Grip Chop coming up - XDTalk Forums - Your HS2000/SA-XD Information Source!

bham shooter · 03-26-2007, 05:31 PM

After reading almost all of the posts on this, and my ever-increasing urge for something more concealable, I placed my order with Pistol Gear for a SC40 mag, a mag spacer, pearce extension, and a couple of arredondo extensions for range use. Once it gets here, I'm going to take a deep breath (or several), tape off my grip, and C A R E F U L L Y start to work on a grip chop.

I'll take several pics along the way. Looking forward to it.

**PackerfanXD** · 03-26-2007, 05:45 PM

Cool, I can't wait to see the pics!

bham shooter · 03-27-2007, 03:46 PM

Won't be long now. Got the "Order Shipped" confirmation from Pistol Gear when I just checked my e-mail. It usually only takes 2-3 days from there, so I'll have me a nice little project for the weekend.

bham shooter · 03-30-2007, 09:00 AM

Well, got the package in yesterday. I'm going to do a little measuring and taping off at lunch, and do the actual cutting/shaping after work today. Got the dremel battery on the charger now, so it should be at full power when I get to it. Gonna do a little more "research" on it by reading every post on here about it. Pics to come tonight.

XD45Auto · 03-30-2007, 09:11 AM

Good luck!

It really isn't that bad, as long as you measure 10 times and cut once.

Ha, I think I measured mine like 20+ times, just to be sure...I have slight OCD like that, lol!

Have fun!

bham shooter · 03-30-2007, 12:22 PM

I got home at lunch and couldn't help myself. I went upstairs to get everything to tape it off, and once I had done that and measured several times, I had to try it then.

Here's some pics:

Before

Taped. As you can see, I had to use painter's tape. It was the only masking tape I had laying around.

My Tools

My mags, left to right: 12 rounder with Arredondo extension and AG Mag Spacer, 12 rounder with arredondo extension, 12 rounder, 9 round SC with Pearce grip extension. I've got a couple of 10 rounders as well, but they mostly stay in the range bag, and didn't want to come out for the group photo. Maybe they're camera-shy.

I measured, drew my lines, put on my goggles and started to slowly cut away. In this picture you can see the test cut I made at the bottom to see how the grip would react to the Dremel. Once I knew that, it was away we go.

And here's one of the other side.

And the lined off back.

I got the easy straight cuts done, and my lunch hour was almost up, so I decided to save those for tonight when I can take more time with it. As of now, I've got about 35 minutes into it. I got the cuts started on the front of the grip and the sides, and then got out the hacksaw so that I could go slowly and make sure my lines were straight and even on both sides. Once I got it down close enough to the back where I am going to stop that cut and start angling the back, I called it quits for now. Another update and the final pics coming some time tonight.

**PackerfanXD** · 03-30-2007, 03:18 PM

Nice job so far! Keep taking pics to document it.

bham shooter · 03-30-2007, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PackerfanXD

Nice job so far! Keep taking pics to document it.

Will do. I'm about to pack up and head home in about 10 minutes, so it won't be long.

D_Fence · 03-30-2007, 03:58 PM

Pretty brave. I don't mean the grip chop so much as doing the cuts on the line. I would have done the cuts with a little margin of error and then used a file and dremel grinding attachment to take it down to spec little by little.

Krackels · 03-30-2007, 05:11 PM

One of these days I'll grip chop my XD, but I'll probably chicken out and pay someone to do it.

At least that way if they screw up I'll get a new gun out of it, and I won't have to shell out of pocket.

03-26-2007, 05:31 PM	#1
bham shooter XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 567	Grip Chop coming up After reading almost all of the posts on this, and my ever-increasing urge for something more concealable, I placed my order with Pistol Gear for a SC40 mag, a mag spacer, pearce extension, and a couple of arredondo extensions for range use. Once it gets here, I'm going to take a deep breath (or several), tape off my grip, and C A R E F U L L Y start to work on a grip chop. I'll take several pics along the way. Looking forward to it.

03-26-2007, 05:45 PM	#2
PackerfanXD XDTalk 5K Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ground zero of the invasion Posts: 7,161 Blog Entries: 1	Cool, I can't wait to see the pics! __________________ The wealthiest nation in the world with the mightiest army man has ever assembled could not stop them. http://www.break.com/usercontent/200...00-358890.html Welcome to the Socialist States of Barakistan An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject. -Author unknown.

03-30-2007, 03:18 PM	#7
PackerfanXD XDTalk 5K Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ground zero of the invasion Posts: 7,161 Blog Entries: 1	Nice job so far! Keep taking pics to document it. __________________ The wealthiest nation in the world with the mightiest army man has ever assembled could not stop them. http://www.break.com/usercontent/200...00-358890.html Welcome to the Socialist States of Barakistan An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject. -Author unknown.

03-30-2007, 05:11 PM	#10
Krackels XDTalk 15K Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Southeastern PA Posts: 19,562 Blog Entries: 5	One of these days I'll grip chop my XD, but I'll probably chicken out and pay someone to do it. At least that way if they screw up I'll get a new gun out of it, and I won't have to shell out of pocket. __________________ "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." --Benjamin Franklin PA Roll Call

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03-27-2007, 03:46 PM	#3
bham shooter XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 567	Won't be long now. Got the "Order Shipped" confirmation from Pistol Gear when I just checked my e-mail. It usually only takes 2-3 days from there, so I'll have me a nice little project for the weekend.

03-30-2007, 09:00 AM	#4
bham shooter XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 567	Well, got the package in yesterday. I'm going to do a little measuring and taping off at lunch, and do the actual cutting/shaping after work today. Got the dremel battery on the charger now, so it should be at full power when I get to it. Gonna do a little more "research" on it by reading every post on here about it. Pics to come tonight.

03-30-2007, 09:11 AM	#5
XD45Auto XDTalk Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 60	Good luck! It really isn't that bad, as long as you measure 10 times and cut once. Ha, I think I measured mine like 20+ times, just to be sure...I have slight OCD like that, lol! Have fun!

03-30-2007, 12:22 PM	#6
bham shooter XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 567	I got home at lunch and couldn't help myself. I went upstairs to get everything to tape it off, and once I had done that and measured several times, I had to try it then. Here's some pics: Before Taped. As you can see, I had to use painter's tape. It was the only masking tape I had laying around. My Tools My mags, left to right: 12 rounder with Arredondo extension and AG Mag Spacer, 12 rounder with arredondo extension, 12 rounder, 9 round SC with Pearce grip extension. I've got a couple of 10 rounders as well, but they mostly stay in the range bag, and didn't want to come out for the group photo. Maybe they're camera-shy. I measured, drew my lines, put on my goggles and started to slowly cut away. In this picture you can see the test cut I made at the bottom to see how the grip would react to the Dremel. Once I knew that, it was away we go. And here's one of the other side. And the lined off back. I got the easy straight cuts done, and my lunch hour was almost up, so I decided to save those for tonight when I can take more time with it. As of now, I've got about 35 minutes into it. I got the cuts started on the front of the grip and the sides, and then got out the hacksaw so that I could go slowly and make sure my lines were straight and even on both sides. Once I got it down close enough to the back where I am going to stop that cut and start angling the back, I called it quits for now. Another update and the final pics coming some time tonight.

03-30-2007, 03:58 PM	#9
D_Fence XDTalk 1K Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 1,303	Pretty brave. I don't mean the grip chop so much as doing the cuts on the line. I would have done the cuts with a little margin of error and then used a file and dremel grinding attachment to take it down to spec little by little.