[chaz12]

I had read a lot of good reviews about these grips and I decided to get a set on a new Pietta 1851. I paid an extra 100 dollars to send the pistol to them for custom fitting.

Unfortunately, what I got back did not live up to even minimal standards of quality. The basic simulated ivory resin was quite good in color and texture, but there were tiny black speckles scattered all through it. One area was completely discolored with them. There was no mention of this type of imperfection in the written descriptions or pictures.

I probably could have lived with the black specks, but the fitting of the grips was very poor. There wasn't one area that fit really well. There were large gaps where the grips joined the pistol frame, and the angles there were not square with the frame. The bevel angles on the bottom surfaces of the side panels did not even match one side to the other. There were places along the backstrap and bottom where the grips had been over sanded in a small spot so that the line of the grip dipped where it met the grip frame.

I went to remove the grips, and then came to find out that no care had been taken to protect the frame when the grips pieces were glued together. The grips were glued to the grip frame with excess glue. That was not a real problem since it was fairly easy to break one side panel off and then remove them, but the idea is to avoid gluing them to the frame in the first place. They are meant to be removable as one piece.

I took them off, disposed of them, and put the original Pietta grips back on.
Very disappointing, but we live and learn.

Chaz