Made some grips for my 97B

[hammer_fired]

Toby,

I have a Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro. Has worked well for me, and yes, it is an enjoyable hobby.

I've made quite a few gun parts such these grips and grips for the Star BM and the Browning BDM. I've also made mag bases for the BM, BDM, the Beretta PX4 compact and the S&W CSX.

For max strength on the mag bases, I use Polymaker CoPA nylon, with the bases standing on the back end so the layers are perpendicular to the mag tube rails. I also print the grips standing on end to get the best print. As noted above, the 97B bases are printed using PETG and are for show only. The nylon is fairly expensive at about $50 for 750g, but it is worth it.

I've considered adding palm swells, just not sure about the best way to do it. For now, I like the thin grips with grip tape. I added texture to the BDM grip backstap and the sides:



I used geometry nodes in Blender to get the stars and 47 on the sides. The backstrap isn't very grippy, but it works. I haven't printed this one off to see if the stars add any real grip improvement.

Chuck

[tdogg]

Yeah for functional parts I use Nylon X.  It is bomber and stiff so it works well in demanding applications.  I still don't think I'd use nylon x mag bases in competition.  It's hard on the printer nozzle so you have to have a hardened nozzle.

My first printer was an Ender 3 V2 that I've modified heavily.  I now have a Sovol SV08 that is sporting a 0.6 nozzle (and may get upgraded to a 0.8 nozzle soon) and that does my big prints (fast!).  I struggled with Nylon X using their hardened nozzle so I still use my Ender for nylon x/functional part printing.

It's a super satisfying hobby for sure.  The printers have more than paid for themselves with all the stuff they have either repaired or eliminated the need to purchase.  If you reload you should go check out the cast boolits forum where they have a giant thread on printing your own bullet and brass collators.  I have printed four of them and they work great!  The user interface for the build sheet is really nice, it just spits out what you need to print and the settings you need to use on each part.  It is really well thought out.

Cheers,
Toby