I really like those double diamond checkered coco's. A great price also and should be the ticket for your EMP. I did exchange emails with Brian to catch up and he said that he got away from the grip making in the last few years and mostly still involved in the hardware side of the business, bushings, screws and tools etc. He mentioned his son pretty much took over the grip making but has now currently enrolled in helicopter school but is still making grips on the side now and then if he has the time.

He did mention that he still has that 30lb block of ironwood sitting around in the shop and said that it only yielded a couple of pairs due to the limited figuring throughout. He told me that my grips that came off the ironwood was his 111th pair he made to date back then.

I wished that things could have worked out for you with Brian, he made some stunning examples of grips over the years.

In any case I'll be checking in to get your opinion of the Hogues. I even see that today on their site they show those grips as being "Out of Stock" so looks like you got them in on time

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
I really like those double diamond checkered coco's. A great price also and should be the ticket for your EMP.

I suspect they'll be just >< enough thicker to make my hands happy

I can work with the stock grips, but I have large hands and they're just a bit thinner than that for which I care. OTOH: It is going to be my new concealed EDC, so I want to minimize printing.

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
I did exchange emails with Brian to catch up and he said that he got away from the grip making in the last few years ...

That would explain why he's no longer taking orders.

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
I wished that things could have worked out for you with Brian, he made some stunning examples of grips over the years.

Assuming the Hogue grip panels work for me, it's probably just as well. Custom grips would likely have cost me two-to-four times as much as the Hogue panels.

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
I even see that today on their site they show those grips as being "Out of Stock" so looks like you got them in on time

Yeah, I must have snagged the last pair in stock, because they showed-up "out of stock" just after my order was placed.

Props to Hogue: They were on the way the day of the order and I should receive them Monday.

Got the Hogue grip panels in two weeks ago, Tuesday. In the meantime, Ken from Hogue had reached out to me to inform me they probably wouldn't work.

He had been right.

But in a truly exceptional display of customer service, Ken told me "We'll do what we have to, within reason, to make them work." I won't bore you with the details, but they did.

Results:



(That scallop in front of the mag release is non-standard. I'd asked Ken if they could do that for me while they were at it, and they did! Made a massive difference in mag release.)



Results: Perfect!

Between these thicker and somewhat wider Hogue grips, and a local 1911 smith lightening the trigger to 4 lbs., I can tell already, from laser dry-fire practice, it will be a lot easier to hit that at which I'm aiming with this pistol.

Kudos to Hogue and Ken from Hogue. They really went above and beyond for me.

Have you looked at Esmerelda? She makes some excellent stuff https://esmeralda.cc/collections/all

I was just about to post and ask for an update but figured that you were just busy and would get to it eventually. Excellent work and that says a lot about Ken for going the extra mile to satisfy all your concerns. In my book, that rates far up on the scale and certainly gets any future business.

In the earlier post it was mentioned in the description of being a double diamond cutout. I'm a fan of those myself. In the past I had purchased a double diamond cocobolo pair for my KC off of the Esmeralda site. It was one of the few pairs cut in that design that had the "bob-cut" for the tail. If I had only one tiny request, I would have liked them just a tad thicker as I like a little more beef in the feel of the grips. Nonetheless, I really liked the double diamond checkered look and feel.

Glad that all worked out for you and you received above and beyond type of service from Ken at Hogue. They look great and best of all they'll serve you well for years to come!

A snap of the double diamond Esmeraldas being a fan of that particular style.

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
I was just about to post and ask for an update but figured that you were just busy and would get to it eventually. Excellent work and that says a lot about Ken for going the extra mile to satisfy all your concerns. In my book, that rates far up on the scale and certainly gets any future business.

In the earlier post it was mentioned in the description of being a double diamond cutout. I'm a fan of those myself. In the past I had purchased a double diamond cocobolo pair for my KC off of the Esmeralda site. It was one of the few pairs cut in that design that had the "bob-cut" for the tail. If I had only one tiny request, I would have liked them just a tad thicker as I like a little more beef in the feel of the grips. Nonetheless, I really liked the double diamond checkered look and feel.

Glad that all worked out for you and you received above and beyond type of service from Ken at Hogue. They look great and best of all they'll serve you well for years to come!

A snap of the double diamond Esmeraldas being a fan of that particular style.

Very nice..

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
In the earlier post it was mentioned in the description of being a double diamond cutout. I'm a fan of those myself.

I like them, too. Obviously

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
A snap of the double diamond Esmeraldas being a fan of that particular style.

Very nice!