Front Strap Checkering... too rough?

[NorCal Einstein]

I do like the checkering on this gunsite model 1911

That would be serrations on the front strap

I am with you 100%.

I am in the market for a 1911 that does not have front strap checkering, currently looking at a CA Legal Les Baer Concept II. I just wish their was a picture of the Main Spring Serrated Housing.

Taken from 1911Forum from nixorz. This is a Custom Carry with standard serrated MSH.

[Black Majik]

give grip tape a try, you can hide it underneath your grips, for the most part it'll look pretty clean. It'll give you an idea of the added traction provided similar to checkering.

For myself I need some sort of frontstrap traction, without it, especially on a 1911 is too slick.

[mif_slim]

Their there because after shooting the mighty 45, your hands will bleed and cause the gun to flip out of your hands. The checker is to assure you have maximum grip even when the grip is covered in blood.

[Write Winger]

And that's where I was at. Guess I just have to man up.

[redcliff]

I greatly prefer checkerring on the front straps of my 1911's versus just about any other treatment (Like Cyc Wid It I really dislike rubber finger grooves on 1911's).

30 LPI has the nicest look, 20 LPI is the most agressive, 25 LPI is a nice compromise. The 20 LPI on my SA Pro feels great to my hands but I've been gripping and shooting 1911's for 38 years now.

[Paradiddle]

Have Jim Hoag do it. He does somewhere around 25 LPI and then he knocks down the points. It is very comfortable.

Will O'Hara will also knock down the points as well.

[Press Check]

I had my Springield checkered at 20LPI, and it feels awesome. At 30LPI, you're almost better off with a set of grips with an aggressive profile.

[richrmi]

Because I was a 1911 noobie at the time, I went with Jim Hoag's recommended, hand-checkered, 20 LPI on my Springfield Loaded stainless. I'm glad I went along with his expert advice. That was almost 4 years ago and I couldn't be more pleased with the result. Hoag's checkering is worlds better than grip tape and never gets uncomfortable even after a 300 round practice session. It doesn't need to be replaced and IMO improves the look as well. Yes, he knocks the points down and that seems to make all the difference. Jim's hand checkering is so good on my Springfield it looks like art work.

Expect to pay north of $200 or more for hand-filed front strap checkering. Even more if your 1911 is blued and needs refinishing afterwards.

For me, the 30 LPI checkering is too smooth and doesn't afford the same high level of grip. The higher the number the more shallow is the checkering.

Rich

[9mmepiphany]

There are a lot of good alternatives to checkering available on the market. I personally dislike checkering because of how easy it is to damage.

The easy route is skate board tape. It is both effective and cheap to apply...there are many different grits and colors to choose from.

My favorite alternatives are Conamyds, golfball texture, chainlink texture and even simple vertical serrations (I like them in decreasing lengths as they move away from the center of the frontstrap)

[SnWnMe]

You get used to it. 20 lpi has one pro and one con for me for presentation and engaging practice.

If I grip the gun right I have great control throughout the string of fire. If I grip the gun with a less than ideal grip it's hard to adjust my hold due to the effectiveness of the checkering.

[The1stWright]

I've been toying with the idea of adding front strap checkering to my SA Loaded. Should I do front strap serrations or 20 LPI checkering? This 1911 will be my range/HD gun no CCW. Sorry to ask a question in your thread OP just need some friendly gun advice!

[Freq18Hz]

20 LPI is for man's hands FYI....not for computer typers. Act accordingly.

Actually, the 20 LPI on the TRP is for gloved hands.


-Freq

[Press Check]

In my opinion, there's not much aesthetic difference between hand and machine checkering, but it also depends on who is doing the checkering. However, hand checkering should be slightly sharper than machine checkering, and with that said, I would probably reserve hand checkering for anything above 20LPI.

In either case, you want to make sure that whomever does the checkering trues the radius of the front strap. Otherwise, the checkering will obviously be uneven, and probably appear to be wavey.

With hand checkering, some Smith's will start out by machine, and finish by hand. One of the benefits in hand checkering is the ability to checker further up the strap compared to machine.

As always, with hand checkering, you may have small anomolies or slight imperfections. With machine checkering, assuming the machine operator knows what he or she is doing, your checkering is going to be perfectly uniform.

Machine checkering is nothing to balk at, and is quite complicated and time consuming.

[Press Check]

I personally dislike checkering because of how easy it is to damage.

Unless you're wearing rings on your primary hand, you'd be extremely hard-pressed to damage the checkering.

[SnWnMe]

And even if you're wearing rings, most precious metals are softer than steel.