Match Pistol -right hand, left eye

[zooma]

I bought a Morini 162ie that came with a RINK grip that was stamped LRB7d as it had been bought for use by a right handed shooter who had a dominant left eye.

My needs were a little different as I wanted to shoot the pistol right handed with a dominant right eye and noticed that the grip wanted to move the pistol across and towards the left to align the pistol sights with the left eye, so I was able to see the difference that this 7 degree "twist" in the grip was able to achieve when compared with the same large r/h RINK grip that did not have this 7 degree off-set.

Over the last 50 or so years have enjoyed making or modifying pistols grips (without the use of any filler) if I can improve the fit but retain the good looks of the natural wood so this grip provided me with a nice challenge!

I noticed that this off-set grip had a higher thumb shelf with a smaller aperture for the thumb when compared with my other large r/h RINK grip that I had and also noticed how much thicker the palm swell was.

When combined together, these features would cause the hand to sit across the grip making the pistol "point" to the right - good for use by a right handed shooter who likes to shoot when using the left eye.

I modified the grip to suite me by lowering the thumb shelf and opening the thumb aperture to the same measurements as the "regular" right handed RINK grip of the same size - but I took advantage of the increased palm swell to fill my hand better than the "regular" RINK r/h grip that was stamped LRB (size large, right hand with larger palm swell).

This saved me having to find a suitable piece of walnut to laminate onto the "palm" to increase the girth in this area and only needed minimal shaping and re-stippling to make it fit well and look like a factory made grip!

This grip was sold with my Morini to a local club member who also appreciated the improved feel that this modified grip had to offer. Later he sold the pistol with this unique grip still on the pistol.

Some months later I saw a large RINK r/h grip being offered for sale here on the BBS. I bought it as a spare - not knowing that this grip had been made with this off-set.

When the grip arrived I saw that the stamp on the grip was LRB7d - this was NOT a regular grip but one that had been made with an off-set. Further inspection and holding of the grip brought back a smile as I recognised it immediately as being this very same grip ! Perhaps the seller did not know that it started life as a grip with a 7 degree offset as it would not have felt any different to any other Large r/h RINK grip after I had worked on it - except for the increased amount of volume in the palm area!

Imagine how chuffed I was to find that this was the same grip that I had modified some years earlier!

After a good clean and some fresh walnut oil it still looked like new and still fitted every bit as well as I remember it and has been fitted on my current Morini 162ie ever since!