Prototype handle design

[Tin Man]

If you shoot firearms, you have probably noticed that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different sizes and shapes for the handles. Many guns have been built with standardized handle frames for decades, so aftermarket manufacturers have produced zillions of grips in different shapes, styles, and materials. So why is it that we really only have about three mainline handle choices for DIY spearguns? (Wong, Alexander, and Neptonics).

Anyway, after pondering it a while, this is what I came up with. It's a black Delrin frame, with a three hole pattern that matches the Wong and Alexander screw pattern. The back of the frame, however, duplicates the popular AR-15 rifle handle mount. So you can buy any grip you like (most are $10 to $30 here in the U.S.) and attach it with a single 1/4" stainless bolt. The single bolt also makes it a snap to remove most of the handle to fit the speargun in a protective tube for travel.

So poke holes in it. So what did I miss?

 

[Tin Man]

My prototype had a Hogue grip with a non-slip rubber overcoating on a hard polymer skeleton because that's what I could find quick to try. There are other grips available in hard or soft materials, and even some that are re-configurable with different front and back sections to change the finger grooves or palm swell.

 

[foxfish]

I think most of us are lost for words mate - looks very nice & is a very good idea!

 

[Don Paul]

I think most of us are lost for words mate - looks very nice & is a very good idea!

TinMan's beautiful mind is always on the move.
Tin I don't have a AR to measure, what is the handle angle? (never mind I plotted it from the image).
Cheers, Don

 

[spaghetti]

Tin, there'll come a day we'll have to talk......
.........about the gun you will have to make for me.....:inlove

 

[Spear0Joe]

My new woody gun has an abellan grip, spag you have seen them? i can only say its as comfy as resting my head in a pair of big MELLONS

 

[spaghetti]

My new woody gun has an abellan grip, spag you have seen them? i can only say its as comfy as resting my head in a pair of big MELLONS

Abellan grip is made in Italy. Interesting mount too:

 

[Spear0Joe]

Ill get some pictures up soon of the final build it looks sexy, however it was based on the abellan denton as i fell in love with the look of the gun as soon as i saw it!

 

[spaghetti]

So what did I miss?

Trigger? Shouldn't you cut a passage for the trigger?
Or is it me missing something?

 

[Tin Man]

Good eye! I decided not to cut the trigger slot until I actually have a gun ready to put this on, since the installations would vary a bit depending on whether it is a slide trigger or pivotting trigger.

Tin, there'll come a day we'll have to talk......
.........about the gun you will have to make for me.....:inlove

Only if I get to deliver it myself . . .

 

[spaghetti]

Only if I get to deliver it myself . . .

Fixed! But don't fancy I'll let you sleep with my wife for the gun! :martial
(not for anything, but she snores like a wild boar at night )

 

[Don Paul]

Trigger? Shouldn't you cut a passage for the trigger?
Or is it me missing something?

He has a reed switch embedded and a magnet sewn into a glove finger.
Battery and servo add mass to the gun, laser activation is on the same circuit with camera start.
Cheers, Don

 

[jtkwest]

TIN MAN, i want one of those really really really bad. hook a brother up. how much? it may be a prototype, but i wouldnt change a thing, perfect in its simplicity. rubber and plastic, perfect for water!

 

[Tin Man]

I've got to finish a gun project first. Meantime, I'll have to check my material stash. Not sure if I have a piece big enough to make another one.

 

[strangelove]

Tin Man

Fantastic, you are a wizard.

But let me play a little devils advocate, with hand guns one just hold the handle, but with spearguns, we need to put quite a bit of force on the handle sometime to load the gun sometimes just to move around.
Do you think that can be an issue, I used to have an old desault speargun the desault 45 I think the handle broke on me.

 

[Tin Man]

My gut feel is that the combined handle / grip is still stronger than the three #6 wood screws that are used to secure it. On my own handles, I use four #8 or #10 screws, but I kept to the Alexander / Aimrite pattern for interchangeability.

No doubt that some real world testing is required.

 

[strangelove]

Beautiful work, very clean.

that H. Dessault model was cheap plastic, I think yours would will probably work fine.

 

[JCooke]

One thing, try holding a AR-15 with a neo glove, Ive tried it......AR handle too small.

been there

J

 

[JCooke]

The closes thing that I could hold comfortable was a shotgun pistol grip stock, but it had a shoulder stock attached to the back of it.

 

[Tin Man]

Do you know what grip you were using? A lot of the aftermarket grips, especially the ones with the rubber overmolding, are quite a bit larger than the standard hard plastic AR grip. In the end, it will always come down to personal preferrence. I have small hands, so most grips feel way too big to me.