Tombstone Gun Grips

Tombstone Gun Grips
PO Box 2171
White City, OR 97503 USA

www.TombstoneGrips.com
Fax: (541)-826-8669
Email: Dave@TombstoneGrips.com

Tips for Fitting and Finishing your grips

Instructions in PDF Format:

Tombstone Gun Grips
providing economically priced semi-finished custom flat-backed grip kits for modern and obsolete handguns!

Colt Police Positive in simulated Stag Horn polyurethane epoxy resin

Ruger Mark II with pale blue adjustable target grips

Choose Colors, Medallions...

1911-style Grip Panels
Three-piece kits to make one-piece S A grips
Two-piece kits with mounting hardware
Browning 1910 style grips with frame spacer
Rifle and shotgun grip caps, butt plates
Rectangular blanks for carving your grips
Classic grips for old guns
Unusual, hard-to-find grip kits
Nagant Revolver 3-piece grip kits
Mini Revolver grip kits
Universal Semi-finished kits
Universal mounting hardware

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU ORDER!

All Grips Panels are FLAT BACKED
- Grip location pin holes must be drilled
All Grip Panels are polymer epoxy resin
- Terms "gold", "ivory", "pearl", etc. refer to color only.
Most Grip Panels can have installed medallions
- Medallions inletted and secured with epoxy
You can tell which grip fits your gun:
- The below are all reasons a tracing is important:
  
  Guns often have different size frames in the same model
  Most import copies vary in exact grip frame shape
  The early 1890-1910 were sometimes built with prior model frames
  The 1858 Remington curved grips are unique to each example
Over 100 Standardized Shapes
- Only the listed grips are available
  
  If it isn't listed, I don't have it.
  I add new molds all the time: check later.
  You can order any color for any grip.
  The grip kits will need to be finished.
  The backs are all flat.
  The edges may need to be sanded to size.
  The back may need to be sanded for thickness.
  The pin locating hole will need to be made.
  These are NOT sold as finished grips!
  I do not have time to finish them for you.
  I can't accept guns for custom fitting.
The styles you see are what I have
- All grips have flat backs, not wrap around style
I do not work on other people's grips
- I cannot copy wrap-around styles of grips

Paul Carstensen's Colts with Gold Leaf details

What am I getting and what do I need?

Customer satisfaction ratio is 99.7% (0.3% returned grips for one reason or another), and the only way I can maintain such a high level is to make SURE that everyone understands exactly what they are getting. If you don't understand that these are semi-finished kits, and will probably need some sanding, drilling the pin locating hole in some grips, polishing and buffing on smooth grips, and possibly some routing on the back with a "Moto-Tool" or other rotary hobby grinder to make clearance cuts for safety and to fit at the top of the control area, then please just don't buy these grips. They are NOT completely ready to drop onto your gun! They are 90% ready. You need to do the other 10%.

Why don't I just raise the price and do the rest of the work for you? Because only the person with the gun in hand can fit the grips perfectly to it. I don't want to be responsible for your gun, and I don't have the FFL required to receive it. There are so many people who want to take advantage of the lower cost and the opportunity to fit the grips to their own gun, that I am kept "buried" in orders as it is. My average delivery time is about 20 business days, although sometimes I am able to get them out more quickly, and sometimes trips or holidays might make it slower. If I were to start making custom carved or checkered grips to order, or trying to fit and finish that last 10% and handling all the paperwork and legal requirements for receiving your gun in the mail, I would only get a tiny fraction of the work done that I do now, and could only serve a very few people instead of hundreds of clients each month.

There are excellent gripmakers and gunsmiths who will fit grips to your gun for you, if you don't want to. I make my grip kits for folks who feel comfortable doing a little fitting and routing, sanding and buffing (full instructions are provided). You don't need much in the way of tools. The following is usually plenty:

A fingernail sanding board with coarse and medium grit. This is all you need 90% of the time with 1911 grips, or any grip that doesn't need relief or alignment pin holes on the back, in colors, checkered or carved style grips.

A small amount of abrasive paper in 400, 600, and 800 grit if you want to apply a shined finish rather than a light matte finish (I like the matte for ivory, easier to hold and less slippery). This is usually reserved for pearl and metallic effect grips.

A small amount of very fine wet-and-dry abrasive paper in 1200, 2200, and finer grit for polishing pearl grips. If you have a buffer and some white jeweler's rouge, so much the better. But it isn't necessary.

A rotary hand tool similar to the "Moto-tool" or Dremmel hobby hand grinder, with the usual "comes with it" set of bits, for grips that might need routing or relief grooves on the back. In a pinch you can use a drill press with a small end mill, but you must secure the grip or it will be jerked around.

A small drill bit matching the size of an alignment pin on the frame of your Ruger, Colt, or S&W, etc., which you can turn by hand with a T-wrench or chuck up in a drill but turn the drill by hand to make a precise, shallow hole in the back of the grip. (Going after it with power on without experience usually results in the bit pulling right through the grip...better to go slow and easy, and have no problem.)

The polyurethane epoxy resin is much stronger and tougher than an injection molded "factory" plastic grip for a couple of reasons.

First, it's just the nature of the material, which is not melted. It is made of two liquids, which react when mixed to form a solid. Factory grips are mostly made of thermo-setting plastic, which is melted, pushed into a mold under pressure, chilled to set, and ejected. They will melt or warp again if you heat them enough. The Tombstone Grips will handle up to 450-degrees F., far hotter than your truck or glove box even on the hottest day in the middle of Arizona.

Second, the grips are solid, not a shell or skeleton grip as with many injection molded styles. Of all the broken original grips people have sent to me to match with a Tombstone Grip, or to clone in a new mold (after repairing, patching, sanding, polishing and sealing the original), most of them have been brittle, thin shells warped or cracked across a screw hole or at one corner from being dropped. Tombstone Grips can normally be dropped with little or no damage from the impact. They are used on non-firing reproduction guns in the entertainment industry, because the guns are often thrown, dropped on rocks, tossed on the street, etc., during the action, and the director does not want pieces of grip distracting the audience! Also it's expensive to be replacing grips constantly with all the re-takes. A grip that doesn't break and also costs less than ones that do provides a double value.

But while it is very tough and impact resistant, it can be checkered or carved, drilled and routed easily. Since it has no grain to split and chip, it is actually easier to checker and carve than wood grips. Once you have applied a light coat of furniture or car wax (the clear kind, not green or yellow colored), it seals the pores and keeps the surface from becoming stained. Basically, these are just better quality material than you usually get for twice the money. You are saving money because you don't have to pay anyone to do that final 10% of the fitting and finishing, which is more labor intensive than mixing the polymers, preparing the mold, casting the grip panels, demolding and doing a small amount of sanding and flashing removal, installing mounting hardware (if needed), and packing them to ship. The greatest labor cost is in that final 10% of the work. That's why Tombstone Grips are so much in demand, but they are NOT ready to drop on your gun! Please make sure that is completely clear and understood before you buy.

Finishing Tips Ivory grip cap

Tombstone Gun Grips also makes grip caps, butt plates, and spacers for stock builders and gunsmiths. The grip caps can be purchased in oversize styles that can be sanded to exact size and shape for any rifle or shotgun stock grip, and in any color.

CUSTOM WORK

Simulated staghorn grips, special mounting screws and hardware, and special grip development services are available. Your grip can be cloned or copied in polymer, or reproduced with modifications, at a far lower cost than injection molding for single or short run production. The special benefit of the poured, molded grip production method is low initial cost of a new design or copy of an existing grip. It is ideally suited to low volume demands where mass production techniques cost too much for initial tooling and setup. The grips are not usually "read to mount", but will require fitting, alignment holes, and sometimes require finishing or polishing. Grip thickness may need to be adjusted and matched. All such fit and finish operation are easily accomplished with 20-30 minutes of relatively simple sanding, polishing and/or drilling. Some grips may fit as delivered (primarily the 1911 Colt grips and similar flat styles). Most do require a certain amount of finishing work.

Tombstone Gun Grips are made to order from high strength polyurethane in any color, as well as in black, aged ivory, ivory, and pearl. You can have Tombstone's medallions embedded, or do your own scrimshaw work on smooth grips. To the right you see one of the more popular 1911 grips, the Chinese Dragon in aged ivory. This grip can be made in ivory, aged ivory, black, or any color of the rainbow on custom order. (The story of this grip was related by Ken Myers, founder of Tombstone Grips. According to Ken, the design came from a photograph of a tatoo covering the back of a Vietnamese lady of the evening, during the US Viet Nam war years, and was carved many years later into an original .45 set of grips using the photo as a guide. The mold was made from the original carving.)

1911 Colt with USMC Service Logo

A wide choice of 1911 grips is available including those with embedded Texas star in silver, coins, military insignia, carved Eagles, factory replacement double diamond, and even a rare thumbrest smooth target grip set. Any of these can be made with natural ivory color, aged ivory color, or any other color including a black simulation of Bakelite or early Rubber grip material.

Colt/Davis Derringer grips with bronze flower

Colt/Davis Derringer grips with bronze flower

The 1911 styles include factory original checkered, double diamond, triple diamond, smooth wood grain, thumbrest style, and Kimber/Colt compact double diamond. All these can be made with various medallions and in different colors or pearl effects. The material is easily sanded, filed, drilled and polished. You can carve finger grooves in the smooth grips, or make the grips thinner by sanding the backs.

Tombstone offers grips for hundreds of modern and obsolete handguns, as well as grip caps for shotguns and rifles. If you have a broken grip or wish to replace a grip with one of a different color, just send in your old grips to have them "cloned" with modern materials. New grips can be made using an original that is chipped or broken in most cases. A mould is made from your existing grip, and a new grip is cast in the mould, picking up the checkering and patterns of your original. If your original has chips or cracks, these can be temporarily filled with a removable filler to create a mould without the missing material or crack.

Ivory New Service Revolver with USMC Logo

The appearance of an older handgun and the ability to sell it for a higher price may be improved by changing from worn standard wood grips to an ivory or aged ivory set of Tombstone grips, changing a fairly uninteresting and perhaps not truely "collectable" piece into something that has more eye appeal. A common older handgun may look plain and uninteresting with its worn and damaged wood grips, but it becomes unique with special grips installed. Other effects may be achieved with black, pearl, abalone, opal, and various solid colors. Black tends to make a gun look more "restored". Military insignia, Texas stars, coin medallions, and other embedded insignia can lend a touch of richness and special interest. Aged ivory tends to blend well with guns of considerable vintage.

Each set of grips has slightly more thickness than required, so that the grips can be sanded to an exact match with the gun for which it is made. In many cases, a grip made for one model can be fitted to another similar frame shape, as well. The polyurethane formulations used lend themselves well to scrimshaw, filing, sanding, and all the operations that might normally be done to ivory, horn, or wood. The color is molded throughout the grip, and is not removed when you sand it. You can purchase securely on the Tombstone e-Bay Store with PayPal, or any kind of bank card. When you see the payment method, the word "check" is displayed, but click the arrow on the right to bring up other payment options. Pay-Pal takes most major credit cards at no additional cost or fees to you.

Simuilated Ivory grips give a gun an additional touch of character and make it stand out from other similar guns, even those with fine wood grips. Freedom Arms 22LR Mini Revolver with Tombstone Grips natural ivory

Freedom Arms 22LR Mini Revolver with Tombstone Grips natural ivory

This Freedom Arms mini-revolver in .22 LR came with a nice set of simulated wood grips, but the natural ivory color grips from Tombstone Gun Grips make this a "one of a kind" collector's item. The polyurethane faux ivory is stronger by far than real ivory, and does not crack or split with heat, stress, and moderate impact (2000 psi tensile strength). Once sealed with ordinary car wax, it resists staining and only slightly yellows with age similar to real ivory.

Colt SAA grips with gold cross medallion

Colt Official Police with Mason Medallion

You can order securely with your bank card (debit or credit) or you can use PayPal with almost any card. Delivery generally takes 20 business days average since the grips will be made to your specific order for color and features. Different kinds of medallions and conchos can be mounted in the grip. Custom work which may include cloning your existing grips can take longer, since silicone rubber molds must be created before the grips can be cloned.

Dave Corbin, avoiding the cactus and looking for javelina...