The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Help needed with a grip gripe. Astra 680 snub.

stinkeypete · January 24, 2020, 10:45 AM

As with any project it all boils down to:

Understanding the Undertaking
Time
Money
Resources

The Undertaking: Custom grips for an Astra .38

The Understanding: Smallish gun, smallish grips, hard to hold on to but easy to conceal because you state this is for Every Day Carry. Larger grips help. T-grips are harder to get in Germany and Astras are not all that common.

My input:

Functional custom grips are easy to make with hand tools.
Beautiful custom grips are not easy and are the real of specialized craftsmen.

Take those Redhawk grips that you like and trace them on to paper. Measure the thickness. Pick a less expensive wood, order some thin slabs of it on Ebay, and laminate up some blanks. Start filing and sanding! The lamination lines will aid in keeping symmetry.

It's going to take a lot of TIME
It's not very much MONEY
You'll need some wood rasps and sandpaper, a sturdy work table and maybe some clamps. Even a bad vise is deluxe.

Another option is to find some beat up Redhawk grips on Ebay then use clever tricks to get them to fit acceptably. Tricks like using glue, bits of wood, Bondo, etc. The same could be said about T-grips, but you might need J-B Weld (I think that's called JayBeeWeldenstickenontodermetalstuffins in German) and some files.

Advantage: making your own grip can take weeks of time sanding and filling to get the grips perfect for your hand. If you like working with wood and doing things yourself it can be very rewardling.

Disadvantages: It won't be super pretty first try and you might find that you've made your EDC gun too large to carry. It will take time. There is going to be dust.

I started out 25 years ago with my bullseye air pistol and .22 - both Russian anatomical fit grips with a shelf on the bottom. I wear a medium sized glove and the grips were too big. Being Russian target guns (vs. Swiss) they cost 1/4 the cost of the Swiss guns, shot just as well, but had functional basswood looking grips instead of amazingly beautiful walnut hand checkered works of art.

The advantage of the basswood- hey... just start sanding them down a little at a time. It made a world of difference.

So I thought "Hey! I can fix my Contender grip! That thing never quite fit my hand right and these .357 Maximums are beating up my paw!" Instead of sanding on the nice grip I had, I got a cheap beat-up grip on Ebay and modified that. Having overdone the sanding at one point, I used a little Bondo to fill in a low spot. I ain't too proud, it didn't look that bad, and it really helped with getting that recoil in to my hand without any hot spots or pinches.

Some bubba put really horrible target grips on a Ruger Single Six and managed to install the spring for the base pin latch button on the wrong side of the pin.. so I picked that revolver up cheap. I laminated some micarta and started sanding. I really liked the results which fit the frame perfectly and fit my hand well, too. And they started looking pretty.

Isn't it strange that you can't get black micarta grips for a Bearcat? I wanted some, so I made them. It took me two or three weeks. If I paid myself per hour... I'd be broke... but I enjoy the time working with my hands.

That's one of the things a real craftsman can do that I can't- do the job beautifully and quick and efficient.

Long story, sorry.

In my opinion, part of the problem might be that it's a small revolver with small grips which makes it easy to hide but hard to hold on to- and if you make it big it will be easy to hold on to but hard to hide.

The solution I took was to get a Ruger LCRx 3" with those big ugly foamy-rubber grips. They look horrible to my eye but they feel perfect in my hand. I like the revolver a lot but this is not a case where I would make lovely custom grips for it- that rubbery stuff works great for me when it comes to hanging on to it.

January 24, 2020, 10:45 AM	#16
stinkeypete Senior Member Join Date: July 22, 2010 Location: Madison, Wisconsin Posts: 1,292	As with any project it all boils down to: Understanding the Undertaking Time Money Resources The Undertaking: Custom grips for an Astra .38 The Understanding: Smallish gun, smallish grips, hard to hold on to but easy to conceal because you state this is for Every Day Carry. Larger grips help. T-grips are harder to get in Germany and Astras are not all that common. My input: Functional custom grips are easy to make with hand tools. Beautiful custom grips are not easy and are the real of specialized craftsmen. Take those Redhawk grips that you like and trace them on to paper. Measure the thickness. Pick a less expensive wood, order some thin slabs of it on Ebay, and laminate up some blanks. Start filing and sanding! The lamination lines will aid in keeping symmetry. It's going to take a lot of TIME It's not very much MONEY You'll need some wood rasps and sandpaper, a sturdy work table and maybe some clamps. Even a bad vise is deluxe. Another option is to find some beat up Redhawk grips on Ebay then use clever tricks to get them to fit acceptably. Tricks like using glue, bits of wood, Bondo, etc. The same could be said about T-grips, but you might need J-B Weld (I think that's called JayBeeWeldenstickenontodermetalstuffins in German) and some files. Advantage: making your own grip can take weeks of time sanding and filling to get the grips perfect for your hand. If you like working with wood and doing things yourself it can be very rewardling. Disadvantages: It won't be super pretty first try and you might find that you've made your EDC gun too large to carry. It will take time. There is going to be dust. I started out 25 years ago with my bullseye air pistol and .22 - both Russian anatomical fit grips with a shelf on the bottom. I wear a medium sized glove and the grips were too big. Being Russian target guns (vs. Swiss) they cost 1/4 the cost of the Swiss guns, shot just as well, but had functional basswood looking grips instead of amazingly beautiful walnut hand checkered works of art. The advantage of the basswood- hey... just start sanding them down a little at a time. It made a world of difference. So I thought "Hey! I can fix my Contender grip! That thing never quite fit my hand right and these .357 Maximums are beating up my paw!" Instead of sanding on the nice grip I had, I got a cheap beat-up grip on Ebay and modified that. Having overdone the sanding at one point, I used a little Bondo to fill in a low spot. I ain't too proud, it didn't look that bad, and it really helped with getting that recoil in to my hand without any hot spots or pinches. Some bubba put really horrible target grips on a Ruger Single Six and managed to install the spring for the base pin latch button on the wrong side of the pin.. so I picked that revolver up cheap. I laminated some micarta and started sanding. I really liked the results which fit the frame perfectly and fit my hand well, too. And they started looking pretty. Isn't it strange that you can't get black micarta grips for a Bearcat? I wanted some, so I made them. It took me two or three weeks. If I paid myself per hour... I'd be broke... but I enjoy the time working with my hands. That's one of the things a real craftsman can do that I can't- do the job beautifully and quick and efficient. Long story, sorry. In my opinion, part of the problem might be that it's a small revolver with small grips which makes it easy to hide but hard to hold on to- and if you make it big it will be easy to hold on to but hard to hide. The solution I took was to get a Ruger LCRx 3" with those big ugly foamy-rubber grips. They look horrible to my eye but they feel perfect in my hand. I like the revolver a lot but this is not a case where I would make lovely custom grips for it- that rubbery stuff works great for me when it comes to hanging on to it. Last edited by stinkeypete; January 24, 2020 at 10:56 AM.