grip screws

I have several pair of grips that need screws which have been hard to find. They are 6-40 fillister head and need to be 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" for grips by CaryC. I'm posting here because emailing hasn't worked.

Try McMaster-Carr

www.mcmaster.com

If they don't have 'em, nobody does. They're a little more expensive, but they supply darn near everything in small quantities, where a normal industrial supplier only sells screws and other stuff by the truckload.

If you have a Fastenall in your area they can be helpful, too. If you walk in off the street they will usually sell you whatever you want.

Thanks for the tips. I've been looking for weeks and so far no-go. Fwiw, I'm the second owner so if anyone else loses the original screw, you'll wind up with useless grips and nowhere to find them.

targetshootr,

Keep emailing Cary and eventually he'll get back to you.



Joe

Regular fillister heads aren't going to work, at least the half dozen or so that I have tried haven't. I think that Cary gets his screws custom made to fit the Ruger escutscheons. The last ones that I tried were too big in diameter (not a big deal) and were too tall (that was tricky). I'm still using the Brownells screws because of that. I'll probably resort to having some custom made to offer a pure stainless version and a blued version.

The 6-40 thread seems to be an oddball so if I have to I'll swap out the hardware to some other kind. Thanks all.

I just ordered three from Brownells and they were here in two days. I tried the local Fastenall and the guy just shrugged his shoulders.

Brownells isn't the cheapest place to buy stuff, but when they have what you need and no one else seems to, they start to look downright reasonable!

The screw size #6-40 is not some oddball size. It's what Ruger has been using since they made their first single six. There is only one problem with Rugers grip screws. They are too short.

To me nothing looks worse than a beautiful set of grips with the ferrule set way down in that quarter inch hole. That is what happens when a screw that is too short is used. The ferrules have to be sunk to a depth to accommodate the short screw.

I got rid of this problem by having my grip screws custom made for me in a machine shop. This is a costly investment for me and that is the reason that I don't sell the screws outright now. I might add that these custom made screws are blued screws which some grip makers don't even offer.

Most shops with screw machines won't even bother setting up unless it's a run of at least 10,000 pieces. I found a local shop that would do a run of 500 for me and it was costly. The first time I did this I advertised on Ruger Forum for anyone that wanted to come in on the deal with me but had no takers.

I do not appreciate the comment that my grips are useless if you lose the screw. If one loses the key to his car, he will be walking too, but you can hardly blame this on the auto maker. Each set of my grips comes with a grip screw that is cut to fit that individual set of grips. I keep a record of the length of each screw for each numbered set of grips. I will replace the screw if it is actually lost by the customer. Some of you have experienced this to be a fact. I figure that my customers are honest enough to request a replacement screw only when their original is actually lost.

My grips are custom grips and are not copies of Ruger grips.

The #6-40 screws that Brownells sells are stock Ruger screws and are only 1.062" in length. They are also stainless and can not be blued. I haven't checked in a while so I don't know if they have a blued version now but the fact is that even if they did, it would still be too short.

hutchman":10ffnyvt said:

I just ordered three from Brownells and they were here in two days. I tried the local Fastenall and the guy just shrugged his shoulders.

Brownells isn't the cheapest place to buy stuff, but when they have what you need and no one else seems to, they start to look downright reasonable!

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I bought a bag from Brownells but they're too short so I'll have to see if I can swap out the hardware myself.

Oh, grips are indeed useless without screws.

targetshootr":uzu27nbx said:

hutchman":uzu27nbx said:

I just ordered three from Brownells and they were here in two days. I tried the local Fastenall and the guy just shrugged his shoulders.

Brownells isn't the cheapest place to buy stuff, but when they have what you need and no one else seems to, they start to look downright reasonable!

Click to expand...

I bought a bag from Brownells but they're too short so I'll have to see if I can swap out the hardware myself.

Oh, grips are indeed useless without screws.

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Again, I repeat, each set of my grips comes with a custom cut to length grip screw. They are not useless.

Two pair of grips now have new brass hardware. Wish I'd thought of that a lot sooner. Grips with screws are useful.

Targetshootr, you have Cary's attention in this thread and you go out of your way to ignor him? Cary is one of the finest grip makers in world, you have his attention, why don't you ask him to cut you replacement screws? He goes out of his way to measure each grip screw and keeps a record of them. Even I don't go that far. Personally, you're being foolish, but this is a free country, for now.

I've been trying for months to get blued/black screws for my own grips to no avail just short of doing as Cary did. He took the risk and gets to reap the rewards.

ETA: Cary, if you're going to order more screws, I'll go in with you. That is if you don't mind a little friendly competition :wink: .

pvtschultz":2yon7aj8 said:

Targetshootr, you have Cary's attention in this thread and you go out of your way to ignor him? Cary is one of the finest grip makers in world, you have his attention, why don't you ask him to cut you replacement screws? He goes out of his way to measure each grip screw and keeps a record of them. Even I don't go that far. Personally, you're being foolish, but this is a free country, for now.

I've been trying for months to get blued/black screws for my own grips to no avail just short of doing as Cary did. He took the risk and gets to reap the rewards.

ETA: Cary, if you're going to order more screws, I'll go in with you. That is if you don't mind a little friendly competition :wink: .

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If you read the posts above you'll see where I mentioned that emails haven't worked. So feel free to retract your foolish comment.

targetshootr":jbpdz9hn said:

pvtschultz":jbpdz9hn said:

Targetshootr, you have Cary's attention in this thread and you go out of your way to ignor him? Cary is one of the finest grip makers in world, you have his attention, why don't you ask him to cut you replacement screws? He goes out of his way to measure each grip screw and keeps a record of them. Even I don't go that far. Personally, you're being foolish, but this is a free country, for now.

I've been trying for months to get blued/black screws for my own grips to no avail just short of doing as Cary did. He took the risk and gets to reap the rewards.

ETA: Cary, if you're going to order more screws, I'll go in with you. That is if you don't mind a little friendly competition :wink: .

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If you read the posts above you'll see where I mentioned that emails haven't worked. So feel free to retract your foolish comment.

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Give me a description and the ID numbers of the two pairs of grips that you have. How is it that you purchased three pairs of my grips without grip screws? Didn't you learn after the first pair to ask the seller for the screws? You also neglected to mention that I did send you free of charge a replacement screw for the grips that you gave me an ID number on. I guess you forgot about that fact.

Several weeks ago you sent a free screw which I appreciated. Then I emailed to say I had another pair of your grips with no screw and sent the number off the back. No reply. So I emailed again offering to buy a handful since I'm bad about losing them. No reply. So I emailed again to ask where you buy them. No reply. So a month later I started this thread and then realized I had hardware on hand that would work. Lucky for me.

I'm sorry your email with the second ID number got by me unanswered. I try to print out emails so I don't forget about them. I guess I just was just in a rush about that time.

I'm glad you found a solution to your problem. Maybe if you contact a machine shop with screw machines you can get them to make you up a handful. But make sure you're sitting down when they quote you a price.

I would suggest that when you remove a pair of grips from a gun that you screw the screw into the grips. I'm sorry you had such problems buying my grips indirectly. I guess I should go back to using Rugers stock hardware to prevent this from happening to potential third party customers.

caryc":2zwbzbsa said:

I would suggest that when you remove a pair of grips from a gun that you screw the screw into the grips. I'm sorry you had such problems buying my grips indirectly. I guess I should go back to using Rugers stock hardware to prevent this from happening to potential third party customers.

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Bad idea if you ask me. 8)

pvtschultz
Bad idea if you ask me. 8)

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Let's hope he doesn't ask you since you don't know how to read.

Dang targetshootr,

What'd you have for breakfast? Badger, or maybe bobcat? Scorpions as a side dish?

You lose screws easily, so you blame others for your problem? I have several sets of various grips around here for several different handguns, and I can guarantee you, without looking, that every set still has a screw. The ones that aren't on a firearm are screwed together, and are stored in a box in my safe.

When you start making grips for grouchy second hand customers, you can make 'em any way you want. In the meantime, stop insulting a respected gripmaker for not doing you a favor quite fast enough.

Daryl