making your own grips

Has anyone gave this a shot? Iv got a bersa .380 I wanted to try making my own wood grips for it. Just wanted to see some feedback if anyone's tried doing this.

my wife owns this gun, looking at the stock wood grips she has it looks real simple.

could you post a picture of them? both outside and inside. could help me with trying to make some. im pretty crafty at wood working so I dont see much of a chalange but I dont have a pattern to go off of

I made a set of Koa wood stocks for my STI 1911, and they turned out better than factory. The only tools I used were a band saw, table mounted belt sander, and a drill. (I'll post a picture, but it will have to be far in the future as it is in storage.)

I simply 1) Cut a flat blank with a bandsaw using a guide to the exact thickness of the factory grips. 2) Used the factory grips as a template to transfer the outline and hole pattern. 3) Cut the outline on a bandsaw freehand. 4) Drilled the primary screw holes through. 5) Used a fixed belt sander to round and taper the grips to my preference. 6) Countersunk the screw holes for the screw heads. 7) Fine sanded them with 400 grit. (wood clots 400 grit really quickly, so I went through a lot of it.) 8) Added about five coats of polyeurathane (sanding with the 400 grit between coats).

They turned out extraordinary. So much so, that whenever I carry my STI, I'm not hassled by cops or MWAG freaks, I usually get the two most frustrating questions that a person could possibly ask me (following "Are you a cop?"): "Where did you buy those grips?" and when I tell them I MADE them, I get the inevitable "What kind of stain did you use?" ....which would be none, but since Koa is fairly uncommon, I don't really expect people to recognize something so beautiful can be achieved by simply putting a clear coat over something God stained himself.

Best of luck with your project. I sincerely hope you achieve the success you desire.

newbie said:

could you post a picture of them? both outside and inside. could help me with trying to make some. im pretty crafty at wood working so I dont see much of a chalange but I dont have a pattern to go off of

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what do you have now the rubber wrap around type? and yea I will get you a picture of them once I get my wife to find them, there pink(her old gun)!

iv googled a few times iv seen alot of people make 1911 grips it seems it looks alot easier then the bersa, only because theres groves in the back of the bersa grips witch will give me a headake when I get there im sure.



also I have just the stock plastic grips on it now. witch are good, but I know I can make something better. also ill be able to take more pride in it if I make it.