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check out my walnut m57 grips.

8K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  USMCE4retired 
#1 ·
Since I don't have an ak kit to fabricate wood for I descided to start making wood grip panels for the Tokarev pistols.
I only have a surplus m57 right now, so that's what these are made for.



and the inside view

and the rear view

Note that the right side panel is thicker. It fits the hand better that way.



and the inside view

and the rear view

I didn't follow a specific pattern for this set. Just kept whittling until it fit me as omfortably as I thought they could get.

No cut outs for the import safety or lanyard look. I think those features are about as useful as mounting a satelite GPS on a pistol. Just an old grunts' bias.

Thought I'd share what I've been doing to keep out of trouble.
Enjoy.
 
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#5 ·
Thank you all for the kind words.
They were a lot of work. Whenever you start something like this you always have to find your way through the process and work through your mistakes.
Example: I started out making 20 sets, knowing some wouldn't survive. I am now down to these two completed, four probables for the m57 (awaiting more hardware), and the rest are a couple milimeters too short at the top to use for Yugos. I'll have to wait til I can afford a Polish Tok to use that wood. The reason being, the cut out for the the magazine saftey ends up leaving a very thin strip of wood in a small area at the top of the grip.
These f*#k ups are just straigh, flat panels and not nearly as long as the ones in the pics.

Now I need to find a source of broken Tok grips so I can salvage the hardware. And I need to find some really dense hardwood. I am particularly interested in finding a certain kind of wood that seems to be sometimes found in small pieces laying in some garage or attic. It is not a usual thing found in this area and was probaly a popular novelty years ago.
If anyone finds some of this I'd appreciate a heads up. It is a vety dark brown with some yellow streaks. Seems to have its' own natural wax, and is hard as hell.
I took a piece and shot it with a .22 rifle when I was a kid. The bullet barely penetrated the surface it was so hard.

While my daughter is still home from college I will have her take pics of the whole pistol sporting the walnut grips.

Thanks again for the encouraging words.
 
#9 ·
Actually, these are fiberglass resin impregnated. Soaked in it for a while, then wiped with a rag to take away that shiny appearance. Most every butt stock, pistol grip, and handguards I've made I used Birchwood-Casey True Oil. I can't speak highy enough about that product. It has a mixture of Tung Oil and Linseed oil. Does right by me. I gave a complete stock set of cherry wood made for the Yugo m70 to Jim S. at Erie Ordnance Depot to show some appreciation for the care and craftsmanship he put into a Bizon build he did for a friend of mine. I used True Oil on that set. Boned all the pieces with a staimless steel rod, rubbed wax paper into them, boned it again, and the surface was pretty much scratch resistant.

The reason I went with resin with these is because I wanted to make the grips as narrow as possible without cracking. With the stress of percussion in the area of the rivet I figured resin would double the strength of the wood. And to reinforce the thinner edges.
Speaking of the rivet, ...
they are not very difficult to remove at all. Once you dremel off the grip panel just support the hardware underneath on either side and lightly smack it using a flat end puch and hammer.
It does take a little more finess in attaching them back on. I had to take a thin, flat piece of steel and drill a wide counter sunk hole and a through hole wide enough to be able to see in order to use the punches to attach. Clamped down on either side with metal plate (mentioned above)and another plate underneath to support the rivet.
I found out, though, that it is beneficial to drip some candle wax on the inside of the wood to allow the hardware to pivot freely enough. That's just one of the bugs I had to work out of the process. You may notice some white specks on the inside of one set. That is the first set where I had to kind of backtrack and melt wax around the hardware then melt it to get it to flow between the wood and metal. I didn't get all the wax off evidently.
 
#10 ·
Pics
Got to go right now, but will caption later.





.......................

I am back from taking my daughter to college.
Unfortunately,
I cannot see my pics in the post using the Wii. So, I can only comment onmthe last pic.
In the pic I placed some walking cane handles I made decades ago (and I am about old enough to need that cane I might add).
The cane handles are made out of the wood I described in the previous post. Hopefully someone will come across some and let me know. Imagine how thin you could make grips with extremely hard wood. I don't think you would have to worry about cracking, scratches, or dings.
 
#13 ·
Thank you, Mooose.
I am anxious to get started on another batch.

Some time ago I posted a couple requests asking for feedback as to the kind of grips people thought would be marketable. One in General Discussion and one in Eatern Bloc Pistols but didn't get one single response.

Maybe I will get feedback now if I bump the thread to the top.
 
#16 ·
torx,
The price range would be greatly effected by how much work is involved.
Next batch, perhaps I will try to come up with a design that looks good AND is easy (quicker) to produce. One reason I try to do these in batches is because it eliminate repeatedly taking down and setting up tooling. Which means less cost per unit. And from working for a very fast pased plastics manufacturer, every single unecessary moment of the process that can be eliminated equated to more parts at the end of the day.
This was the reason I asked for feedback, in order to see what people want to see, and maybe even take the best of different ideas and come up with something most people would find acceptable.
 
#18 ·
The second set, the rounded ones, were quicker and easier to do.
The first set was a real bitch to get to the final sanding stage.
Those radiuses (radii) were hard to sand out the imperfection and took time.
Maybe a straight, beveled edge would be the way to go instead of those reversed curves. That would still give that repetition in desing appeal around the edges with a lot less work.
The edge of the grips of the first set are more comfortable than you might imagine judging by th pics. In fact, I think it gives you the impression of having more control of the pistol. Akin to how the eight sides of a tennis racket give you more control and consistancy than a round handle. Probably bevause you automatically know where the thing is in your hand without having to guess or readjust your grip.
 
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