Yes, the plastic grips are cheap and only come close in looks to the original hard rubber that Colt used, but the feel of them is not bad at all. The checkering helps keep the gun from slipping in the hand and is not a problem with recoil. I hope to complete the sanding and apply finish to a set of very heavily curly maple today, and I know that the wood will look better, but I am not sure that they will feel better. As for the lock assembly, a very shallow cut in the back of the grips accounts easily for it.