Grip Stippling vs. Silicon Carbide: How to DIY Your Firearm for Maximum Grip

If you’re anything like me you’ve dabbled in stippling your firearms. I’ve stippled Glocks, HKs, Sigs, the list goes on. However, I’ve recently realized that while stippling is good, there is a better option, silicon carbide. Silicon carbide is much easier and quicker to apply to a wide variety of firearms, and it provides for a much better grip in all conditions. This article will provide some pros and cons on grip stippling vs silicon carbide. I’ll also show you a quick DIY on how to apply silicon carbide to your firearm, and as a bonus, how to color it so your weapon isn’t sticking out like a sore thumb.

Just because the article is titled grip stippling vs. silicon carbide, doesn’t mean that it’s an either or proposition. There is certainly nothing wrong with stippling a pistol, or rifle, but I think once you try silicon carbide you’ll find that what you thought was a great grip is really only so so. Let’s review some of the pros and cons of grip stippling vs. silicon carbide.

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Pros and Cons of Grip Stippling vs. Silicon Carbide

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I also find that silicon carbide works very well in tactical applications where your gun might be wet, or hard to hold on to. Silicon carbide also provides a better grip when shooting in gloves than a stippled surface will. However, the biggest benefit to silicon carbide is the ability to apply it to metal as well as plastic. You can easily apply it to the for end of an AR15, should you desire.

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Enough of the chit chat, let’s get into the equipment you’ll need to apply silicon carbide to your firearm. It should be noted that all these items can be purchased at a local hardware store, or if you click the links, you can buy them from Amazon.

Supply List to DIY Silicon Carbide Your Firearm

The first thing you’ll need is epoxy. Now I’m not a genius, as my wife will tell you, so I just grabbed some Gorilla 2 Part Epoxy (Amazon Affiliate Link) that sets in 5 minutes. It’s super easy to use. You just inject the epoxy, and hardener, into the plastic packaging that it comes in, and mix it with the supplied wooden spoon. The only down side to this is that it’s more epoxy than you need for one grip, but it’s very cheap.

Next, you’ll need some painters tape to mark off areas that you don’t want to epoxy. As you might imagine, it’s not a good idea to epoxy your mag release, or any other moving part on your firearm!

Perhaps the biggest choice you’ll need to make is what grit of silicon carbide to buy. I purchased this 60/90 grit silicon carbide in two separate tubs. It provides a great texture that isn’t so rough that it will chew your hands up, during long range sessions. I can easily shoot 300-500 rounds through my pistol with no chaffing. Some of you might prefer a more aggressive grip, in which case, you can get something like this 46/70 grit silicon carbide.

Lastly, I recommend you purchase some cheap paint brushes to apply the epoxy. I purchased this small 3 brush set for around $5 bucks. I prefer having several brushes to choose from, as some firearms will need a more detailed brush to get epoxy exactly where you need it. These are going to be disposed of, as the epoxy hardens on the bristles.

In total, all these items should cost you between $30-$40. This will allow you to silicon carbide several firearms, so it’s a pretty good deal. One of the big pros to grip stippling vs silicon carbide is how much cheaper it can be to add silicon to any surface. Now let’s talk about the steps you need to follow to achieve a good finish on your firearm.

Applying Silicon Carbide to Your Firearm: Step 1 Preparing the Gun

The first step is to clean your firearm of any dirt, debris, or excessive oil. If it’s generally clean, and not slathered in CLP, then you can probably skip this step. If you’re applying silicon carbide to a part that’s easy to remove, then I recommend removing it from your firearm. For this article, I applied silicon carbide to the pistol grip of my POF Renegade Plus, which I did a review on a while back. I could have left the grip on; however, it’s much easier to unscrew it, which is what I did.

You’ll then want to set up your work space so you aren’t rushing around, trying do everything at once. You’ll use the packaging that the epoxy came in to mix it together. I recommend using a paper plate, or Tuperware, to allow you to sprinkle the silicon carbide over the epoxy without spilling it everywhere.

Applying Silicon Carbide to Your Firearm: Step 2 Masking Off Your Gun

This is important. You need to make sure that you mask off any areas you don’t want epoxy on. For a simple grip like this, I followed the same contour of the plastic texture. I also blocked off the interior of the grip which is hollow.

If you’re doing a pistol, you need to make sure that you have tape on all moving parts. Consider taping off a small boarder around the edge of your grips for a more professional look. You get a better border if you take your time with masking, and apply firm pressure so the tape adheres to the grip.

Applying Silicon Carbide to Your Firearm: Step 3 Applying Epoxy

Next, you’ll take out the epoxy from the package and break the seal on the syringe like tubes. You then depress the plunger, and allow the resin and hardener to pool together in the clear front plastic packaging. Now, take the wooden mixing stick and mix the two chemicals thoroughly.

Now the clock is ticking. You need to paint epoxy on the areas you want the silicon carbide to stick to. Take care and make sure you liberally coat the area. It should have a smooth even sheen when you have it covered.

Applying Silicon Carbide to Your Firearm: Step 4 Applying the Silicon Carbide

Hold the piece over the paper plate and use a spoon or just sprinkle the silicon carbide with your fingers over the areas coated in epoxy. There is no special technique here. The dust easily adheres to the epoxy. You do need to pay attention and make sure you cover it thoroughly.

You’ll find it’s easier to make several passes with sprinkling the silicon carbide to make sure all areas are covered. Remember, you don’t have to worry about waste, as you can poor the extra back into the tub for future projects.

While adding friction to your grip helps you shoot, having a strong grip is even better. Check out this strength program!

Applying Silicon Carbide to Your Firearm: Step 4 Final Touches

Your next step is to remove the masking tape while the epoxy is hardening. Recall that this epoxy is hard within 5 minutes, so you don’t need to wait long. If you wait till it’s fully hard, then part of the tape will be permanently attached to you gun. Not a good look.

If you took your time with masking, you’ll have a sharp boarder, but you should expect a few areas won’t be as crisp. You can take something like a razor blade, and push the overflow epoxy back into a crisp line. It works well for small over runs. If you have a larger area, you might have to scrape it off with the razor blade.

Applying Silicon Carbide to Your Firearm: Step 5 Adding Color

This step is optional. If you don’t want to change the color of the silicon carbide, you can leave it as is. I, however, don’t dig the shiny graphite look and prefer to add some color. I’m sure there are probably better ways of coloring silicon carbide, but I found that using a black sharpie marker works very well.

After ten or fifteen minutes you can simply color the silicon carbide with a sharpie. It will still retain some of the sparkle, but you won’t be looking like a vampire from Twilight.

Final Thoughts

You should leave the part to cure further for about a half hour. Expect that some of the silicon carbide particles will shed, and some of the black color will come off as well. I recommend handling the firearm with gloves for a bit. After the initial handling, it will stop shedding both color and particles, and you’ll have your finished item.

If you messed this up you can remove most epoxy with acetone, just be careful that it doesn’t damage the parts underneath. You can also redo this process in a year or two if you use the gun a lot, and want more grip. I think we’ve probably answered the question about grip stippling vs silicon carbide, but if you’re not sure, or have any questions put them in the comments below. Now get out there and get training!

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