Standing alone?

[Fordzilla]

Am I the only one who loves the stock checkered walnut grips?
     I find the look very classic and handsome, and I love sharp checkering to improve my grip.  If money was no obect, I'd also love for the front and backstraps to be checkered.

[bammann45]

I just picked mine up.  They are ok, but feel a little dried out and old... I guess they need conditioning/waxing... Also the left panel has 2 imperfections in the checkering, probably due to odd grain in the wood.  I guess I prefer a smooth grip with a slight palm swell versus checking hence I am ordering a set from omega asap.

[Alex45ACP]

I like them.

Didn't like the way they looked in pictures but they look better in person.

[Otto N Sure]

I have to agree.  The checkered grips on my shiny blue 97 look awesome and they feel perfect in my hand.

Otto N. Sure

[BRASMAN]

I like my factory grips too. The only ones that look better to me are the Omega Desert Iron Wood grips but I like the factory and the checkering on them. I like the Houge rubber wrap around on most guns but do not on the 97B.

[bammann45]

Interesting, I guess I prefer smooth grips with palm swells rather than flat checkered -- I have smooth grips on most of my pistols... my favorite set of grips though are the custom made bullseye grips from randall fung -- if you do any NRA pistol comp shooting, his grips have to be looked at.....

[BRASMAN]

bammann45,

You know it is interesting you mentioned that because on my way to work yesterday I was thinking about this post and what pistols I liked the factory grips on and how they looked. While I do like my 97B factory grips with checks. My 40B on the other hand begged for after market grips in both the looks and comfort department to me and yes with that fat of a grip I prefer the smooth grips. I looked at a SA TRP 1911 the other week and when I picked it up I thought blood would be ooozing out of my hand when I let go because the front strap checkering was so sharp and pronounced. I could not imagine shooting that gun with hot loads and a lot of muzzle flip. On what I would consider a fat grip I would prefer smooth grips or Houge Rubber. Wood of course always looks best in most cases.

[Fordzilla]

To each his own, of course, but I love the sharp, sharp checkering you described, and even have my gunsmith "point up" the checkering on a new gun to make it sharper.  I like to have a solid grip on a piece, and sharp checkering helps even when your hands are sweaty or wet.

[bammann45]

Interesting discussion.  Probably part of my like of
smooth more ergo grips is that I have large hands and don't like to have low spots i.e. dead space between the center of my palm and the stocks. I find that the more surface area is in touch with the stocks, the lower the perceived recoil.  In terms of aesthetics,  I think the factory grips do look good because the pistol itself, with the retro style hammer and overall lines is sorta reminiscent of say a classic hi power -- the millitary looking checkered wood looks good on it.  That is a good point about checkering and grip when sweaty... I have smooth buffaloe horn grips on my bisley, love the feel/look, but have to wipe my hands ever so often because they tend to get slick.

As a side note, I shot my new 97B today and was very pleased with the accuracy -- great muzzle control with the low bore axis plus weight made quick doubles very dead on.... I also shot it better doing week hand drills than any pistol I've ever shot. The overall "pointability" of it is
pretty amazing, the only other gun I point instinctively that naturally to a solid center aim at 21 feet is my ruger sp101 and  I think the CZ has it beat hands down.

One handed, 75 feet old school bulleye pistol I was all in the 7 ring and above on a standard slow fire target, not bad with winchester ball ammo and a new trigger.  Its a keeper.  I almost feel like its some kinda super secret great deal... ridiculously nice for the price -- I would pay 750.00-800.00 for one... no one tell CZ...

Now I am thinking about maybe a CZ 75 in SA... which says a lot as it would be my first 9mm and breaking a personal rule of mine.

[Fordzilla]

By the way, I have paws that are big enough I have never found a pistol that seemed too big.

    Have you tried HPs in yours yet?  How was the reliability?

[bammann45]

shot all 230 ball this time around... will try some hp next time and let you know -- I've seen a lot of posts concerning the polish/angle of the feedramp.

[BRASMAN]

Next time I take mine out I am trying a 16lb recoil spring and XTPs. I have already polished my feed ramp and do not want to mess with changing the angle until I have exhausted every thing else.

[Fordzilla]

So which HPs will yours feed reliably up to this point, Brasman?