I recently picked up a used Beretta 92A1 and it came with Hogue rubber grips. I am not a fan of those grips and was contemplating getting the same grips that are on the M93A1. Then an opportunity came to review Alumagrips and I thought these might be better. They are machined aluminum grip panels and they have a variety of styles. So I ordered the Vertec style checkered grips.

Installation was rather easy. I just unscrewed the existing grip screws and removed the Hogue grip. Then placed the Alumagrips onto the 92A1.

As you can see these are the Vertec style grip panels. The Vertec grip Beretta 92 have a straight grip compared to the classic palm swell backstrap that mine has.

Even though there is a gap between the back edge of the grip panel and the exposed back strap palm swell, I do not notice it when I hold and shoot the 92A1.

At first glance the Alumagrips appear to be just like any checkered grip that you find on Berettas. But you need to hold a pistol with these installed in your hands. The checkering is fantastic.  Usually when I test out checkering, I notice a certain amount of friction and have come to expect that level of traction. Typical checkering is mundane and sure it may be a better option than no checkering, but not all checkering is made equal. These grips are surprisingly very grippy. I tried running my fingers over the checkering and noticed a great deal of traction. A lot more than I was expecting.  I have experienced similar metal checkering but nothing like this. The next best thing would be micro pocket texture/stippling like on metal gripped race guns.

Below is a photo of a metal grip by Phoenix Trinity. It is similar to the grips by SV Infinity and it is the most aggressive grip texture I have ever experienced.

I was also curious if Alumagrips made a grip for an Armscor Tac Ultra FS HC 9mm. They do make grips for Paraordnance pistols and the Armscor is similar to a Paraordnance than a 2011. So they sent me a pair of grips to try with the caveat that they have had issues with Rock Island Armory/Armscor pistols and their grips.

Right off the bat you can see the grips are too long. This is due to the flared magwell that is factory installed on the Tac Ultra.

Laying the matching Alumagrip over the the existing G10 grips, it looks like the screw holes might line up.

There are clearly some differences. Look at the G10 grip below. At the top you can see a cut out for the ambi safety selector.

I took the grips and the Tac Ultra to my friend Keith who helped me machine the Alumagrips to get them to fit. He started off by milling the bottom to accommodate the flared magwell.

Once the bottom was trimmed we noticed some other incompatibilities. The cut out for that pin had to be widened to fit and he milled the tops for the safety selector.

You can see below the holes are just ever so slightly off center. I could line up one hole but the other would be offset.

I ended up just screwing the grip screws back in and the Alumagrip panels stayed on.

Then we had to repeat the same process to the right hand side grip panel.

A lot of time was spent trying to get the grip panel to sit flat against the frame of the Tac Ultra.

Just like the Beretta 92 Alumagrips, the checkering on these grip panels is rather substantial. They offer a great deal more traction that before.

Not only are these grips practical, they look good. Since they are aluminum, you could get them cerakoted or even anodized. I would like to see other grip textures, specifically the micro pocket texture. The only negative I could find with these grips is since they are aluminum, they are rather cold to shoot bare handed in cold weather. However if you shoot them long enough, the grips warm up rather quickly from your own hands.

Their website has a litany of options. You can choose different colors, and checkering patterns. They even allow for laser engraved logos for the anodized grips. For more information check out their website.