page_title: Accurizing
section_title: Gripping surfaces
hierarchical_section_title: Accurizing / Usability / Stocks and grips / Gripping surfaces
caption_attribution_description: custom high-quality rifle stock grip checkering on a Browning Safari Medallion rifle in .270 Winchester
context_page_description: Accurizing is the process of improving the accuracy and precision of a gun.
  For firearms, accuracy is the ability to hit exactly what one is aiming at, and precision is the ability to hit the same place over and over again in a repeatable fashion. Both are the goals of accurizing, which generally concentrates on four different areas:
  Usability: Enhancements that give the shooter a firmer and more controlled hold on the firearm, as well as a more consistent trigger pull. Better design ergonomics is often employed, such as adjustable buttstocks and grips with more vertical angles that are natural to the human hand and wrist. Spirit levels are often mounted to prevent canting, which can vary the points of impact. Weapon mounts such as bipods, monopods, benchrests, shooting sticks or simply sandbags can provide a more stable and relaxed platform for the shooter, and devices such as muzzle brakes or compensators can also be used to help counter the muzzle rise from recoil and re-establish aim faster and more precisely for repeated firing. The use of suitable slings can also help shooters to stabilize their aim when shooting off-hand while standing or squatting.
context_section_description: Gripping surfaces, particularly on handguns, are often designed to provide a large degree of friction to prevent the shooter's grip from shifting. This can be done by either using a material that provides a high friction, such as rubber, or by adding texture to the grips. Traditionally wood grips and stocks are provided with checkering, a process where "V" shaped grooves are cut into the wood at an angle to each other, leaving a pattern of pyramidal projections in the wood. Another process uses a punch to leave a random pattern of dents in the surface, called stippling; this process is better suited to complex curves than checkering, and is often found on anatomical grips. Handguns with plastic frames will often have stippling or checkering molded into the frame.
caption: Custom grip checkering
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