Thanks a lot for the pics. Now to find some..... ;)
Does any company make any aftermarket grips for the R9?
Arjuna:
I'm not aware of any aftermarket source yet for R9 grips. With the two small screw holes widely spaced on each R9 grip panel, the tolerances are practically nil. It would probably require a CNC machine shop or a custom grip maker with the talent of a Roy Fishpaw to produce the grips. Either way, the grips would probably cost about as much as the pistol. As for metal casting, a friend of mine who is a custom silversmith attempted at least eight times to reproduce the R9 grips for me in sterling silver using the lost wax process. Even using the most modern "no-shrink" casting materials available, there was still just enough shrinkage with each casting to prevent the screw holes from aligning. We finally gave up, and I had him melt down the silver one more time and use it to cast a pair of grips for my G32. These photos were taken at the time the grips were first mounted. They've since been buffed out to eliminate some surface imperfections:
If you're interested in acquiring a pair of CF grips, you might want to post a WTB notice in the Forum's Buy/Sell section. I saw a couple of sets change hands that way recently. G10 has a sizeable following as a grip material, and there may be some owners of early R9s with CF grips who would be willing to sell theirs -- for a price, of course. I think the "going rate" for a set of R9 CF grips these days is around $200+.
