There are a lot of accessories that we can add to our various firearms, including changing around your handgun. For instance, you can change out your sights and add night sights, fiber-optic sights, or just a different type of sight, such as the Ashley Big Dot. You can also add lasers to your handguns, whether it’s a laser built into the grip of the gun, or built into the guide rod, or a laser that’s mounted to a rail system. And you can change to an extended magazine release, making it easier to reload more quickly.
Though all of these changes to a handgun are worthwhile, in the opinion of Gun Tests shooters, there’s something far more important that not enough gun owners pay attention to — the actual grips of their carry guns. Perhaps it’s because gun grips aren’t as sexy as lasers or fiber-optic sights, but the fact is, if you can’t control your gun because you can’t get a good grip on it, then not much else matters.
Most shooters train on beautiful sunny days when our hands are dry and clean — not necessarily the environment you find yourself in if you ever have to use a gun to defend yourself. We’ve trained in the rain, snow, and mud and found that when our hands got slick, it became difficult to accurately shoot our firearms because our hands were sliding all over the place. Or, if you’ve got slick grips on your current gun, you may end up dropping the very gun that you carry to save your life.
To give you another take of why grips are so important, consider this. Suppose you purchase a 1911 that comes with plastic grips that are supposed to look like wood. These grips are extremely slick, and they are nothing we would want to use for concealed carry. So we removed the stock grips and ordered a set of Gator Back grips from VZ. These grips have aggressive texturing and allow us to maintain a grip on the firearm even if our hands are wet and slippery. VZ happens to make several types of grips, and those Gator Grips just happen to be ones we like.
If you own a gun such as a Glock or Smith & Wesson M&P, you don’t even have to go out and purchase new grips. Instead, buy some skateboard grip tape or use GT-5000 Grip Tape. We’ve used grip tape on our guns, and it has worked well. We’ve never had a problem maintaining control of our sidearms, even in adverse weather conditions.
If you carry concealed, we advise you take a look at your gun grips today. If you’ve got factory grips that are slick, then definitely consider adding grip tape or purchasing a textured set of grips from a company like VZ, Talon Grips, Hogue, or any other handgun grip maker.
