that Bill Jr. does, and when I say custom, I mean custom. He asked me to send him a design I liked, so I did. What I received back was a beautiful set of simulated Ivory grips with a my scrimshaw design meticulously carved into the right grip half and completed with the Ruger medallion in its mandatory place. Standard fare on scrimshawed grips are a design on only one side. Due to their intense work with the Ruger line the fit was flawless. I am so pleased with the look of the scrimshaw that I plan to send them back to have the work duplicated on the other side. This really added a pure custom look to my gun that will set it apart from every other.

When I started this article I was a died in the wool wood grip devotee. After seeing the custom scrimshaw work done by Lett, the beautiful stag from Ajax, and the smooth polished look of the simulated Ivory from Altamont my taste have been broadened. Wood is a traditional and beautiful expression of the grip makers art. But, one look at the many colorful laminates offered by Eagle may just have changed my mind about solid wood grips for ever. I have always felt that Mother of Pearl was a presentation quality grip only, although with the advent of simulated Mother of Pearl this theory must be reassessed. On a blued gun the simulated mother of pearl gives a real flash to what may be an otherwise common appearance. Everyone's taste are different, that's what makes this country great, and there are enough variations offered to suite even the most particular of us. My suggestion is to get information from all of the suppliers and then get what you think will make your gun unique among the crowd. Good luck in making a decision, with so much available you may find it harder that you can imagine.

The End.

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