CZ 97B Grip Tip

[LetsFetz]

... brought home my new 97B ... not exactly a fan of wooden grips, I thought I play around with'em a bit ... I mainly wanted to get rid of the shiny varnish on the checkered surface and started wire brushing them ... the matte natural look of the grips started to appear and I found it to be quite an appealing one ... also, having rather medium-small hands, I thought 'what the heck', let's slim'em a bit ... I ended up removing the checkering completely and thus reducing the thickness of the grips by about 1.5 to 2mm each side ... to retain as much of the natural look as possible, I decided not to varnish them ... I also reckoned, that the varnish will make it rather slippery and cause the hands to sweat sooner and more ... so, I decided to treat the wood with some oil and wax protective coating instead (normally used to protect and nourish exterior wood) ...

(RE: image quality - this is scanned as I don't have a digi-cam - it looks much better in natura)

... I'm really chuffed with the results ... IMHO both, looks and feel have improved a lot ... it's amazing, what 4mm in grip circumference can do ... I'm actually considering cancelling the ordered Hogues ...

... for people with rather medium or small hands, I'd recommend the above procedure, in order to get a better grip of that big fellow ...

... cheers and beers ...
LetsFetz

... editing and editing, cause I seem to have one of those "No-English-Days"

 

[DMK]

I like it too. Very cool!

I might just try that with the walnut grips on my '75B.

 

[SteveC]

Looks great!

The CZ-97 was not that bad grip-wise for me (and I have med-small hands), but the trigger reach for DA was just unusable.

But if you're going to buy aftermarket grips, may as well give Hakan your business!

Steve

 

[Zundfolge]

those look real nice.

So what happens if you get some Hopps on them though? ... will you need to remove them to clean the gun?

 

[Hard Ball]

The CZ97B is one of the finest pistols available today.. Smooth grips or checkered makes no difference. It is still a superb pistol!

 

[Cee-Zed]

Wow Letsfetz!

Really nice. I see you also have the polymer finish. I was OK with the OEM grips, but I always thought that they look a bit odd with the poly finish (just gorgeous with the glossy blue, however). The Hogue grips takes a LOT of patience and a hairdryer to fit the 97B (designed for 75/85 series).

I shoot mine enough that the checkering is actually beginning to wear down in one spot, so I will definitely try this myself.

 

[hansolo]

CZ mania

Funny how beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Owning a CZ 75B w/black polycoat finish(my choice over other finishes - glossy, nickel)I hadn't seen the 97B in other than catalog "glossy blue"
...seeing the 97B in the same finish as my 9mm(especially with great de-checkering job on wood)it looks like a beefed-up 75B!

Very, very nice!

P.S. I added the Hogue rubber wraparounds -- took about an hour with an electric drill and hand file to get screw-holes to line up: worth the effort, though I don't look forward to taking the grip off too often for cleaning.

 

[LetsFetz]

... thanks guys ...

Zundfolge: ... I'm not sure about cleaning agents, but I guess they might cause stains, while water and other fluids should be repelled by the oil/wax combination ....

... could somebody please explain how exactly they fitted the Hogues on their 97B? ... I don't want to drill new holes, but I can see, that with some pulling and warming up, they might just fit ... do you only stretch the part where the finger grooves are? ... and will the grip panel part completely cover the cut out of the handle (where the magazine sits), which I believe is a bit bigger than the 75's? ... plus, will the Hogues add a lot of "grip" ??? ...

TIA

 

[4V50 Gary]

Nice...

Stain and pure beeswax. No additives that harm the wood or affect its water repellant quality. Buffs out really nice too. Learned this from the blackpowder gunbuilders.

 

[Blackhawk]

LetsFetz,

"Chuffed" is a new one on me, but its meaning is obvious.

I'll get to see your work sooner or later with Win2kSP3, but maybe I'll have to crank up my laptop now because I'm curioius.

 

[LetsFetz]

Blackhawk: ... still beats me ... ... sent you an e-mail ...

... "chuffed" I guess is one of many "Angloafricanuisms" you pick up here ... no wonder, I'm not getting anywhere with my English ...

 

[Blackhawk]

Got your email -- nice looking job on those grips!

Since Win2kSP3 has been out for a week now, I expect that problems with it will be showing up on the user groups any time. Of course, I don't know many people who'd gripe about not being able to see pictures on servers in South Africa or not being able to send emails to you!