Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Springfield Elite 3.8 grip mod

Picked up a new Springfield XDM Elite in 10mm with the Hex optic. Decided on the biggest backstrap to fill my hand. Due to some arthritis and nerve damage I have some loose of feeling in my fingers. Springfield did a good job molding large grooves for grip. Unfortunately it’s too slick for my liking. I want a secure grip no matter if my hands are wet, muddy or bloody. Fiddling with your grip isn’t conducive to fast shooting. This gun will be riding in an HPG kit bag while hiking. If I come upon a reason to draw it, time will probably be of the essence.

I decided to modify the grip to make it better for me.

Started off by sanding off the molded in grips.


Used a pin style tip on a wood burner to do some of the borders


Switched over to a rounded tip to create some bigger divots. It creates a place for anything wet on your hands to go and also displaces the material up which, in turn adds some grippiness.


Filled in the open space with the pin tip again. I varied the amount of time I held the tip onto the grip. The longer you hold it, the more material is displaced which makes it grippier. I like aggressive grips. This is an easy project but I suggest you practice on a pmag to figure out the technique. Pretty simple