Casting aluminium grips

[mr Hotgun]

After looking at wooden , rubber, and "fake" ivory grips
I was thinking are there Aluminium grips for a Revolver ?

I didn,t find any ,so i thought can i make my own Alu grips for my 686 ?

The aluminium is from old fire hoses connection joints


first starting to make any dummy grips
with the S&W logo and my initials ,and the screw from a 357 m case



When satisfid ,then formed the model in sand ,with the dummy grips still in the sand



Both sides formed in sand




Here the oven and the mold with extra weight
ready to pour the liquid aluminium in the mold



After cooling down i seperated the mold and this is the vieuw





Here 1 the mounted grips
2 the dummy grips
3 the aluminium grips




Next step clean them and trying to fit them ,and do some sanding finetuning etc and post some pic,s from the rest off the process

[mr Hotgun]

then
Ive tried to fit the grips on the gun
They didn,t fit properly

So i removed some material with a milling machine



Here the gun with the right grip ,doing some measurements


And another pic from the other side


After some milling the grips fit around the gun

Now removing the sharp edges ,and removing some material by the cilinder release to get a better fit



Next post the finnisd results

[mr Hotgun]

So finaly i had some time to go further with my grips
After some milling the grips fit to the gun
So i painted the S&W logo and after drying i take a waterproof sandpaper to sand the paint off the lettering




I cutt down some 357 brass ,drilled the pocket primer a little larger so it fitted a 3 mm bolt and screw

Yess i live in the Netherlands so metric and no fumbling arround with inches and feet




Here the grip is mounted on the gun



And grrrr xxx!!
With an open cylinder the cases didn,t come out of the cylinder
The left grip was to thick

Taking a file and remove carefully some aluminium than the sandpaper ,wet sandpaper and some aluminium polish



And the result







Only on the top by the hammer ,is a little cast error

I think my project a a succes
Now waiting when the goverment ease the restrictions due to corona here and allowed the shooting ranges to open

And final a pic from the actual aluminium casting
Aluminium melts at 660 gr celcius
Lead melts at 328 gr celcius

[MrWolf]

Pretty interesting and resourceful. Keep us posted on how they handle when shooting please. Welcome aboard!
Ron

[smithnframe]

WOW...........they're ugly and unique!

[William Yanda]

Thanks for sharing. A project you deserve to take pride in.

[jmorris]

Looks like a fun project.

What am I looking at in the cylinder, in 5th photo on post #3?

[mr Hotgun]

Looks like a fun project.

What am I looking at in the cylinder, in 5th photo on post #3?

That are snapcaps dummy rounds ,with a little spring under the dummy primer so you can dry fire your gun

[jmorris]

Makes sense.

Interested in the sand mold, I need to make up some grip inserts for a pistol machine rest I built and that looks like a pretty good method. Would be molding polypropylene instead of aluminum, do you have any “goto” links on the subject to learn more?

[Winger Ed.]

That is way cool!

Thanks for sharing.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Thank you for your posts and photos. A very interesting project.

[Bull-Moose]

Very nice.

[bangerjim]

Depending on that Al alloy, you will probably want to put a good clear coat on them! Al tends to react with skin acids and can leave your hands VERY black and messy. Time after time. Been there.........done that.

Al Bronze would be a good choice! Hard, non-tarnishing (most time) and easy to sand cast. (again been there....done that).

Nice job. Hope they work out for your needs.


banger

[CastingFool]

I was wondering how he's going to keep the aluminum from tarnishing. Bare aluminum will tarnish without anodizing.

[GregLaROCHE]

Nice job! Obviously you are an accomplished metal caster and have all the equipment to do it. For me with my expertise, I would try to cast some in epoxy resin adding some tinting to it to make it look like wood or something besides clear. Again great job.

[mr Hotgun]

Makes sense.

Interested in the sand mold, I need to make up some grip inserts for a pistol machine rest I built and that looks like a pretty good method. Would be molding polypropylene instead of aluminum, do you have any “goto” links on the subject to learn more?

Here is a instruction video ,we use the same method ,only we added a filler sand tube for the casting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CIc...stingtheFuture

[mr Hotgun]

The aluminium grips have almost none tarnashing at all
I have polished the alu grips ,and some times a cloth with belgom alu cleaning do,s the trick

The gun with the grips shoot good a nice balance ,only when you shoot 357 magnum loads .you feel it good in your hand
There is none shock absorbsion like with rubber gripps

[jmorris]

Thank you for the link.