[BubbaT]

Enlarging the picture looks to me like the checkering is straight, it's the grip that is not. It looks tapered, closing the gap from checkering from top to bottom.

 

[Centroid]

It appears to me the location of the grip screw bushings is too far forward. The gap behind the grip is excessive and not centered.

Have you considered having grips cut especially for that frame? Perhaps this is a simple solution.

 

[Jolly Rogers]

I agree that without lots of metal work that the only expedient coverup would be new custom grips. To fix the front strap checkering would require a trip to the mothership, Fusion. Or a trip to a gunsmith with a full machine shop. Precise measurements to determine where the front strap is oversize or over cut are necessary to plan a metal fix. Of course any work to the frame by anyone other than Fusion would be at your expense. The bushing hole could be off toward the front. A possible fix would be to weld up the hole and move it to the rear by the proper amount and retap it. How do the frame and grips align on the other side? What metal is the frame? Steel? Rereading the OP says rust blue is possible so it is a steel frame.
I hope that if you contact Bob at Fusion he is having a good day…
Joe

 

[aegiswa]

You might want to check the location of the lower hole in the grip itself, the lower hole appears it may be off-center to my untrained eye..
I did have a similar issue with one set of grips in the past but it was both grip holes on one grip panel being 1/8 inch off ...
As Joe asked -

How do the frame and grips align on the other side?

 

[2Malamutes]

It appears to me the location of the grip screw bushings is too far forward. The gap behind the grip is excessive and not centered.

Have you considered having grips cut especially for that frame? Perhaps this is a simple solution.

I was going to say, the grips look really off to me, look at the line at the back of the frame where the flat meets the curve, your rear grip line should be parallel to that, and if you just do a quick imaginary rotation to make that happen, it is about the same as you'd need to correct the front. Do you have another 1911? Pull grips off both and line up the frames, see where your bushings are. You could just as easily have both off, and shifting only one would potentially impact your Plunger/SS/Safety. Or it's a really simple matter of bad hole(s) location in the grips, easy to check with a known good set. So I'd say either custom grips, which to me is a band aid and restrictive, or fix the problem, which seems to be incorrect bushing location(s) or bad grip hole(s)..

 

[4110mm]

I would throw a couple different grips on to rule that out before taking metal moving tools to it. Get a nice set of woodcaliber and you know if this gun is right.

 

[USARV72]

Bottom hole in grip is way off.

 

[missing link]

The original grip fits oddly and the VZ grip is similar. I tried another set of VZ grips from another Officer model, which fit fine on its own pistol frame and they fit poorly on the Fusion as well. Three grips and three poor fit-ups (including the Fusion grips).

Per the comments here, it does indeed appear that the grip screw holes are machined into the frame incorrectly.

I will send a letter off to Fusion but not sure I want to carry through with things because the rest of the pistol is where I want it and frankly, I have replaced or modified nearly everything on it EXCEPT the frame. If warranty repair is required and it is to be in 100% stock condition it will not work out.

I think I am adding Fusion to the same status as Colt on my list of manufacturers and will focus on Smith and Wesson going forward.

Perhaps a call to VZ will result in better looking grips.

Pete 'the missing link'

 

[BLikeYork]

lower grip bushing is mounted to close to the frontstrap it appears...

 

[japsco113]

The original grip fits oddly and the VZ grip is similar. I tried another set of VZ grips from another Officer model, which fit fine on its own pistol frame and they fit poorly on the Fusion as well. Three grips and three poor fit-ups (including the Fusion grips).

Per the comments here, it does indeed appear that the grip screw holes are machined into the frame incorrectly.

I will send a letter off to Fusion but not sure I want to carry through with things because the rest of the pistol is where I want it and frankly, I have replaced or modified nearly everything on it EXCEPT the frame. If warranty repair is required and it is to be in 100% stock condition it will not work out.

I think I am adding Fusion to the same status as Colt on my list of manufacturers and will focus on Smith and Wesson going forward.

Perhaps a call to VZ will result in better looking grips.

Pete 'the missing link'

They would probably just replace the frame .

 

[passx]

Just curious if it’s like that on both sides ? It does appear that they got the lower grip bushing wrong and quite frankly I’d be really surprised if they actually cared enough to make it right, I have a 9mm Freedom longslide and they were fairly responsive while I was building it but late last year when I was having a problem with the barrel lands they asked all kinds of questions and asked for lots of pictures before just going dark, no responses at all !

This was on one of their optional precision barrels. I would not recommend Fusion anymore ! I really like & enjoy my gun and initially wanted to build another but not anymore, I don’t think they care !