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TOPIC:
Grips

Q: Of course having a perfectly working gun is important. How important are the grips?

Bob Munden: If you watch me doing exhibition shooting on shows like Shooting USA, I do things with six guns that are really out there – especially with rapid firing. When I take a .45 Colt single action using 250 grain bullets that travel at 785 feet per second, and I’m shooting multiple shots so fast it sounds like a machine gun, how do I do that? The grips are a major factor.

Q: What are the differences between stock grips, other custom grips on the market and Munden Grips? 

Bob Munden: The grip configuration was designed in the 1870s, and people, genetically speaking, were much smaller then. Well we have changed but stock grips really haven’t.

You have two primary problems with stock grips from Ruger, Colt, Uberti, San Marcos or any other company, and that is when you grip the gun, the little finger of your hand drops off the bottom. That’s because the palm of your hand is wider than the grip. Second, and most important, when you fire the gun, especially in rapid fire, you find your hand jumping up the back strap on recoil. Then you have to slide back down and re-grip the gun right in the middle of a string of shots. That’s because the grip design prevents you from maintaining your grip. Look at any grip; look at it from the rear. You’ll notice the grips are narrow at the top, wider in the middle and even wider at the bottom – and they’re beveled upward from the bottom left and right. There is nothing to keep the gun from moving up your hand on recoil. Of course you lose lots of time because you constantly have to re-grip the gun. You don’t really slide up the grip -- it actually rolls in your hand. What people do is grip the gun tighter trying to hold on to it – and of course the tighter you grip the gun, the less you’re going to hit.

We build most of our grips one piece for a nicer look. You can’t build one piece grips for a Ruger though because the trigger guard and back strap are one piece.  In our one-piece grips for Colt single action revolvers or Colt clones, we incorporate a panel on the left and right side of the grip. The panel has to be in the right place, and we actually use the size and shape of your hand to determine where to put the panels and how big they should be. The result is that with these grips, which are flush, beveled or extended depending on your hand size and preference, are shaped sort of like an hour glass so when shooting the gun, the precisely placed panels of the grips keep your hand from sliding up the back strap. The gun doesn’t roll around in your hand as you’re shooting. This absolutely gives you more control and you can get back on target much more quickly.

I designed my grips in the 1950’s. In the 1990’s I schooled my grip maker Mike Wallace in how to make them, and a true artist, Mike has absolutely perfected the design and does fabulous work using simply gorgeous to exotic materials.

Not too long ago, one of the national gun magazines asked me to write an article about grips for single action shooting. I was set to do it and send in pictures, but they said they didn’t want the article to sound like a commercial for Munden Grips. I tried to think of other grip ideas that would work, but in the end I had to tell them I couldn’t do the article because I really couldn’t think of other grips that even come close to what we offer. Checkered grips tear up your hand and other grips don’t allow control because the gun rolls around in your hand on recoil, forcing you to re-grip, or grip the gun too tightly and miss.

Along with my custom gun work, Munden grips are an option, but they are like no other grips made. Our grips do not look like target grips. They are for single actions. People can go to the grip section on our Web site and see photos of these grips made from materials that are just incredibly beautiful – and lots of people request that Mike do spectacular inlays to really personalize them. Our grips for Colts or Colt clones are one-piece grips unless the customer prefers two piece, but the one-piece grips go on easily, are fit to the gun precisely -- and aren’t uglied up by screws right in the middle of them.

The most critical thing is that these are not one-size-fits-all grips like some grips out there that look like copies of my design. Munden grips are made to fit your hand and your gun for the purpose of superior control. My grips are the reason I can shoot Cowboy Action Shooting, Fast Draw and do exhibition shooting with .45 caliber, 250 grain bullets fast and stay on target.

ATTENTION: Due to unexpected circumstances, we are no longer offering custom grips until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience (11/06).

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Do you have questions about Bob Munden's Six-Gun Magic gunsmith work on single actions, Marlin Lever-Action Rifles, Stoeger (or IGA) Double-Barrel Shotguns, Smith & Wesson Double-Action Revolvers, the Bond Derringer and other guns? Call Munden Enterprises at (406) 494-2833 (8am- 8pm MST), or visit our contact page.

ARCHIVE:
Click on any topic below to access previous In His Own Words articles.

• Stock Guns - 05/05

• Grips  - 07/05

• Efficiently Cocking the Single Action & Primer Recommendations for Light Actions - 09/05

• Bob Munden -- The Collector's Edition DVD - 11/05

• Choosing a Barrel Length - 01/06

• Choosing a Caliber - 06/06

• Fast Draw and the World Fast Draw Association (WFDA) - 11/06

• Misfires - 02/07

• Remembering Jeff Cooper - 05/07

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