Installing a New Grip Frame

So, another upgrade, another installment. Grip frames are easy to install, but they can be a pain to tune for performance.

What You Will Need:
1/8" hex key
Small Pick
Small steel rod, or punch 3/32"

Step One: 
You just have to take out the two screws holding it to the body, one in the trigger guard, one at the back of the frame. Once they are taken out, be careful, you don’t want to bend the three way rod. Hold both the gun and the frame before you take out the second screw, once the grip is free from the body, slide it to the left, so it is free of the timing rod, also. Be careful not to loose the tiny spring for the safety, it’s sitting in a small hole in the top of the frame. Take it out, and put it somewhere safe. At the bottom of that hole, there is a TINY ball bearing, carefully flip the frame over, and shake the bearing out into your hand. Again, put it in a safe place.

Step Two: 
Take out the grip panel screws, then the grip panels them selves. The sear pin is at the top of the frame, a shade above and a little behind the safety. You will need to push that pin out to remove the sear. Once the pin is out, the sear will pop up, and you can remove the sear, and spring.
With the sear out of the way, only two things hold the trigger in place, the trigger shoe, and the safety. Using a .050" hex wrench, loosen the two screws holding the trigger shoe in place, and it will drop off the plate. Do not remove them from the shoe, they seem to grow legs and run away if you do.
Now, the safety. There is a small c-clip holding the safety in place. Using a pair of pliers, pull it off the safety. It can be a little hard to get off, but keep trying. Once it’s gone, the safety barrel will slide out the other side of the frame.
At this point, you can push the trigger plate back and up to remove it from the frame. Be careful not to lose the return spring that is under the trigger plate inside the frame.

Step Three: 
You will basically be doing everything you just did backwards to get it all back in the new frame, but here are some tips.
To get the return spring back under the trigger plate, put the spring in, then the trigger plate resting on top of the spring in the frame. Now, take a 1/16" hex wrench, and with the short end, push the spring back, as you slide the plate down over it.
When installing the sear in the new frame, you must line the hole in the sear up with the holes in the frame. It is much easier to do this with the sear spring NOT installed. Just line the sear up, and put a 1/8" hex wrench through the holes in the frame, and sear. Now, just push the wrench out with the sear pin, and it will be all lined up. Then re-install the sear spring. 
Now the safety. I just throw them away, the barrel plug is enough for me, and I can’t hit the safety in the middle of a game if it isn’t there. The safety can also create drag on the trigger plate, and make you use a stronger return spring, but if you want it, just put the safety barrel back in the frame, and replace the clip on the end. Grab the ball bearing and spring you took out earlier, and drop them in the hole above the safety. Bearing first, then the spring. If you don’t put the bearing or spring back in, or you put them in the reverse order, then the safety will slide over when the gun is tilted, so make sure you do it right.

Step Four: 
Re-install the grip frame on to your gun. Make sure you don’t forget to slide the timing rod into the hole in the trigger plate. Also, make sure you put the right screws in the right holes. The longer screw goes into the front of the frame, the shorter one goes in the back. Check to make sure it’s level on the body also, you don’t want a gap between the body and the frame, it should by perfectly flush.

Step Five:
99.9% of the time, you now have to re-time the hammer lug setting for the new frame. Most times, you will also need to adjust the timing rod.
Click here for an article on how to set these timing points

Step Six:
Now for the trigger stops. If you have a front trigger stop, time the gun as close to the back of the pull as you can, and still keep it reliable. Then set the stop to take up the slack in the start of the pull. Same thing in reverse for rear trigger stops. Time it as close to the front of the pull, then take up the slack.

Step Seven:
Now set the guide screws at the bottom of the trigger plate. These take up the vertical slop in the trigger. Tighten it until it hits the trigger plate, then back them off until the trigger doesn’t stick. Set them one at a time if there are two of them, front, then back.

There, you’re done, go hit the field.

©2001