Stippling a gun

[coyote223]

High speed rotary tool, small round carbide bit. It is a good idea to practice a little first. I did a Ruger mark II the very first try, it didn't turn out so attractive.

 

[BDA.45]

Well I just got done stippling the pistol grip on my shotgun and I dont like it. It doesnt seem to look right to me. I decided not to do the XD until I feel comfortable. I dont want it to look like crap. Ill post some pics of the stock when I can get to the camera. Ill probably have to wait a few hours for the girlfriend to get home since Im immobile. Maybe some feedback will help me out. Im probably gonna end up stippling every plastic/polymer item in the house before I do my pistol. Boredom and frustration suck.....

 

[oknow]

( REALLY high!!! ) might have something to do with it also.

 

[BDA.45]

( REALLY high!!! ) might have something to do with it also.

Hehe, Im higher now then when I originally posted. Pharmaceuticals.......... Anyway, apparently I suck more at taking pictures then I do at stippling. I couldnt get the work I did to come out so Ill just tell you guys it sucks. Ive watched tons of vids and seen your guys pics and I cant seem to get the same effect. The first stock I did came out great but everything after sucks. I dont know what Im doin wrong. Without being able to post pics, I cant show you what I mean. Frustrating dude...

 

[Sgt Nambu]

BDA.45, get well soon, man!
Nambu

 

[BDA.45]

BDA.45, get well soon, man!
Nambu

Thanks man, I appreciate it. Should be walkin in a week or so hopefully. Should be back shootin in 6.

 

[BDA.45]

Well, I couldnt get the pics of my stippling project to come through so here is a pic of my surgery foot... enjoy!

Hence the reason Im eatin pharmaceuticals and cant walk!

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

I think its more of a novelty or fad. If you cant hold a pistol in standard calibers without stippling id suggest working on your grip. Even in a slimy jungle or blood covered envorment, they can make do with wiping the pistol or grip with a rag.

As most above have suggested, if you follow through with it I would be prepared to keep it.. Or sell it at a loss.

 

[tacticalgunner]

So kinda revitalizing this thread, i just wanted to try stippling and pulled out my old iron and toughened up a P-Mag. Not too bad looking, made it much more gripping than before. I don't know if i would do one of my pistols.

 

[oneharmonic]

If it's a home stippling job, what others have said is true: it will kill the resale value.

If you go to a pro shop, it won't necessarily kill your resale. Someone like this: https://www.facebook.com/TacticalTextureAndTriggers

Or Glockworx, or a dozen other shops that customize polymer gun grips.

 

[FA9]

Tried it, and I like it better when doing it on mags rather than ruining a perfect gun. Atleast with a mag, I can always replace it...

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

I still don't see any point in stippling, especially doing it yourself... & Even by a smith.
Its like when those mall ninjas trick out there ARs by spending a whole ton of money on Chinese lights, crummy tapco furniture and super elcheapo sight-mark sights.

In the end they just wasted a ton of money on garbage. Stippling seems to be just that unless it came from the factory that way.

 

[coyote223]

I still don't see any point in stippling, especially doing it yourself... & Even by a smith.
Its like when those mall ninjas trick out there ARs by spending a whole ton of money on Chinese lights, crummy tapco furniture and super elcheapo sight-mark sights.

In the end they just wasted a ton of money on garbage. Stippling seems to be just that unless it came from the factory that way.

Please, they come from the factory slick as a bar of soap. Stippling helps you hold onto that bar of soap. Why do you think there are so many after market grip option? i.e. tape, rubbers, etc. People that keep their guns don't have to worry about resale value either,,,

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Please, they come from the factory slick as a bar of soap. Stippling helps you hold onto that bar of soap. Why do you think there are so many after market grip option? i.e. tape, rubbers, etc. People that keep their guns don't have to worry about resale value either,,,

Hahaha!
All those above mentioned things are junk. Have you ever actually ran a course with a lightly stippled grip and had to actually shoot in the mud or heck even outdoors in the rain?
Junk. It gets filled with gunk. Slip on grips are junk, tape works for a while, other than a better dry grip (covered or indoor ranges) rubber grips get slick as hell in real world conditions. Just like everything else.

Before you roll your emocon eyes again, you had better sit down and chill out.
To quote Walter from The big Lebowski:
"Donny, you're out of your element."

If you can't make your equipment work from the factory, Id suggest working out or making it to the range more often.

Ive never been impressed with DIY stippling or even stippling done by a smith. All looked substandard and felt just the same. If it makes you happy, go for it. But it aint gunna make you a better shooter.

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

Might not make me a better shooter, but I will say that it makes it more enjoyable, and that is what shooting is all about for me.

 

[Glock Jock]

grip reduction and notching under the trigger guard make a huge difference in how you grip the gun and creates a better bore axis which helps with controlling muzzle rise. And a good stippling job certainly does help, especially when sweat, blood and or anything else might get involved. Add a pair of gloves and all the better.

 

[skud_dusty]

I think its more of a novelty or fad. If you cant hold a pistol in standard calibers without stippling id suggest working on your grip. Even in a slimy jungle or blood covered envorment, they can make do with wiping the pistol or grip with a rag.

As most above have suggested, if you follow through with it I would be prepared to keep it.. Or sell it at a loss.

Try shooting a factory Glock 27 with 180gr Gold dots and tell me how easy it is to hold on to.

OP: here's an effort post I did on another forum...

Before you even start something like this project realize if you want it to look similar to this, and not some other crappy looking job you've seen, it will take a lot of time and patience. I've got just about 8 hours into this one and there are still a couple of things I want to do with it. There are a couple of spots I'd like to touch up a bit and I might end up sanding down the high spots just a hair.

Here's some pics at halfway:





And the end product:







Here's what I did:
I bought a wood burning kit from Walmart for $9.97. It's in the crafts section and looks just like this:



It comes with a bunch of different tips to use. Then I used a dremel and some sandpaper to lightly undercut the trigger guard and reduce the front finger groove. The hard part is when you actually start stippling.

First, tape off the areas you don't want stippled. I followed the natural lines of the raised portion of the grips and gave a little room around the mag release. Sand down the front and back (where you melted the factory texture) a little so there aren't any odd lumps or bumps then just take your time. If you use a large tip and just press it down IMO it looks terrible. If you use a small tip don't act like you're trying to burn through the frame it turns out nicely.

Practice on mag loaders, old busted magazines, mag floor plates, just about anything plastic. This was the first time I've done anything like this and I only practiced for maybe 5 minutes. The first night I went to bed thinking it will look great and woke up feeling regret. As soon as I picked it up and looked at it again I felt confident in my decision.

Would I do it again? Probably not, but only because of the labor involved. I'm glad I got good looking results without having to shell out $150 but would definitely consider paying to have it done professional should I choose to do another pistol.

 

[skud_dusty]

I followed a youtube video that you'll find below. The iron that I have is rated at IIRC 25w. I let it heat up completely before I started. From what I've read heat is important, but more along the lines of if it's too hot it won't melt it will burn...which you don't want. Part of the random pattern was from me tapping, then lifting and pulling either left or right and up or down. I wasn't trying for symmetrical, but more of a factory type of finish. Just randomly tapping but instead of cleanly up and down I drug the point back through what I just melted. It's hard to explain, so I'll let the youtube video explain it.

In the had feel is hard to explain. It feels like the grain of 180 grit sandpaper, but it's not "sharp" feeling like the sandpaper is. I can run my fingers across it without it being uncomfortable, but it still has a lot more bite than the factory finish.

I used a finer tip, but this is fairly similar. I can't find the exact video I followed, but I kind of used bits and pieces from maybe 5 different videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jfqwbXgDA24

If you are seriously interested in this watch a LOT of videos, look at a LOT of pictures, and decide what you like and dislike about all of them. Prepare to sit down and take however long it takes. I was so worried that it would turn out looking like bubblegum that some random jackass on barfkom did, but as I have already said I'm very pleased with the results.

If anyone is around Salem you are more than welcome to check it out. I will gladly help anyone the best I can if you are needing more information or pictures. Those were taken with my bubblegumty droid; I'll try to bust out the better camera on my weekend for some higher quality shots.

If you are worried about burning through the frame, you'll have a hard time doing this unless you intentionally do it. I've read you have to stand up and actually put your weight on it to push through or sit with the iron against the polymer for extended time periods.

If you are worried about bubbleguming things up permanently, you can bring it back. While I think both look like bubblegum, here's a before and after of the same gun.

First attempt:



Second:



This was some random guy on GlockTalk. As you can see, you can change the texture drastically just by going back over it. Try it with your mag loader or mag base plate. Another thought; if you bubblegum it up really bad you can always send it to a pro. I haven't seen it, but I've read of people sending off bubblegumed up guns that turn out fine. Just be prepared to spend $100+ for a decent job.

On that topic, a lot of guys that do grip reductions mix up a filler material that acts very similar to Glock's polymer. I came to the conclusion that I could always use something like that to fill in a huge mistake if I made one, though I honestly think a person should me more concerned with a dremel/sander wrecking things instead of a woodburner/soldering iron.

Just a few random thoughts. Let's keep this open for discussion of other grip mods too! I think I want to undercut my trigger guard a little more but that's it.

If I get the balls to mod another Glock's grip I'll probably go with this guy: Index he does some AMAZING work. I would do a full workup like this 19:



360 degree stippling is $70. For a whole workup like shown above it's $150. That particular 19 is the one that got me interested in modding my Glock's frame.