Get a grip: put beauty on the beast.(RANGING SHOTS[TM])

Publication: Guns Magazine

Get a grip: put beauty on the beast.(RANGING SHOTS[TM])

In my world, we have an old saying going something like, "It doesn't matter how good of a shot you are, you can't shoot until you get it out and you can't get it out until you get ahold of it," This of course deals with several things like hand contact with the handgun, availability of the gun to be drawn and, most of all, it stresses getting a good firing grip before the drawing stroke begins,

When we grasp the handgun, often the gripping area helps dictate how well we grasp the handgun on initial contact. In today's plastic, polymer world, this grip is pretty well set in stone or, in this case, plastic. Most of the plastic stuff is serviceable, but there are those who still like the older materials like wood, horn, antler or more exotic stuff like ivory or pearl.

With several considerations like availability of ivory and the dangers of working with real pearl, these are rarely seen, except in the possession of old timers. Sambar stag (which is the best antler material) is now just about as rare as ivory.

So for the non-plastic folks among us, this leaves wood, and for the tactical among you, metal or the more exotic materials.

How and for what application the handgun is being used on a daily basis may guide us to shape, texture and mate rials used for our handgun stocks. On custom, Sunday-go-to-meetin' or safe princesses, ivory and pearl may be a good choice. For competition I have seen everything from sticky tape wrapped around a frame to futuristic thumb-rest stocks. Range use or a handgun for fighting may be the simplest form both in features and materials in the quest for durability.

My personal choice is whatever provides the best firing grip, the smaller the better. I think of it as a baseball bat. Do I want to hold the big end or the little end of the bat to get the most out of it? Historically, the stocks on revolvers are almost always built wrong. The knowledgeable ones like Fuzzy Farrant, Walter Stark and John Hurst built stocks large at the top and tapered down at the bottom as much as was possible with the metal frame taken into consideration (Fuzzy's grips often required a bit be chopped off the frame). Simply look at your hand and close your fingers into a fist. It's big at the top and smaller at the bottom ... case closed.

So with these thoughts in mind and, since over the last two years I have received numerous requests or inquiries about handguns stocks I use and photographed for articles and columns, I listed some of my favorites and why.

Wood

It is said Craig Spegel can be ornery, but this guy can really build wood stocks! He is hands down my favorite custom wood grip guy. Almost everything I have with Smith & Wesson on the side plate has Spegel grips on it. Craig makes several different versions of boot grips, some flush with the bottom of the frame as well as an extended version for those with larger hands. His wood material has names I can't pronounce and I don't even know which country it comes from. Since I am into stocks (and not spelling or geography), it works for me. It is important to remember he is a custom maker not a mass production company so sometimes it takes awhile to get grips ... and it is worth the wait. These are hard-use stocks.

Tedd Adamovich likes building oldstyle grips to include the design Skeeter Skelton favored. From his Colorado business he makes faithful reproductions of Skelton's favorites and is truly a custom maker as he will work to build the type and style of grip the customer wants. He's braver than me.

This is sometimes awkward, as many people do not know exactly what they want. So that said, the better you know what you want, the better Tedd can do at making you the custom stocks you are looking for. His fit and finish is excellent and his materials are top quality. These are hard-use stocks.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Publishers' Development Corporation