[ This guest post was written by John ]

A short article on how to stipple a pistol. If you have ever trained while it was hot or rainy, you may have noticed that your polymer pistol (Glock, XD, M&P) becomes slippery. One remedy for this is to stipple your pistol. Note: Before stippling your pistol properly unload your firearm and remove the slide from the frame.

Tools

Here is a list of tools that you will need:

• Soldering Iron ($20 from a craft store)
• 220 and 400 grit sandpaper ($6 from any home improvement store)
• Tape

How To

First you will need to decide where you want stipple on your pistol i.e. just the sides, just the back strap, or the entire grip. You can stipple anywhere on the frame. To start, I recommend just stippling the left and right sides of the grip; Glocks and XDs give you a nice box already outlined on the frame.

Once you have decided where you will stipple the pistol, cover the rest of the frame with tape to ensure you stay within the lines. Decide which attachment you will use and heat up the soldering iron. I recommend using the flat tip, if you search “stipple a Glock” on youtube.com you can see the pros and cons of each. All you have to do is touch the soldering iron to the pistol and it will make the stipple. The harder you press the deeper the stipple, too hard and you could press through your frame. (Note: In order to press through the frame you would have to stand up and press the iron into the frame with the entire weight of your body.) By going slow you will ensure that the soldering iron remains hot, you will have to pause every so often in order for the iron to heat back up and will have to scrap the polymer off the soldering iron tip. Don’t worry about your pattern; once the stipple area is filled in the pattern will look fine. When using the flat tip, I like to make slanted lines over the entire area then go back over the area with slanted lines in the opposite direction.

The stippling is now complete. Let your pistol cool off then start sanding with the 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the rough edges, moving to the 400 grit sandpaper to finish off the sanding. Ensure there are no rough edges that could give you blisters or put holes in your shirt when carrying concealed.

Conclusion

Stippling is a great way to make your pistol have permanent grip. Remember, once you stipple your pistol you will not be able to change it, if you damage your frame by pressing too hard, the manufacturer will not replace your pistol. That said, I love my stippled pistol and feel that it is a great option for those of us that train very aggressively with our firearms

Questions and comments are welcomed below.