After 3 months and a complete transition to the P320 for the majority of my personal pistols I starting experimenting with improved gripping surfaces. I have done some stippling in the past and while it generally works and looks fine for my needs, I found that on the P320, stippling did not offer a drastic enough improvement for my needs.
Below is an example of the first one I did.



From the factory the P320 has a decent texture that is excellent for carry and most general purpose shooting. But for competition both Bullseye and USPSA/IDPA type stuff, I wanted some heavy duty traction!
I also tried the grip tape from various manufactures but still not what I wanted. I saw a few examples of ways to re-texture grips online and after some exhaustive research I started out with a plan and put it into action.
Below is my first attempt following the same pattern as the stippling above.


It turned out a little rough around the edges, but was the perfect surface texture that I was looking for and it was permanent. Taping off the edges and following a clean edge line proved a little more difficult than expected. But all and all, I wasn't as concerned about looks as I was function. The Above gun now has had approx. 1000 rounds through it, and has been riding in a Safariland GLS with several hundred Holster presentations. The gripping surface has smoothed out a little but still is excellent with sweaty or wet hands and have not seen any breakdown of the material yet, not even around the edges. So far oil and cleaning residue has not affected it, but only time will tell. The surface has also started to turn a little "tan" or "Caucasian" in color from the skin on my hands....LOL but with a cleaning brush and some water it comes right off.

So this weekend I decided to really take some time and do a couple more to see just how good a job I could do. The best thing is with these frames. If you screw it up, you are only out $35-$40 bucks so my thought was , no big deal lets do it!
The black one was the first. The white residue is just tape residue from the masking tape, I will clean it up once the grip is set and solid in about 5 days. (Its only 48 hours but I don't touch them for 5 days just to make sure)
All and All I think it turned out very well. Please feel free to critique!


Then I moved to a second frame and it went even better IMHO......


I am open to questions, but please keep in mind, I am still experimenting with some of my processes. (It ain't hard to figure out guys, just time consuming)
Still, I am open to both suggestions and questions.

cp

Well that's the great thing about the P320. Screw up a grip (or decide to sell) and it's just $40ish to get it back right. I don't get the stippling thing myself, I find rubberized Talon grips get me what I want.

Edit:  mis-read some of your post

So what's the process?  Add material somehow then stipple it?  I don't imagine the FDE just turns black when heat is applied.

The first FDE frame (Carry Frame) I had stippled first and wasn't happy with the way it turned out, so I applied the gripping surface over top of it. That's why you see some stippling on the sides of that frame over the trigger area.
The surface area has a combination of epoxy and aluminum oxide applied to the outside. Basically turning the grip to a sandpaper like feel.
Rubberized grips for me, get to slick in hot weather when sweat becomes a major factor. This is especially noticeable shooting with one hand. That's just me though, many people like the rubber gripping surface. Just not for me.
cp

Put some epoxy on the frame, sprinkle on some silicone carbide and hang to dry overnight. Very cheap and easy to do, I used the silicone carbide in a Harbor Freight rock tumbling media box to do mine.. enough material in one bag for several frames.

Yep that's about it. A little more tedious than it sounds especially to get a smooth finish but yes simple and permanent, at least so far.
cp

Really Happy with the Turn out!



cp

cp

It's a shame no one is 3D printing custom grip frames for these for $20-25 yet.

Well given they are only $35 or so normally don't know if that would be worth it.
Cp

Yes, it would be worth it.  Someone could raise the beavertail and get you a higher grip, new profile, etc etc

Surely Sig has some sort of legal protection against any Joe blow with a 3D printer from making gross, no?

I don't know if you could patent it, but some other restriction?

Maybe not. 

Op nice job. I like that finish and would be interested to try it. Like the FDE color too I may rattle can mine. I love this look

Hey OP, have you done any work to slim down the sides of the grips?  I have a compact-small gripframe that I'm currently using, and it works okay but ideally I'd like it slimmer.  The sub-compact grip really works great for me, again due to the slimness of the grip, but I can't use my WML and 15 round mags.

Wow that looks nice. I like that look as well.
Nicely done
Cp

No sure haven't. I don't like removing material it makes me nervous with structural integrity and all.
I have done some undercutting of trigger guards on blocks and MPs but. Ever really had to.
I don't need the gripping surface on these for the majority of shooting and for my carry gun, I mainly use these grips for competition when I am doing a lot of shooting in austere conditions like hot and/raining. The nice thing is I can switch things up in minutes. The 320 grip fits me perfect, melts into my hand.

Cp

Update:
This Grip texture has been holding up absolutely fantastic and I am doing my P320 45 this weekend!

I would like to open this Thread up to other ideas or pictures of YOUR custom Grips. I will post some this week of 1911 Grips I did for my upcoming TacOps purchase.

Pics to follow. for the mean time .................


cp

Yellow solvent resistant autobody masking tape is worth the extra pennies when doing something like this.  Buy 3M, sold on Amazon.  Don't use cheap wally world white tape. 

You could even use 3M pin striping tape to add lines or a pattern.  

Not my thing, but nice job, OP.  Good to have a trick in the brain pan for a future project, like a melee weapon.