Anatomical grips

Here is a question for the board.  Do you think anatomical pistol grips improve your scores?  I realize that 1911 grips on your 22 helps when shooting your 1911 but,  I am only shooting indoors at 50ft.  Are they a plus or not so much?

Other than 1911, what higher grade .22’s generally don’t have some sort of anatomical grip now days

Well, if you are just shooting .22, I would assume the answer is they are a plus since most ISSF / Olympic pistol shooters have some type of anatomical grips.

On the other hand, why would one only want to shoot a .22?      (I am joking, everyone should know by now I don't discriminate on the basis of caliber.   )

CR

CR10X wrote:

On the other hand, why would one only want to shoot a .22?      (I am joking, everyone should know by now I don't discriminate on the basis of caliber.   )

CR

Come on CR!

We all know you consider .45 to be high caliber shooters!

I know of one High Master that uses anatomical grips on his 1911 and a few Masters. I personally love the Rink grips on my Pardini and my Toz so I oredered some Rinks for my 1911. They should be arriving soon. I'll update after I've tried them for a while.

I have Rinks on all my .22s now. Love them and I think they are worth every penny. Just put a set on my Hammerli 215 on Friday and I immediately felt better grip and control compared with what I assume were factory thumb rest grips.

Ya, you guys make a good point.  I have  Ruger Mk II 22/45 that seems to be my go to gun for bullseye.  It has a plastic frame with molded in panels.  I asked Andrew from Precision Target Pistol Grips if he could print some grips up.  He was helpful but, felt it wouldn't work well.  I was thinking building it up using JB Weld.  I don't know if that would be a good idea or not?

For a Ruger you might want to find a set of Herret Nationals to try

I have shot a lot (A LOT) of both bullseye and International pistol.

For me, I now use thin slab grips on my bullseye guns, and ergonomic grips on my International guns.

(Disclaimer: I have "teenaged-girl" size hands.)

I get better control and less "sewing machine needle" with the slab grips in bullseye.

Yes, 22/45 is a different setup. I have Rinks on a MK II and a MK III.

Looks like you can get Herrett grip panels like Jim said. If it were me, I would just order a good pair of grips instead of fooling with making my own. I think one of the best features of the Rink grips are the palm rests. They give good support.

My 22/45 has grip panels molded into the plastic frame so I don't have a lot of options.

285wannab wrote:My 22/45 has grip panels molded into the plastic frame so I don't have a lot of options.

Some Mk 3 22/45’s have removable grip panels some do not... Were I to go that route I would make sure I found one with the removable grip panels. I’m currently using a Mkll Competition Target model with the old model Volquartsen walnut Target grips (Dremeled to my hand) which I’m very happy with. If I can ever get my Marvel conversion unit to function reliably I will be happy to use that.

john bickar wrote:I have shot a lot (A LOT) of both bullseye and International pistol.

For me, I now use thin slab grips on my bullseye guns, and ergonomic grips on my International guns.

(Disclaimer: I have "teenaged-girl" size hands.)

I get better control and less "sewing machine needle" with the slab grips in bullseye.

One of the dangers of anatomical grips on a 1911, is that you have a fixed trigger you can only make so short.   If you have small hands anatomical grips can make it difficult for you to address the trigger correctly  on a 1911.   
   Hand strength is also an issue of course.   
I only like anatomical grips that allow you to hang some of the weight of the pistol on that V between your thumb and trigger finger.  It keeps you from having to grip the gun too tight which stalls your trigger finger.     

I find the American style anatomical grips,  designed to look pretty but basically do nothing to give you a repeatable hand position (and stable platform for a free moving trigger finger) to be worse by far, than just shooting with slab grips.

Sewing machine as in those g-d dips and twitches ya get in a string?

I did well with light caliber international with fitted grips, but it hasn't worked well with higher recoil, but l keep trying it.

Think about grip pressure, as recoil, trigger weight, goes up, or the gun gets lighter, you have to hold tighter. 22 grip and AP are lghter than 45. It's hard to grip a softball tightly but you can put a lot of pressure on a golf ball. (Same thing for an egg and it doesn't break)

Same deal on guns, slabs let you clamp tight on it but there's a balance with tightness and trigger finger mobility. 3 bears works. Find your bear.

The problem with anatomical grips is that they truthfully do not fit 99.9% of the people who use them. I shot international for many years and struggled with grip pressure errors. I visited Morini in Switzerland and had 3 grips made. Shot personal best with all 3 guns at the next match I shot after getting properly fitted grips. Grip fitting really should be in person as well. Very difficult to get it right otherwise. Also just because someone is making grips doesn't mean they really know how to make grips. Grip making is an art. Get an artist to make your grips
Also don't be scared to grind or file on your grips, pretty grips probably lose more matches than they win. And as I've said before, I can only think of one person who ever shot anatomical grips well on 1911.....so the rest of us should use slab grips. I also personally do not like grips that flush up to the front strap and rear of the frame. When they stop short of the edges as described it gives you something else for your fingers/hand to dig into. The grips that cover more of the frame make the grips to round and I believe its not helpful. Also standard grip thickness is the best. Keeps the hand closed more naturally. I think grips that open up your hand/grip are detrimental to proper grip.
Jon

I switched from slab sided grips on my marvel conversion to a set of roco then rinks. I have seen scores increase as will as point-ability and steadiness. Take this with a grain of salt as I shot for 2 years with a smith model 22a1. I am not saying this is a bad pistol, but I took my time in fundamentals and shot lots of pistols before I picked my upgrade. With that being said, anatomical grips could be piggy backing on acquiring a better pistol in my situation.

Jon Eulette wrote:Also don't be scared to grind or file on your grips, pretty grips probably lose more matches than they win.

A long-time AMU shooter always said, "pretty grips get you fired."

Jon Eulette wrote: When they stop short of the edges as described it gives you something else for your fingers/hand to dig into. The grips that cover more of the frame make the grips to round and I believe its not helpful. Also standard grip thickness is the best. Keeps the hand closed more naturally. I think grips that open up your hand/grip are detrimental to proper grip.
Jon

Standard thickness like 1911 slab standard thickness?

Yes the standard 1911 thickness. Don't know exact dimension, but there are some grips out there that are pretty fat.
Jon