For a little over a year now I’ve been using the Talon Grips on my Glock 17 carry gun and I swear by them. I previously did a review on the Talon Grips highlighting the many advantages these grips offer. Talon Grips are also in use by a few Army Special Forces units (the exact number of units and which units is not public record). A bit over a year ago when I started using Talon Grips I decided on the less aggressive rubber material since it was for concealed carry. For concealed carry I personally think its important to do something with the stock grip to improve grip retention in a stressful confrontation. These confrontations are when your hands will get clammy and sweat causing you to have a less than ideal grip on the gun when you need it most. Some choose to stipple their grips and other points of contact on the gun, but again that is a permanent change. I wanted something that was not permanent, but better than those slip on grips offered by several companies. The single piece wrap around rubber grips made by Talon Grips were the answer to my requirements. They have stood the test of time and proved to me that they do what they say, are durable, and worth every penny you pay.
When it comes to my concealed carry gun I’m not one to buy a bunch of bells and whistles unless they actually serve a purpose. Over time I like to ‘dial-in’ my gun to make it more accurate and comfortable to carry and use. Recently I contacted Talon Grips pitching my idea of a hybrid grip to them. They liked the idea, but their current manufacturing process would need to change for that to happen. In the mean time they offered to send me one of their standard ‘rubber’ grips and one of their more aggressive ‘granulate’ grips for the Glock 17. They told me to take my idea and run with it on my gun, take a lot of pictures, and document the process, so that’s what I did.
My idea for a concealed carry grip:
I wanted to use the standard ‘rubber’ material on the sides of the grips to keep the comfort level where it needs to be for concealed carry, plus it won’t rub wear marks into your clothing. For the back strap and finger grooves I chose to use the more aggressive ‘granulate’ material. This combination of material wrapped around the grip of the gun really lock the gun into your hand regardless of how sweaty or slippery your hands become. By using the granulate material on the back strap and finger grooves also allow you to better control the recoil of the gun (also important when shooting under stress).
Step 1:
I took stock of what I had and started to formulate the plan in my head.
Step 2:
I dry fitted the grip to determine where I needed to make my cuts. This is a very important step as I wanted the grip to still appear as a single piece wrap around when it was all said and done.
Step 3:
Now it was time to make my cuts and start applying the material. The easiest way I found to apply the two different types of material (so that it looked like a single piece) was to start with the ejection port side of the gun. Once that was on, I moved to apply the 3 pieces of granulate material for the finger grooves. Once those were on, the rubber piece (on the slide release side) could be applied. The final piece to go on was the back strap. Once everything was on I gripped the gun a few times to help mold the material to the handle.
*Before applying the new material make sure you wipe down the handgun grips with the provided alcohol wipes from Talon Grips.
The finished product was an absolute success (from my point of view). The gun felt as if it were actually sticking to my hand when gripping it with my strong hand.
Now I’m able to get an extremely tight grip when needed, but without tearing up my clothing or skin when carrying concealed. For what you’re going to pay to purchase both types of grip material you’re going to get a better grip which translates into a more accurate gun. For a total of $36 with free shipping you can’t go wrong with this upgrade.
