Recover Tactical CC3 1911 Grip and Rail System Review

The 1911 is the quintessential American handgun. The original design is over 100 years old and is still going strong. When John Moses Browning designed the 1911 there were no pistol lights or Picatinny rails however. If you wanted to light up what you were aiming at you held a flash light in the other hand. These days most handguns include tactical rails up front to mount lasers or pistol lights. What if you have an older styled 1911 that doesn’t have a rail? Well the folks at Recover Tactical have the solution with their CC3 1911 Grip & Rail System.

Recover Tactical came up with this clever system that replaces the standard 1911 grip that incorporates a rail system as well. It’s made out of a high quality polymer and fits most all standard size 1911 models, as you can see in the pictures it fits my Smith & Wesson 1911 just fine. It doesn’t work with compact sized or double stack 1911s however.

The Recover Tactical CC3 Grip installs pretty easily, just remove the 1911 grips and swap on the CC3 grip, get it aligned right and tighten it down. There’s no permanent mods required and you can swap back to the standard 1911 grips just as fast.

As you can see from the pics of the CC3 it does have raised surface lines on both the sides and the front of the grip to try and keep your 1911 securely in your hands when you shoot it. While it worked OK keeping the 1911 in your hands while shooting, I think it could really benefit from a bit of stippling (see an awesome example of the CC3 grip with some custom stippling at the bottom of the page). Another minor issue I had was getting both sides of the grip to align up, while it wasn’t perfectly aligned (see pics above) it did not affect the performance of the grip at all. I’m sure if I played with it a bit I could fix it.

The big question I’m sure you’re all thinking of, did it add more width to the 1911? The short answer, yes it did. One of the best features of the 1911 is it’s thin frame, especially compared to all the modern polymer handguns like the Glocks, HKs and M&Ps. Yeah the CC3 did add some width, but it’s not much and my 1911 still feels great in my hands.

I used a Streamlight TLR-1 HL Tactical Light with the CC3 grip, I absolutely love the TLR-1 HL by the way but that’s for another review. I’ve actually had the CC3 for quite some time before I wrote this review, it’s been on my 1911 for many a range sessions. The TLR-1 HL mounted up just fine and stayed put after many rounds down range and the CC3 has held up very well too. It’s still on my 1911 to this day but as mentioned earlier I think I’m going to stipple it a bit.

Pros
– Adds a rail to your 1911
– Budget priced at just $49.99
– Super easy to install
– No permanent mods to your 1911
– Lifetime Warranty

Cons
– Adds a bit of width
– Doesn’t work with all holsters

Summary
If your 1911 didn’t come with a tactical rail and you wan’t to run a pistol light the Recover Tactical CC3 1911 Grip & Rail System is a pretty good way to do so, especially if you use for 1911 for home defense. I’m a big advocate of using a good light on your guns, especially when you’re betting your life on it. The CC3 grip is not without its faults however, it does add a bit of width to the grip and you may not be able to use the holsters you already have for your 1911. Recover Tactical does have a pretty nice holster for the CC3 grip however so there is that option. The CC3 grip weights in at just 65 grams. It’s made in Israel and includes a lifetime warranty from Recover Tactical. They retail for $49.99.

The Recover Tactical CC3 Grip is available in Black, Tan, OD Green and Pink and is available at RecoverTactical.com.

If you have a Beretta 92/M9 Recover Tactical also has grips for them as well.

Check out all of our past reviews at our Reviews Page.

Here’s the awesome stippled CC3 Grip I mentioned earlier that I stumbled upon on Instagram.