Smoothie grip mod on Kahr PM9

[HighValleyRanch]

Haven't seen anything like this on the internet so I thought that I would post this grip mod that I did to my Kahr PM9. I hated the "grenade" style checkering, and used some grip tape for a while over it, but finally decided to try and smooth them out permanently. I used a sander to grind down to the base and then worked my way up in paper to 1000 grit for the final sanding. My goal was to keep the original stippling and have the frontstrap and backstrap smooth as OEM plastic.

Feels like silk in my hands now, and in the process, the "hump" on the back was ground down to more straight as well.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=109793&stc=1&d=1560293086
https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=109795&stc=1&d=1560293480

[JohnR]

Excellent job! I did that to my CM9 as well, but mine looks like a 2-day razor stubble. It's comfortable and since I'm not selling mine, I don't care how it looks. But yours looks fantastic.

[DavidR]

Agree, really nice job.

[Bawanna]

Very nice work. I took a wood burner to my PM45 and just kind of melted down the grenade finish and restippled it. Not nearly as aggressive but a positive comfortable grip.

[HighValleyRanch]

Very nice work. I took a wood burner to my PM45 and just kind of melted down the grenade finish and restippled it. Not nearly as aggressive but a positive comfortable grip.


Thanks everyone! Yeah I figured that if I could not get the smoothed part back to like an original finish, I could always stipple as last resort.
The hard part about refinishing is to get the plastic back to the black because unless you burnish it, it will always have the white plastic ghost look.

[CM9]

Interesting idea---looks good.

[Wlfman13]

Really nice work, HVR!

Now, THAT is definitely something I woulda been too afraid to try, for fear of not being able to get the smooth grip to match the factory-smooth look.

-Wlf

[berettabone]

A very nice job....................

[getsome]

Very nice work and welcome to Kahrtalk....I also didn't care for the super cheese grater grip so I did light sanding job on my PM9 grip and it really helped how it feels in the hand...I didn't go near as far as you did, just an all over smooth out to get rid of the mold seams and such...I have a tip on how to bring back the rich color and get rid of the white faded look...After I was finished sanding I sprayed the polymer grip down with a product called "Maxfilm" made by Royal Purple which is a general purpose spray penetrating lubricant then let it sit for a bit and wiped off the excess and the whitish look was gone and the black color was like original...I ordered it from O'Reilly auto parts and the part#is simply Maxfilm, great product for guns...While I was in there the other day I saw a product from Lucas called CLP gun cleaner spray so I picked up a can and it is also a fine product...I used it to clean my AR and it worked very well and didn't smell bad at all...It will also work to bring back the rich black color in polymer....Give either product a try, makes gun cleaning much less of a chore...

[HighValleyRanch]

Thanks for the tip. I used some black analine leather dye to do the job. Worked like a charm.

[getsome]

Good deal...Glad you found us, lots of real nice knowledgeable folks here...The Royal Purple Maxfilm is some really good stuff for guns and even though its a lubricant it won't make the grip slippery once it penetrates and you wipe off the excess with a rag...Also works great to lube the trigger bar area inside the grip frame...Get u some and give it a try, available from Amazon....Again welcome to the site and enjoy your fine PM9....

[BirdsThaWord]

Very nice work there HighValleyRanch, and thanks for the tips getsome!