Better slide grip

[Harrylee]

The other day my friend showed up at my shop with his new to him 9mm non-kahr that is beside the point of this write up it will work with kahr and many other guns. The gun he had has a double recoil spring like my CM9 now he is 71 and didn’t have the grip strength to really get a good grip on the slide to rack it so I had some good 3m traction tape the same stuff you put on stair treads and also used in boats so the stuff is pretty tough. So with that in mind I cut small strips and fitted to the slide what a difference that made I could grab it with two fingers and rack it. So today I decided to do my CM9 this is what I ended up with, it really increases the grip at least 10 times so if you want more bite on the slide try this and it looks cool on my kahr also. Just try to get the 3m tape and make sure you clean the slide groves out real good from oil

[cjjohn]

Nice! looks cool too, I may have to give this a try. Thanks for sharing..............

[Bawanna]

Some one here has done this in the past but as I recall they didn't do near as clean and nice a job. That looks really pro right there.

I imagine it really helps the grip characteristics too.

And helping out a 71 year old friend, well that my friend is priceless right there. Take care of them old people, they rock!

Well Jocko might be questionable but he's ok too. (I think) for a greasy biker ya know?

[getsome]

That looks really good there Harry, real nice job and looks like it should have been there all along....I use that 3M tape for lots of stuff and it works great for anything you want to get a good grip on....I taped a piece of it on the leg side of an Uncle Mikes pocket holster and it works great to keep the holster in my pocket while drawing the pistol....

Good idea on the slide, may try that myself because I have a bum left hand and I need all the grip help I can get on these little Kahrs...

[muggsy]

I used Three M tape on something that I wanted to get a good grip on and you should see what it did to the palm of my hand! :)

[wyntrout]

Nice job, Harry! That has to be better than the usual bit of oil in those grooves!

Wynn:D

[xsailer]

I've complained before about racking my cm9 slide back and letting it slide between you fingers at the end of the slide movement. The sharp edges are hard on fingers since I have to grip it tightly because of the spring. I'm thinking this would definitely be a good fix for that. Thanks for providing info and pics.

[DeaconKC]

Very well done!

[yqtszhj]

Is that the "sticky/texture" tape or does it have the sandpaper feel of skateboard tape?

[Harrylee]

The tape has a very aggressive feel to it in small amounts it seems to work very well. Anything that helps pull the slide back is a good thing as far as I can see

[Bawanna]

Harrylee bless his little pea picking heart sent me some of this 3m tape stuff already cut to fit. I didn't even wear a pork chop around my neck for bait.

I think he did the hardest part by cutting it in the strips. His CW has a bit longer strips than my PM but the width was perfect and I got two grooves with each piece so I have some spares if needed.

It makes an amazing difference in the slide traction and it looks sharp too. I don't know yet how it will hold up, I've always been skeptical of stick on stuff. I did as he suggested and degreased and cleaned well. Then installed them and pushed them down well several times. They seem very secure. Time will tell.

Some photo evidence.
The tiny little strips.
http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hopke5/DSCN4622_zps78ef35f0.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/hopke5/media/DSCN4622_zps78ef35f0.jpg.html)

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hopke5/DSCN4621_zpsf428225e.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/hopke5/media/DSCN4621_zpsf428225e.jpg.html)

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hopke5/DSCN4619_zpscee4f4f5.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/hopke5/media/DSCN4619_zpscee4f4f5.jpg.html)

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hopke5/DSCN4618_zpsbd9254a4.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/hopke5/media/DSCN4618_zpsbd9254a4.jpg.html)

Also sent me several Cherry book mark slabs. I don't have a clue how he got them so thin and so perfect. He's definitely got "Better Stuff" than I do. He scroll sawed out a couple, very intricate. I neglected to get pictures. My bad.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hopke5/DSCN4623_zpsbb59f2d3.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/hopke5/media/DSCN4623_zpsbb59f2d3.jpg.html)

So thanks Harry, I'm beholden to ya.

[garyb]

I don't have any problem working my slide (so far) but I think it looks great on the slide. Good idea. Good pics.

[rjt123]

Harry,

Do you remember the width of the strips? I'm not the best in the world with rulers, and I don't own any calipers (need to pick one up some day). Hate to do a bad job of reinventing your most excellent wheel.

NRA Life Member

[Bawanna]

Harry will know, I think he built a jig to cut em out. Like I said I think that's the hardest part.

I'd have to measure. If I had to guess I'd say a strong 1/8", maybe a course hair wider.

His method of cutting the extra off on the slide works excellent.

I was pleasantly surprised how much it improved the grip. I had no trouble racking my slide either but this helped even more. I'll take any advantage I can get.

[turn signal]

I got some step tape off Ebay and made my own "Talon" grips.
Only problem was I use the blaster alcohol based gun cleaner and it melts the glue.
Then the tape comes right off.

:(

[yqtszhj]

Harrylee bless his little pea picking heart sent me some of this 3m tape stuff already cut to fit. I didn't even wear a pork chop around my neck for bait.

I think he did the hardest part by cutting it in the strips. His CW has a bit longer strips than my PM but the width was perfect and I got two grooves with each piece so I have some spares if needed.

It makes an amazing difference in the slide traction and it looks sharp too. I don't know yet how it will hold up, I've always been skeptical of stick on stuff. I did as he suggested and degreased and cleaned well. Then installed them and pushed them down well several times. They seem very secure. Time will tell.

Some photo evidence.
The tiny little strips.

Also sent me several Cherry book mark slabs. I don't have a clue how he got them so thin and so perfect. He's definitely got "Better Stuff" than I do. He scroll sawed out a couple, very intricate. I neglected to get pictures. My bad.

So thanks Harry, I'm beholden to ya.

I had some of that show up too. Haven't got to put it on the Kahr yet but will get it this weekend. It looks interesting on the PM45 in short strips.

Reminds me of a racing stripe I had on a car in my youth. :D

[Harrylee]

The grove on the Kahr is .130 I made them at .115 for a easy fit. Some of this tape is very hard to cut, on one set I will waste one razer blade then have to run the edges over a stone to take any of the grit off. If you try it use the good stuff 3M. You also have to be careful when you clean the slide try not to get solvent near the tape I do believe it should hold up

[Harrylee]

So my old(71 not so young) friend finally got his xds back from Springfield yesterday after 3 1/2 months. He was the one that started me into looking for a better grip on the slide, he just doesn’t have the grip strength to grab the slide and rack it. So anyway he got his gun back and still has trouble pulling the slide back so I put the 3m tape on it and he was a young buck again. I just like helping him out. The verdict is still out how long this will last but from start you can’t beat it. So if it only lasts for a few cleaning’s and has to be replaced then I can live with that it gives a 100% more grip on the slide and is worth it. Here are some pics of it. Oh my lord I just love older people that don’t give up!!! and I’m not that far behind. We were to go to the range tomorrow but something came up on his end so we will hopefully do it Friday

[DeaconKC]

Nice job all around Harry!

[DavidR]

Thanks to Harry's generosity I now have the grip tape on my CM9. It feels good, gives you something to grab on to.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/David-R/AABEA571-DE68-4037-89D7-8920A7C98DA9_zpsl0h1puhh.jpg (http://s32.photobucket.com/user/David-R/media/AABEA571-DE68-4037-89D7-8920A7C98DA9_zpsl0h1puhh.jpg.html)

[ohio lock]

Pics look great and it makes the gun look good with the stainless slide. My only concern is when you are carrying it concealed if the rough outer area of the tape snags on your shirt in any way. I used to use the skateboard tape for my Walther and it made it snug to grip but kept getting snagged on my shirts. Does the tape hide inside the grooves deep enough to prevent this? Great idea's on this website!

[AIRret]

Great job Harry! I'll definitely give it a try.
Who knows, since some folks don't buy kahr's because of the stiff slide you may have widened the appeal of the wonderful little gun.

[AIRret]

Pics look great and it makes the gun look good with the stainless slide. My only concern is when you are carrying it concealed if the rough outer area of the tape snags on your shirt in any way. I used to use the skateboard tape for my Walther and it made it snug to grip but kept getting snagged on my shirts. Does the tape hide inside the grooves deep enough to prevent this? Great idea's on this website!

Where on the Walther did you put the tape?
I use skateboard tape on the front and back straps of several guns and it hasn't
presented a problem.
With respect to the slide grooves, the tape should be lower than the metal so it will probably be ok.
I guess it's a cheap experiment, so if it doesn't work discard it.

[ohio lock]

Where on the Walther did you put the tape?
I use skateboard tape on the front and back straps of several guns and it hasn't
presented a problem.
With respect to the slide grooves, the tape should be lower than the metal so it will probably be ok.
I guess it's a cheap experiment, so if it doesn't work discard it.

I put some around the backstrap (to keep it from coming off and rendering it unable to fire - one thing about the Walther PPS I did not like anyway). I had to be careful, sometimes it would snag.

[DavidR]

Did the CW9 today. Definitely helps.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/David-R/7A85A7B1-ABA0-405D-B426-398F8BD2AB24_zpsqhncqa3g.jpg (http://s32.photobucket.com/user/David-R/media/7A85A7B1-ABA0-405D-B426-398F8BD2AB24_zpsqhncqa3g.jpg.html)

[Baklash]

You know, all this wouldn't be necessary if Kahr would just tone down the edges a little bit. They surely know this is a wide spread issue.

[Baklash]

I copied Harrylee's mod of the slide serrations because it was such a good idea. However, I changed it a little. Instead of using 3M tape or skateboard tape I used Velcro. I used the rougher loops instead of the fuzzy soft stuff because it sheds too much lint. The Velcro was easy to cut to width because it has rows of loops. Two rows fit perfectly in the recessed slide serrations, and I was able to do it with just scissors. It might have been a little neater if I used an Exacto knife, but looks good anyway. The results are great. I chose Velcro because it shouldn't wear off like sandpaper does. Looks similar to Harrylee's photos. Again, thanks for the idea.:Amflag2:

[Bawanna]

Harrylee sent me the tape already cut to fit and I put it on my PM45. It's holding up very well. Not peeling and it improves the grip immensely. It is recessed enough that it's not a cloth grabber.

I think it's the rubber kind of material or at least it felt like it, guess it could be the sand paper, didn't look that close. I don't think it'll wear off the way it sits in the grooves.

[kwh]

Talk about timing. I saved your original post. Bought 3M tape 3 weeks ago and yesterday ( all my March madness teams have bit the dust) cut and applied the strips to my CM9. Cleaned with Acetone. My job was not as professional looking as yours and I found cutting the strips to length was more difficult than width. Still looks cool and carried all day today. Thanks for the how to do tip.

[Harrylee]

this is the best way I have found to cut the tape to length

[SwampDude]

Nice installation job. What did you use to cut the material (scissors, box cutter, etc.)?

[dkmatthews]

Great stuff!

Sent from my SGH-T999L using Tapatalk

[Harrylee]

I made a jig for cutting I cut them at .115 of a inch that will fit all Kahr slides. Cutting all the tape the same was the hard part once the jig was built it was easy and I can readjust for any other slides I may do

[kwh]

Thanks for the info.