I recently aquired a new Glock 26 (Gen 3) to use as my primary carry weapon. Great gun but the grip just didn't fit me. The finger groove bump on the front didn't fit my fingers well and the large "hump" of the backstrap made it feel like I was gripping a tennis ball. After doing some research I decided to try to mod the grip to fit my needs (and hands) better. This was my first attempt at modifying a polymer grip so I went about it very carefully and with no small amount of anxiety and trepidation.
Before (stock photo)
The first thing I did was to undercut the trigger guard to give my fingers some more room. Did this with sandpaper wraped around a 1/2 socket. Finished it off with some steel wool. This helped a lot but the finger groove bump still hit me in the wrong spot. A flat file and more sandpaper took care of that. Now I can comfortably get two fingers on the grip (I don't care for pinky extensions).
This mod alone made the pistol much more comfortable but the swollen rear backstrap still didn't feel right. I had read about the typical grip reduction where the rear void is filled with epoxy and then sanded to the desired shape. I wasn't comfortable going this route so I decided to try the "candle method". Basically I carefully held the backstrap over a candle to slowly heat and soften the plastic. Then I pressed and rolled it against a smooth solid surface to work it to the shape I wanted. This took several cycles to get it where I wanted it. I went SLOWLY with this as I didn't want to turn my frame into a puddle of melted goo. I placed a wet rag into the mag well to make sure it didn't heat up and distort. Everything (except the backstrap of course) stayed just as it should. The grip was reduced about 0.1 inches. Not a lot but enough to make a huge difference. The one negative side effect of this method was that it did smash and flatten the factory texturing on the backstrap. Perfect excuse to do some stippling. Used a 30 watt soldering iron for this and stippled the front finger "grooves" and part of the rear backstrap. Really gives it a nice aggressive grip now.
Well here's the after pic. I think it looks pretty decent but more than that it fits my hand and feels so much better to shoot. All this work cost me basically nothing (except running the risk of ruining my firearm), a couple hours of my time, and was actually kind of satisfying to see it all come together.
Before (stock photo)
The first thing I did was to undercut the trigger guard to give my fingers some more room. Did this with sandpaper wraped around a 1/2 socket. Finished it off with some steel wool. This helped a lot but the finger groove bump still hit me in the wrong spot. A flat file and more sandpaper took care of that. Now I can comfortably get two fingers on the grip (I don't care for pinky extensions).
This mod alone made the pistol much more comfortable but the swollen rear backstrap still didn't feel right. I had read about the typical grip reduction where the rear void is filled with epoxy and then sanded to the desired shape. I wasn't comfortable going this route so I decided to try the "candle method". Basically I carefully held the backstrap over a candle to slowly heat and soften the plastic. Then I pressed and rolled it against a smooth solid surface to work it to the shape I wanted. This took several cycles to get it where I wanted it. I went SLOWLY with this as I didn't want to turn my frame into a puddle of melted goo. I placed a wet rag into the mag well to make sure it didn't heat up and distort. Everything (except the backstrap of course) stayed just as it should. The grip was reduced about 0.1 inches. Not a lot but enough to make a huge difference. The one negative side effect of this method was that it did smash and flatten the factory texturing on the backstrap. Perfect excuse to do some stippling. Used a 30 watt soldering iron for this and stippled the front finger "grooves" and part of the rear backstrap. Really gives it a nice aggressive grip now.
Well here's the after pic. I think it looks pretty decent but more than that it fits my hand and feels so much better to shoot. All this work cost me basically nothing (except running the risk of ruining my firearm), a couple hours of my time, and was actually kind of satisfying to see it all come together.
