Magpul 1911 grips review

[mr_nuts31]

I want to do a review of the Magpul 1911 grips because I had a set lying around and I wanted slimmer 1911 grips because I have small hands.

First Look

Here's the pic of the grips themselves, sorry I didn't have the box it came in, kinda threw it out I bought them from Al Flathery's for about 20 bucks at the time, so it wasn't that expensive. One thing to point out is the gap on the left hand side for your thumb:



If you notice, the grips are made from the same polymer as the MOE line of products and if you look closely, the grips are covered in tiny Magpul logos as their grip texture.

Installation

For this, I'll be mounting them onto my Socom Gear Les Baer 1911 (based on the KJW 1911, very important to remember later on)



Now here's the only problem I had with the Magpul 1911 grips. See, the 1911 I'm installing it to is based on the KJW 1911 which means that the frame has a little wide bit to accept CO2 magazines as shown here comparing it to a KJW 1911 rubber overmold grip:



Now here's the Socom Gear 1911 with the original grips on:





After a bit of dremeling the inside and widening the holes a bit to allow the screws to go in, this is what it looks like afterwards:





Advantages

One thing I liked about the Magpul 1911 grips is that its slim design which for someone with small hands like me makes it awesome to use. It's very lightweight compared to other 1911 grips out there if weight's an issue to you. The thumb gap for me is a big advantage because before I had a bit of trouble hitting the mag release, now I have no problem hitting the mag release, and without having to resort to an extended mag release and risk losing mags accidentally. The grip texture is similar to the Magpul MOE or MIAD grip so to me, it's perfect for my hands with and without gloves.

Disadvantages

Besides the need to modify them to fit on my 1911, the only disadvantages I can see so far is that because of the slim nature of the grips, the screws kinda stick out a bit which can be problematic to some, but I'm not too concerned, plus it's an easy with shorter screws. That and the grip texture might be too smooth for some, but then again you can easily stipple the grips if you have to. Also, it's not made from wood, which can be a big deal to some.

Overall

+Lightweight
+Slim profile
+Very aggressive cutout to help hit the mag release
+Nice grip texture
+Cheap price, but not cheap quality

-Needs dremeling in order to install
-Grip texture might be too smooth for some
-Grip screws stick out too much depending on the length of the screw
-Not made of wood

Conclusion

After putting on the Magpul 1911 grips on my 1911, it feels really comfortable to hold and I can hit the mag release no sweat. Probably makes this 1911 my second most comfortable sidearm to shoot (first being the KWA ATP). So if you're looking for a slim grip for your 1911 and you don't mind using a dremel, then I highly recommend the Magpul 1911 grips.