It seems time for an update. Time to answer some questions, provide business and product updates, and the like.
What’s the material? Do you make rubber grips?
A lot of people ask what our grips are made of, how hard or soft they are, and how they’re made. At this time, all our grips are made from nylon—polyamide-12, specifically. The nylon starts life as a powder, and we use a combination of heat and lasers to turn the individual powder particles into a solid object, like a grip. The result is a hard object with a peculiar but optimal texture and weight. It’s not as hard as G10, and I would say it feels like very hard hardwood. It doesn’t shrink or swell with humidity like wood, and it doesn’t have a grain structure like wood.
It is not soft or rubbery like a rubber grip, and at this time, we don’t have plans in the near future to make rubber grips. In some ways, I wish we did—it’s almost a grip cheat code. With rubber, the tolerances don’t need to be as exacting because the screw can close gaps as the rubber flexes into place. Rubber is also softer to shoot, as it absorbs a lot of recoil. Many people want to compare rubber grips like the Hogue Tamer to our Hamre Forge LCR Hook in terms of felt recoil. Nine times out of ten, the Hogue Tamer is going to do a substantially better job mitigating felt recoil than the LCR stocks. But we’re not making the ultimate recoil-reducing stock; we’re trying to make normal, everyday carry stocks for regular people. The recoil may be felt a bit more, but we feel the trade-offs are worthwhile. The grippiness of our grip textures, combined with the contours and how they’re less sticky to clothes, makes our grips quite optimal for everyday carry.
This might not be for everyone, but we hope to offer a product that many people can enjoy and carry daily.
Maybe one day we can incorporate rubber or even explore injection molding, but at this time, it’s not in the cards.
Kimber
We have completely redesigned the Kimber stocks. There are a few outstanding Kimber orders, and we think we’re ready to reveal the new profile. We’ve fully enclosed the Kimber backstrap. Because of the Kimber’s design around the horns on the backstrap, it’s pretty difficult to contour that area in a way that makes the revolver comfortable to shoot. Our new design takes this out of the equation by giving us more space to work with to ease those edges. The new Kimber grips share some elements with the AFR UC’s, but there are many changes to the backstrap from the AFR’s, given the shape of the Kimber. We’re hoping to ship these soon and expect to have them in stock shortly thereafter.
Speaking of getting products in stock…
“All your products are out of stock. When is X going to be available?”
We’ve been running around the clock to fulfill OEM demand. We’ve managed to get some things in stock, like the NAA grips and LCR grips (although the hooks went out of stock last night). This upcoming weekend, we’ll be offering some Spegel J’s for sale.
We don’t have a timeline for when other products will become available, but we can say that things will trickle in. The best way to find out when items are back in stock is to sign up for in-stock notifications. We don’t farm emails, send coupons, or subscribe you to things you didn’t sign up for. It’s a simple system that just lets you know when the product you’re interested in is available. We don’t really have the time or ability to keep a list of who might want what grip and individually notify them when it’s available. So please, if you’re interested in a particular grip, sign up for the in-stock notifications.
Spegel J’s for sale?
Yes, we’re releasing a special Spegel J. This is special for a few reasons. First, this Spegel stock is the first one we’ll be releasing that was made with the aid of a 3D scanner. We purchased a device that can scan an object in 3D space and give us a digital 3D profile, which we’re able to use to craft our grips with such exactness that they mimic the scanned object. These Spegel grips will be as close as we can get them without making a mold using one of Craig’s actual grip panels.
The other special thing about the stocks we’re releasing is that both panels are symmetrical. The left panel with the speed reload cut is mirrored on the right side. Both panels—left and right—will have a speed reload cut. These are very low-profile stocks and likely the most ideal pocket configuration available.
We’re very excited to release these, and we’re planning to put a few hundred of them on the site this weekend—maybe Snubby Sunday.
Conclusion
With everything going on, we’re continually reminded that we wouldn’t be able to do this without everyone’s support. Whether it’s companies like Lipsey’s, NAA, American Fighting Revolver, or Craig Spegel, or the countless other supporters who have continued to buy our products or share wisdom with us—we couldn’t have done it without you.
We hear you, and we try to respond in the most effective way possible. We don’t take your input lightly. We read every email. We read every suggestion.
Whether the suggestions are about a hard edge, 3-finger Ruger LCR stocks, Colt grips, Ruger GP100/SP101 stocks, or more—it’s all good. Please keep sending your suggestions and requests. It gets us thinking, and sometimes that thinking leads to good things that allow everyone to benefit.
As we wrap up some of this OEM work and add machine capacity to our operation, a lot more things should be getting released—just in time for some fun summertime shooting.
Be well, and God bless.
Regards,
Ryan Hamre