Hiya Pax
I did remove the front part of the Picatinny when it was obvious it was gonna pose a problem with drawing from a concealed holster. It turned out great. More than that, you'd hafta get into the SN# portion of the grip frame and that opens up a can of worms. Here's a pic.
I've hand sanded and polished it a bit more and it looks nearly factory now. There is a bit more that can be removed, as you can see, but not much. Further removal of the grip frame starts getting into the SN# factory "keep the serial number on the grip frame" portion of our show. <shrug> Maybe you can tell what I'm talkin' bout from this pic.
All in all, it does seem a waste to put an accessory rail on a compact pistol and if it weren't for the new style X-A1 grip, I'd have preferred the older M & S Series grip frame. I don't ever plan on adding any accessories to a conceal firearm. :roll: Anyway, hope this helps. Also, sorry for hijacking this thread. Cya.
Wulf