Grip Tape and Hair Dryers

[A.J. Holst]

After watching the Jared Reston video, I thought it would be a good idea to follow his advice and improve the grip on my 75B.

While I've not yet had any circumstance to result in poor hand to grip contact, the front and back strap on a stock 7B are silky smooth.

So I googled grip tape, did my research and landed on www.tractiongrips.com

I like the rubberized texture and the cut is nearly perfect for a clear, professional, and yes, cool look.

Installation is simple; here was my process:

Make gun safe, remove grip panels, clean with grain alcohol or equivalent non residue cleaner, align tape with backing on, peel backing as you continue to align allowing gravity adhesion only (don't press down) once all backing removed and satisfied with alignment, gently press down starting from the center and work out. 

NOTE: glue is heat activated, so if it's cold, you have greater ability to break the light gravity adhesion for best alignment. I did this on my porch at 40 degrees.

Hit it with Mrs GtG's hairdryer and with increasing pressure, massaged the grip tape into the complex curves and leading edges.

NOTE: Mrs GtG's hairdryer is a piece of crap, she needs a newer, better model...good gift idea results from a gun project.

From my research, tips for success:

Proper cleaning and prep of surface area, heat activated adhesive, allow to cure for 24+ hours before handling.

After I shoot, I may remove some material from the back strap as it rolls into the beaver tail.

I also will end up with a heat gun after I replace her hair dryer.

 

 

[bvarnell]

Looks great. Now get a Tupperware pistol and go to it.

[miller_man]

Looks good.

I used to be down on talon grips and such - after reading about some folks knocking them for having the grips loosen or shift in the heat and such. But after having one on my G43 for around 2 years, I;m quite an advocate for them now. It is critical to have the surface prep and installation done properly. I have had one very small area on it loosen up, but a dab of super glue and its never budged since.

Just added 2 Poly CZ's to my collection and talon grips where on within 2 weeks.

Edited January 27, 2018 by miller_man
mis-spell

[TNMTBik3r]

I bought some tread grip tape (ladders/stairs) and used a new Talon grip that I hadn't installed as a template to cut out a couple of my own (Glocks). The glue isn't as sticky as what comes on the Talons but worked well enough to last the past 6 months or so now. There are a couple of spots that are loose, when I get around to replacing the tape I will use some additional adhesive (available from several sources).

[Hozzie]

Skateboard tape works well as well.

[scooter]

I used to have Talon grips. Now I know better. Yes, they do come loose over time in the TN heat and humidity. My Talon grips failed spectacularly during a training class in the summer with sweaty hands. Just make sure you are in a dry and cold climate and your hands aren't wet when you need your gun to defend yourself.  

[miller_man]

12 hours ago, scooter said:

I used to have Talon grips. Now I know better. Yes, they do come loose over time in the TN heat and humidity. My Talon grips failed spectacularly during a training class in the summer with sweaty hands. Just make sure you are in a dry and cold climate and your hands aren't wet when you need your gun to defend yourself.  

So just out of curiosity and for clarification - did the grips fail because THEY let go and slipped around/off your gun? Or did they fail because your hands were sweaty and you did not have enough grip/traction?

 

[hipower]

Good little tutorial gtg. I've not been one for grip tapes in the past, but thinking more seriously about it these days. 

And since I do have a couple of CZs, your work sure makes sense for me to try. I really had not even thought about adding it to the beavertail. That's a great notion!

Thanks for the input.

[scooter]

1 hour ago, miller_man said:

So just out of curiosity and for clarification - did the grips fail because THEY let go and slipped around/off your gun? Or did they fail because your hands were sweaty and you did not have enough grip/traction?

The grip tape moved during a shooting drill. Upon changing magazines during the drill, the grip tape wrapped around into the magazine well, preventing a new magazine from being inserted. Further inspection revealed that the entire grip tape was loose and could be easily moved as the glue failed with the heat and humidity. I replicated this problem later on with another shooting drill and a different handgun. In this case, the hands were wet with liquid soap (mimicking bloody hands).

[A.J. Holst]

30 minutes ago, scooter said:

The grip tape moved during a shooting drill. Upon changing magazines during the drill, the grip tape wrapped around into the magazine well, preventing a new magazine from being inserted. Further inspection revealed that the entire grip tape was loose and could be easily moved as the glue failed with the heat and humidity. I replicated this problem later on with another shooting drill and a different handgun. In this case, the hands were wet with liquid soap (mimicking bloody hands).

New install or existing? During research of negative reviews I discovered reports of failures beginning as soon as 4-6 months and others lasting 1-2 years. 

What isn't clear is the frequency of use.

Welcome to TGO!

[A.J. Holst]

BTW, in my holster, with the 24 hour cure time, the leading edges seem more adhered this morning vs. last night

[scooter]

6 hours ago, Gotthegoods said:

New install or existing? During research of negative reviews I discovered reports of failures beginning as soon as 4-6 months and others lasting 1-2 years. 

What isn't clear is the frequency of use.

Welcome to TGO!

About little more than year old install.

[Spiffy]

On 1/27/2018 at 12:36 PM, miller_man said:

Looks good.

I used to be down on talon grips and such - after reading about some folks knocking them for having the grips loosen or shift in the heat and such. But after having one on my G43 for around 2 years, I;m quite an advocate for them now. It is critical to have the surface prep and installation done properly. I have had one very small area on it loosen up, but a dab of super glue and its never budged since.

Just added 2 Poly CZ's to my collection and talon grips where on within 2 weeks.

I've had talon griptape on my Glock 35 for going on 4 years now and on my M&Ps for about as long. Mostly competition guns but I grip the piss out of them. Sometimes gunscrubber or something gets on the tape and it loosens up. I finally figured out if I hit the area with a blow dryer that it gets sticky again. 

 

I use a hair dryer now for installs. Heat up the grip and then heat up the tape and it just smooths right out and fits great.