Many elements make up pistols, but for visual attraction, hand-carved grips top the list. Lots of people who own 1911 pistols says that nothing complements them more than a hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind grip.
If you want to personalize your 1911, turn to High Figure Grips, which is run by a life-long woodworker who’s been making gun grips by hand for many years. High Figure Grips usually uses woods called birds eye maple, cocobolo, tiger stripe maple, mahogany, walnut and a variety of hardwood burls, and the selection of woods and exotic materials continues to grow.
Because there are many makes and models, it can be hard for people new to the 1911 pistol to sort out the available types, here’s an abbreviated list of the categories.
1911 Government model (full-size standard): They include Colt's series 80, 70, Combat Elite, Delta Elite, Competition, Gold Cup; and Kimber's Custom, Gold Match, Raptor, Stainless II, Two-Tone II, Warrior, Eclipse and TLE RL.
Commander model (full-size standard): Because Commanders share the same frame size as the Government model pistols, they use the same full-size standard grips. Some examples are Kimber PRO, Colt Commander, Springfield Champion, Wilson CQB Commander and Sig Sauer.
Bobtail (angled cut on rear of grip): The 1911 Bobtail first appeared with the Ed Brown series of 1911s, with an angled, straight-line cut to the rear of the frame to aid in concealed carry. The Bobtails is typically a 4- to 4.25-inch Commander-style barrel length, as they are intended for daily carry. Several makers offer a Bobtail 1911-style.
Round Butt or Fast Back (rounded butt on rear of grip): The 1911 Round Butt is a variant of the Bobtail in that the rear edge is rounded off instead of angled. Intended for concealed carry, this model is also typically found with Commander-length slides. But Sig does offer models with full-length slides. This style of fit can be found on Sig's Nightmare series of 1911s and well as Kimber's Super Carry.
Officer model (compact): Officer models are the compact series and come with a typical three-inch barrel length and a shorter magazine that typically holds one fewer round.
High Figure Grips also handcrafts knife handles for the Spyderco Delica and Kershaw Skyline. Be sure to see its Facebook page and You Tube channel. Feel free to contact the company at 612-860-7337 or support@highfiguregrips.com.