Slabs or orthopedics?

What grips do you prefer? I know brian zins talks about slabs for his style of grip and how it's not viable with orthopedics. I'm not sure what I like yet as I wait for my les baer to come in

I think if you're going to pursue Distinguished Pistol, service pistol, Hardball etc. you're better off shooting slab sides to stay used to it and learn it. If not then shoot what you shoot best. Try both and stick with what you trust. I love the ortho stuff but started shooting slabs, learned it, still learning it, and like it. I feel it allows me to pick up most any 1911 and shoot it half way decent cold.

Plus slabs are cheaper. I should be getting my first pair of Kensight Sharksin grips this week. I see many use those for slab sides. For the price I had to try em.

Orthos are a huge mistake in my opinion unless; perfectly fit to your hand or you have a disability requiring additional help. Why? They normally do not fit properly and contribute to uneven gripping pressure. I believe in KISS approach to shooting and orthos are on the other side of the scale. If you notice, almost all of your better shooters are using slabs on their euro 22's; i.e, 208
Jon

Ortho for me as they look so much better.  Nothing like a fine piece of wood with beautiful grain and all those curves to enhance the looks of a gun.  I even have a AR 15 with wood furniture.  Now here is the problem.  Looks don't help put those bullets in the X Ring and most ortho grips are made for the average hand.  I can't get my trigger finger to reach far enough to get the trigger in that first crease as Brian says to do so shoot with the fatty part.  I have to do that with my trigger shoe anyway but it also really looks good on the gun.   Don

For the .22 part I shoot Morini with orthopedic grips, but I have yet to find a set of orthopedics for 1911 that feel comfortable enough. The closest one was Herret adjustable, but it still didn't feel right.

I prefer slabs,because more grip coverage,more domination. in my high standard i use slabs without thumb rest,same in my 52-2. my 1911 have sharskin grips,slabs and agressive for better grip.

Jon Eulette wrote:Orthos are a huge mistake in my opinion unless; perfectly fit to your hand or you have a disability requiring additional help. Why? They normally do not fit properly and contribute to uneven gripping pressure. I believe in KISS approach to shooting and orthos are on the other side of the scale. If you notice, almost all of your better shooters are using slabs on their euro 22's; i.e, 208
Jon

Jon is right on.  Having bought 10-12 Rink, Nil, Morini, and Horton grips through the years, I find it very rare for the ergo grip to fit well.  I'm a slow learner...

My K & N grips from Randall Fung come the closest. >>>>>

1911 slabs. Whatever came on them.
S&W M41 Herrett Target w skip checkering
S&W M52-2 Herrett Target w skip checkering
High Standard M107 factory grips w thumb rest
Hämmerli 280 the ortho grips that came on it.
S&W revolvers all get Herrett Shooting Star w skip checkering.

I am looking to try the Sharkskin on my EIC gun but haven't yet. I did however put a wider thumb safety on it. I shoot with my thumb on the safety and the extra width helps with recoil.

I only use slabs on guns you have to use slabs on. Most slabs are too short and I end up with my pinky dangling. I never put any pressure on it but I like to have a place to rest it. I add magazine bumpers if possible and legal. I even add them to pistols you have never seen with bumpers before.

Jack H wrote:
Jon is right on.  Having bought 10-12 Rink, Nil, Morini, and Horton grips through the years, I find it very rare for the ergo grip to fit well.  I'm a slow learner...

My K & N grips from Randall Fung come the closest. >>>>>

I was going to ask what you had on that 25-2....

I asked 18 masters and high masters why the best shooters seem to like ortho on .22 but slabs on .45 and which they recommended.

The results were: 15 for slabs, 0 for ortho and 3 "shooters choice" (assuming the orthos were fit perfectly to the shooter).

My favorite explanation was:

"On an ortho grip the pressure your hand exerts on the gun is spread out across the whole grip. This is good for a light recoiling gun but bad for a 1911 because it gives you a false sense of how hard you are gripping. To recover from recoil you need a good grip and with slabs the pressure is only on the front and backstrap instead of the whole grip"

.22 Marvel conversion = Vintage Herrett ortho
M52-1 = Vintage Jay Scott ortho
Clark Sr. .45 = Tiger tooth stimpling and VZ Simonich Gunner G10 slabs.
After a string of fire with the .45 there are teeth marks on my fingers and golf ball impressions in my hand, it does not slip around using a good load of 4.8gr BE under a 185gr jacketed.

YMMV

Clarence

PS;
To Len.
Never new they made a 1:10 scale M52 

So should I use ortho for a marvel or should I use the same set of grips for both guns?

I used to use ortho with palm rests.  But mid season last year I realized I was using it as a crutch and because of the thickness of the grips, I could not get a good feel for how tight I was holding the gun.  So off came the palm rests and later on off came the ortho grips.  I tried pure slabs for a while but the gun felt too loose in the hand.  So what I am now using is a hybrid.  The right panel is a Herrett D-45 and the left panel is a Herrett National Target Gun Stock with the bottom cut off to be even with the frame of the gun.  It still didn't feel quite right so I changed to an arched mainspring housing.  I have been shooting with this configuration (for .22 with a Nelson conversion, CF and .45) for over half a year now and it just feels right and I have a good sense of how hard I am holding the gun.  I shot a personal best with these grips last match.  I am going to Brian's clinic later this month so I will probably hear what an idiot I am but that is no different from what I hear at home.

I have a set of Vitarbo orthos, I'm just debating selling them and using slab grips rather than buying a new set of vitarbos and not have them be the exact same

I like the Rocco grips. They are orthopedic to some level, but there is no thumb rest, in fact they are symmetrical. I like them as I have large hands and the palm swell gives me a consistent comfortable grip. They have a flared bottom but not a heel plate.