Had to cry Uncle

[Petrol & Powder]

I’ve always considered the S&W Round Butt style grip frame to be a bit of a compromise between ease of concealment verses a good shooting grip. It has long been a compromise I was willing to make in some applications. I’ve used several different approaches to find something that works for me, such as: Boot Grips, Tyler T-grip Adaptors, and various other grips. For holster carry with a K-frame, I liked the authentic S&W Combat Grip. That was a smooth wood, round butt, factory option.

If you’ve priced those original S&W Combat Grips recently, you know that is a scary path to go down. So, I tried some alternatives. I had a Tyler T-grip for an RB K-frame, that sort of worked. Then I tried a newer Combat grip. That was not true to the original pattern S&W grip and proved to be disappointing. I had an old Pachmayr Compact Professional grip and tried that. Almost right but not quite. I finally just cried “Uncle” and purchased a new Pachmayr “Gripper” style. Just as ugly as ever but it seems to be the Goldilocks “just right” in terms of fit. I wish it had the open backstrap (known as the Gripper Professional) but those appear to be available in the square butt styles only.

I cannot recall if there was ever a Pachmayr "Gripper Professional (open back strap Gripper style) for the ROUND Butt grip frame. Does anyone know?

 

[Snakeoil]

I was not familiar with the Gripper grip so had to look it up. Turns out, I own a set of those that are on my Mod 17. They are too narrow for my hands, but do provide the best fit/comfort for fast shooting short of making a custom set for my hands. I did this for my 586.

Depending on how they are secured to the grip you might be able to modify them to your liking. The set I have uses a yoke that snaps over the dowel pin in the bottom of the grip and then a screw goes up thru the bottom of the grip and holds it tight to the frame.

To modify yours, put them in the freezer overnight and then grind the back down on a belt sander. It will probably take several trips thru the freezer. Again, not sure modifying them will not compromise their integrity.

 

[Thumbcocker]

Mrs.Thumbcocker found grip nirvana with grippers on a 4" pinned and recessed model 19 but it is a square butt. Sorry I don't have more information.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I was not familiar with the Gripper grip so had to look it up. Turns out, I own a set of those that are on my Mod 17. They are too narrow for my hands, but do provide the best fit/comfort for fast shooting short of making a custom set for my hands. I did this for my 586.

Depending on how they are secured to the grip you might be able to modify them to your liking. The set I have uses a yoke that snaps over the dowel pin in the bottom of the grip and then a screw goes up thru the bottom of the grip and holds it tight to the frame.

To modify yours, put them in the freezer overnight and then grind the back down on a belt sander. It will probably take several trips thru the freezer. Again, not sure modifying them will not compromise their integrity.

The Hogue Monogrip uses the Yoke over the dowel pin and a single screw at the base of the grip. The Pachmayr uses a traditional through screw, unless they've changed something.

I like some aspects of the Pachmayr Gripper. I have several and they allow for a fairly consistent grip between different guns. The old S&W Combat grips fit my hands about as well as a RB grip can and they don't "grab" clothing like the rubber grips.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Round Butt on the left with a Pachmayr "Gripper".
Square Butt on Right with the Pachmayr Professional Gripper.
Both grips are very close in style and the RB model is almost a RB to SB conversation grip.

The difference is in the open vs. closed back strap.





The old S&W Combat grip (On the Left) is ideal but those original S&W factory grips are incredibly pricy now. The aftermarket copies are just not the same and generally have a squared base and bad (for me) dimensions.

 

[Charles Graff]

Condom grips? Say it ain't so! Get a rope!

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Condom grips? Say it ain't so! Get a rope!

I know, they're ugly.
Please don't lynch me.

 

[Jeff H]

The problem I always seem to have with DA grips is that they are too "deep," meaning front to back, and that the bottom of the grip, where your shortest finger goes is to big around. Pachmyer makes a version of their Compact grips for Smith & Wessons (and the Speed/Service Six) with the additional name "professional," (ref P&P's post above) which leaves the back strap exposed. While not a fan of rubber grips, those will work for me.

After going in circles on my last grip dilemma, I ordered a set of hideously-shaped wooden grips as seconds and reshaped them to suit. NOW, they fit. I shaped them like the Hogue rubber grips Taurus is putting on their five-shot 38/357s, which fits me perfectly, but is rubber. AND the gun I needed grips on was not a Taurus.

That grip, and my preference seems to most to be antithetical to managing recoil, but I've found smaller grips better for that than larger grips, because I can get my fingers around the grip and HANG ON. The grip doesn't slide in my grasp and no banged knuckles.

It may be that I have small hands too - I don't know. Measuring my palm, across the knuckles, my hand is 3 1/2" wide, so maybe I need smaller grips because I have smaller hands? Regardless smaller grips work for me and rarely has any factory/unaltered grip worked for me.

 

[Missionary]

If it works, that is all that matters, Just do not paint them purple,

 

[david s]

I have medium sized hands. Like Jeff H finding grips that allow my little finger a purchase on the grips took some doing. On a square butted S&W 57 I use to order Herrett Shooting Star grips and remove all the wood behind the grip frame, so the wood followed the rear grip frame profile. Then I would glass bed the front of the grip to fit the forward part of the pistol grip frame. In profile they looked like S&W factory but were noticeably thinner. These would last about a year before splitting. The S&W round butt N frame with Hogue finger grooves simply fit my hand better than any combination that I've found. These aren't a round to square style and don't exactly follow the grip frame either but cover the lower 1/3 of the rear grip frame. Unfortunately, these aren't offered for the K or L round butt frames. I've only a couple of S&W round butt K or L framed pistols. The bottom L framed revolver has a set of N frame Hogue grips lightly modified to fit the K&L frames. The grips are too large for a 3-inch K or L framed pistol and are waiting for me to find a 4-inch model 66 to convert to round butt configuration. The round butt may be a compromise but for myself there the best option.

 

[CZ93X62]

Pachmayr Gripper-series grip sets have been my go-to revolver grips since forever. I have one set of the 'Professional' sub-model for k/L frame S&Ws, and they feel too 'Squarish' to my hands. Grip fit is a very subjective thing, though--so to each his own.

'Professional'-style open backstrap on R/B S&W gripframes......dunno if they ever made them or in what numbers. I haven't seen one, in hand or in a catalog. Since round-butts now predominate the S&W revolver line, it seems like an unexploited market niche to me if they don't exist.

I like neoprene revolver grips. My fleet wears mostly Pachmayrs aand some Hogue monogrips. I have one set of the S&W wooden combat grips P&P speaks of, and they are NICE. They came on my S&W Model 16-4 x 6", and now reside on my S&W M&P x 5" in 32/20 WCF.

I have been told that the flared square butt grip format on Colt and S&W 'Square butt' designs endured as a legacy of the Colt single action revolvers, which date from the Paterson NJ days in 1836. Those plow-handle grips were part of an operating system for those mechanisms. Upon firing, the arm was meant to roll up in the hand in recoil. With the barrel elevated somewhat, the hammer was more easily reached for a follow-up shot. Also, the elevated barrel allowed shattered percussion caps to more readily fall free of the hammer well and prevent cylinder tie-ups by cap fragments. IOW, those old Westerns we watched where the shooters raised the barrels to cock were based in practicality--not showmanship. Spend an afternoon with a Colt-pattern open-top cap & ball revolver. You'll start 'Cowboying' that barrel upward too--cap debris is a monumental PITA.

Most double-action revolvers feature a recoil hump just above the backstrap against which the user is supposed to nest his or her thumb/forefinger web. This is a useful recoil management element, but it sort of flies in the face of that old 'Flared grip/roll in recoil' idea. Most of us don't have a problem with this conflict--dynamic tension of the shooter's grip can cover a power of sins--at least until recoil becomes excessive.

The fact renains--those square butt frames become wider in the direction that the shooter's fingers are becoming shorter and perhaps less able to exert leverage against vigorous recoil impulses. For this reason the 'Reverse taper' of the Gripper and Hogue neoprene grips sets have found favor with lots of shooters.

Neoprene also helps in weapon retention. I had a scary interlude with a goblin under the influence of a cocktail of street pharmaceuticals and alcohol go for my holstered sidearm. He ripped apart and destroyed a Bianchi breakfront holster and I had a good purchase on the Pachmayr grip of my Model 64 when that happened. I stuffed the gun in my waistband behind my back and gave the dude a right cross on the stun button to end the affair. That holster damage was impressive to see--it stayed on display in the briefing room for a week with a chalk board inscription--"Phencycladine1, Bianchi 0."

 

[358156 hp]

I gave up on Pachmayr and have switched everything over to Hogue. They give me a better fit and place the gun right where I need it to shoot my best.
https://www.hogueinc.com/grips/grip...k-or-l-round-butt-rubber-monogrip-black-black

 

[Winelover]

There's a set of Pac Grippers collecting dust, purchased for a SS model 60 round butt. I ended up making my own grips out of black micarta and adding a Tyler grip adaptor. Upper right hand photo. Fashioned after Bianchi's discontinued aftermarket rubber shrouded grip.



No K frames, here. Do have a 23-3 round butt N frame (Lew Horton) that came with the S&W Combat grip. Promptly, changed them out to Hogue's smooth grip. Not a fan of finger grooved grips. IMO, the N frame is too large for CC, anyways.

 

[300BLK]

I have fairly arge hands but can shoot well with "boot grips" on my round but J frames. My round butt Model 19 wears the finger groove combat grips, and I have another set that just feels too big on the 4" 625. I'm tempted to try a set of Altamont boot grips.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

......... Grip fit is a very subjective thing, though--so to each his own. ...........

/\ That is an absolute truth /\
There is no such thing as one size fits all when it comes to revolver grips.
The closest I've ever seen to a universal grip on a DA revovler is the original Ruger SP101 grips. They seem to fit almost everyone.

The Pachmayr's are not pretty, unless functional is pretty to you.
However, they are a very good grip for a working gun.

A Tyler T-grip on a S&W Square Butt K-frame with the factory "Magna" grip panels will work for me. But for some reason, a Round Butt K-frame with a Tyler T grip doesn't quite work for me. The Pachmayr Gripper works for me with K/L frames regardless of the grip frame type - so that's my fall back.

I really like well made wooden grips and I have a bunch of nice wooden grips. But sometimes you just have to go with what works.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I have fairly arge hands but can shoot well with "boot grips" on my round but J frames. My round butt Model 19 wears the finger groove combat grips, and I have another set that just feels too big on the 4" 625. I'm tempted to try a set of Altamont boot grips.

"Boot Grips" give you the best of both worlds.
They do not enlarge the overall profile of the gun, so they work well for concealment. They also fill the area between the trigger guard and the front strap of the grips frame - making them far easier to shoot with.
The next best thing is a Tyler T-grips adaptor and the factory grip panels. Again, that setup doesn't make the gun any larger but it sure helps when shooting.
A 3rd alternative for a S&W Snubnose J-frame is the Warner Carry System

Snub Training – Werner Carry System* – snubtraining.com

snubtraining.com

 

[CZ93X62]

No doubt about it--neoprene is inelegant as BLEEP. The same can be said for Glock pistols, though. Their butt-ugly inelegance hasn't hurt their sales volume one bit. It took about 10 years to 'Sell' me on the Glock system, and I got kinda press-ganged into that acceptance when my shop approved them in 1994. We adopted the 40 S&W caliber at the same time, and Glock 22 and 23 pistols spread like wildfire among our personnel.

 

[Snakeoil]

The Hogue Monogrip uses the Yoke over the dowel pin and a single screw at the base of the grip. The Pachmayr uses a traditional through screw, unless they've changed something.

Yes, my mistake. I have Hogue grips on that gun. They are not rubber either, they are wood.

 

[Winelover]

Have a pair of Barami Hip Grips around here. Tied them out with the Tyler grip adaptor. Problem is they are only good for right handed users and I'm a lefty.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Have a pair of Barami Hip Grips around here. Tied them out with the Tyler grip adaptor. Problem is they are only good for right handed users and I'm a lefty.

That would be a deal breaker.

I don't use the Werner carry system but I've always thought it was a clever solution.