any ruger
Blackhawk
I have a set of redwood burl grips made by a member here. Danm memory fails every so often but they are beautiful. Had them mabe 10 or 15 y.
Ruger grips
- Thread starter 1245delta
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contender
Ruger Guru
Kudos on getting the spacers. But only remove a VERY small amount. Only about .005. So a spacer should be .5000, and you reduce it to .4995.
Star43
Blackhawk
Thanks, but the Kudos go to you for showing me and a lot of others on knowing this little truck. I went into an Ace in another city as my local one just closed their doors. I tried to look for an older guy and showed him my grips and the screw saying I wanted a little spacer to save the wood from splitting out....He looked at me and then the grips and screw, and I said " Wait, look at this photo". He looked and said...." Ohhh".....He went right to the last aisle where all the little red boxes were and he went right to the 30 cent little white spacers !!!! Seriously, you have to archive those photos as they are invaluable for any guy in the future to have an easy way of getting them. The photos did it all...Thanks again !!
contender
Ruger Guru
No thanks necessary. It's what we've done on this Forum for MANY years. Helping others with their Rugers. I'm just one of many good folks who've helped inform, educate, or otherwise share good info here.
Star43
Blackhawk
You couldn't have said it any better....
Star43
Blackhawk
You know, I was thinking a little bit about this and was just wondering why Ruger never installed this little spacer in the first place. It wouldn't really cost them much at all as they would buy these things in bulk & they don't even cost much individually at a retail store. All, if not most of this grip breakage problem wouldn't even happen with the spacer already there from the factory when they put the grips on to the gun before shipping it out. To me, it can't be the cost of the little part ? And I can't really see any real labor to do it. What do you think about that ? Just wondering??
contender
Ruger Guru
I can easily answer that one.
Expense.
The parts,, even purchased in bulk add costs,, and the bean counters look at every way they can keep costs lower. I have been told by Ruger directly,, that even a few pennies can add up when it comes to thousands of guns.
And then,, to get a spacer to fit properly,, they'd either have them custom made at the dimension of .4995 OR PAY a person modify them. Again,, an added expense called "labor".
Expense.
The parts,, even purchased in bulk add costs,, and the bean counters look at every way they can keep costs lower. I have been told by Ruger directly,, that even a few pennies can add up when it comes to thousands of guns.
And then,, to get a spacer to fit properly,, they'd either have them custom made at the dimension of .4995 OR PAY a person modify them. Again,, an added expense called "labor".
Star43
Blackhawk
I agree for sure that the so called actuaries did not want to do that. Yeah, you are right that the little bit of labor to take that .005 off would turn off that idea real quick. I thought about the labor more after I wrote my post......but either way, who cares as we have our good old "Ace" spacers....
contender
Ruger Guru
Yep,, an easy fix for sure for us, and the aftermarket ideas.
BTW; The idea of adding a spacer is not my original idea. I heard it long ago. I can't recall from where.
BTW; The idea of adding a spacer is not my original idea. I heard it long ago. I can't recall from where.
Over tightening and breaking a grip panel is equal to the famous "idiot scratch" on other guns.
Ruger shouldn't be expected to predict someone with a gorilla grip torquing down a grip screw and stripping it out,
Next they'll be expected to provide a perfectly sized set of screw drivers so nobody will damage a screw either.
Ruger shouldn't be expected to predict someone with a gorilla grip torquing down a grip screw and stripping it out,
Next they'll be expected to provide a perfectly sized set of screw drivers so nobody will damage a screw either.
contender
Ruger Guru
Now now,, we've all been guilty of little things that create more problems than were first found. Many people have over tightened screws on all kinds of stuff. Most just never think about the wood & how easily it can be damaged.
I don't think we should expect all sorts of stuff because we make small mistakes.
I always thought that the fact that caryc added spacers to all the grips he custom made & sold was an excellent idea. But to expect it from Ruger,, nahh! Often, many think; "It can't cost that much to do,,,,,,,,,,,,,,?????????? when actually it can to the big picture.
I've often had discussions with Ruger about switching from a blued, one piece front sight on the SA line to the type used on the stainless guns where we can easily swap out blades if necessary. My argument is that by switching to just one type of base, and offering different blades of different heights would actually reduce the expense of having (2) different types of front sights. I've been told that most likely the main reason is the few pennies of differing expenses and savings is why they don't. There are bean counters who study each & every item in a build for ways to keep expenses down, and allow them to offer guns at a reasonable price range, all while making enough profits to keep the company going & stockholders happy.
So Star43's comment about why Ruger didn't add spacers is a simple one to answer. Expenses. And he understood that once I added a valid thought process.
I don't think we should expect all sorts of stuff because we make small mistakes.
I always thought that the fact that caryc added spacers to all the grips he custom made & sold was an excellent idea. But to expect it from Ruger,, nahh! Often, many think; "It can't cost that much to do,,,,,,,,,,,,,,?????????? when actually it can to the big picture.
I've often had discussions with Ruger about switching from a blued, one piece front sight on the SA line to the type used on the stainless guns where we can easily swap out blades if necessary. My argument is that by switching to just one type of base, and offering different blades of different heights would actually reduce the expense of having (2) different types of front sights. I've been told that most likely the main reason is the few pennies of differing expenses and savings is why they don't. There are bean counters who study each & every item in a build for ways to keep expenses down, and allow them to offer guns at a reasonable price range, all while making enough profits to keep the company going & stockholders happy.
So Star43's comment about why Ruger didn't add spacers is a simple one to answer. Expenses. And he understood that once I added a valid thought process.
Star43
Blackhawk
Yeah, but right now I am thinking about Hitman's comment about how they should have included the correct screwdrivers with the gun to prevent the marring up of the grip screw!! Now that would have been just great......
Star43
Blackhawk
Who knows, maybe I should have tried that. I tried sanding the spacer last night for about 5 minutes.....nothing. I think the sandpaper I bought is too fine. It's the black fine stuff and it shows white on the paper, but it's not going down. It's like this plastic spacer is made out of diamond material....Tonight I tried it again while listening to my oldies channel. Song after song after song, etc ...when Elvis was through with " I'll Remember You" , I shut off the radio and looked at my spacer. It looked nice and shiny and like it had been kissed with lip gloss, and that's about it. I didn't want to kiss it though, more like throw it across the room......I can still hear Elvis....
borrow one of your wife's nail files, just make sure she doesn't find out 
The amount to be removed is so small I can't imagine it would take more than a couple of passes.
The amount to be removed is so small I can't imagine it would take more than a couple of passes.
contender
Ruger Guru
Ok, I'll share another tip about the spacers.
I mentioned filing off .0005. Sanding,, depending upon grit can take a lot of time. I have used a metal file,, but once I figured out just how little I needed to remove,, I also got a bit tired trying to do several spacers at once. I switched to my bench mounted, smooth metal grinding wheel. YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL in doing this. It will quickly grind away more than necessary. A pair of pliers, and a gentle kiss on the SIDE of my wheel,, (flattest, and smoothest part) will cut plastic quickly. I keep a set of calipers handy to check myself. Once you cut a dozen or so,, you get a good feel for what you are doing.
I mentioned filing off .0005. Sanding,, depending upon grit can take a lot of time. I have used a metal file,, but once I figured out just how little I needed to remove,, I also got a bit tired trying to do several spacers at once. I switched to my bench mounted, smooth metal grinding wheel. YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL in doing this. It will quickly grind away more than necessary. A pair of pliers, and a gentle kiss on the SIDE of my wheel,, (flattest, and smoothest part) will cut plastic quickly. I keep a set of calipers handy to check myself. Once you cut a dozen or so,, you get a good feel for what you are doing.
Star43
Blackhawk
I don't have a grinding wheel. I thought about that while trying to sand it. I also don't have any calipers, but the black sand paper has a lot of white on it. Maybe it's ok now ?? I was thinking of just trying it as it is now and just go slow and see if it lines up ok......Thanks....
I would think that if you insert the screw in the one side of the grip, hold it to the frame, and place the spacer, you could use a straight edge to make sure it is down far enough.I don't have a grinding wheel. I thought about that while trying to sand it. I also don't have any calipers, but the black sand paper has a lot of white on it. Maybe it's ok now ?? I was thinking of just trying it as it is now and just go slow and see if it lines up ok......Thanks....
Star43
Blackhawk
Hopefully it is, or just listen to the radio a little bit more.....the nail file idea sounds good. I will have to check when she isn't around. I have to admit though my wife doesn't really use those things much as by working in the yard and garden, her nails kind of take care of themselves naturally. She's a good girl and I'm lucky to have her...
Star43
Blackhawk
When I use a straight edge to hold against the grip frame, I guess the spacer should be actually touching the straight edge then, correct ? That way the grip itself will be making contact with frame & be flush with the spacer at same time ?
