jsn_mooney
Marksman
The other day I was goofing around on Ebay, and found a set of VZ grips for a Hi-Power that were ending soon for next to nothing, so I bid on them. I won the auction, with less than $11 shipped. Only problem was they were pink.
I had heard of people using Rit Dye
on all kinds of things- grip frames, P-Mags, Knife Scales etc. and figured I'd try my hand at that- and if I wasn't happy with that I'd just put a few light coats of Alumahyde on them and call it good for no more than I'd have in them.
I did a little research online, and found it to be pretty straightforward. I just bent a coat hanger so it would keep the grips off the bottom of the pot but, still under the dye
Mixed up the package of dye into about 1 1/2 Qts distilled water with about a cup of white vinegar, brought it to a boil and then turned it down to a simmer. I wiped them down with alchohol to try and make sure there was no oil on them, then put them in the dye and let them simmer about 45 minutes
Everything I read had people simmering things from 15-30 minutes but, I figured going from pink to black would be a stretch, and had read that just simmering the G10 in water wouldn't hurt them- so I left them a little longer. I think they turned-out as Johnny Cash as can be
And am really happy with my new set of VZ grips for under $15. I know the original color was part of the manufacturing process, and this is just a surface coating, but everything I read said it held up really well in the longterm. Once I took them out of the dye and rinsed them off I didn't have any black transfer off- even after putting a light coat of Rem-Oil on them. If you have something that you really don't like the color of, don't be scared to try dying it- it's not rocket science. Obviously, going from any color to black should be the easiest.
I had heard of people using Rit Dye
on all kinds of things- grip frames, P-Mags, Knife Scales etc. and figured I'd try my hand at that- and if I wasn't happy with that I'd just put a few light coats of Alumahyde on them and call it good for no more than I'd have in them.
I did a little research online, and found it to be pretty straightforward. I just bent a coat hanger so it would keep the grips off the bottom of the pot but, still under the dye
Mixed up the package of dye into about 1 1/2 Qts distilled water with about a cup of white vinegar, brought it to a boil and then turned it down to a simmer. I wiped them down with alchohol to try and make sure there was no oil on them, then put them in the dye and let them simmer about 45 minutes
Everything I read had people simmering things from 15-30 minutes but, I figured going from pink to black would be a stretch, and had read that just simmering the G10 in water wouldn't hurt them- so I left them a little longer. I think they turned-out as Johnny Cash as can be
And am really happy with my new set of VZ grips for under $15. I know the original color was part of the manufacturing process, and this is just a surface coating, but everything I read said it held up really well in the longterm. Once I took them out of the dye and rinsed them off I didn't have any black transfer off- even after putting a light coat of Rem-Oil on them. If you have something that you really don't like the color of, don't be scared to try dying it- it's not rocket science. Obviously, going from any color to black should be the easiest.
