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Old 12-06-2012, 02:41 PM
rburg rburg is offline
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Location: Kentucky, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan Bob View Post
I have a set of grips I came across a few months ago. They fit a K frame nicely and have the large gold medallions, what do I have here?
I just love it when someone leaves an opening like this. The simple answer is so obvious, you have large gold medallion K frame grips! The other posters have nailed it well. You have square butt 1910-1920 grips from an M&P or 32-20. They actually can be cleaned up a bit to look even nicer. A small puddle of WD40 and a tooth brush will remove a lot of the dirt and the loose finish, but won't damage the wood or metal.

Anyone using these grips on later model guns and shooting hot loads will have a price to pay. Those finding N frame grips of the same style and putting them on a magnum will have a much steeper price. They do little to cushion the recoil, and N frame grips from that era often come with a nice price tag. The OP here has stumbled upon a well known fact. S&W grips for K and N frame revolvers often will fit guns produced over a 100+ year time span. They'll also look good while doing it.

Even more fun is confusing the troops at gunshows and the like. My 696 no dash wears a very nice set of round butt diamond magnas. From my perspective, they look really nice and do a good job on the gun. It came with some ugly goodyears that I hope I've lost over the last 10 or so years. Notice that what I've done is heresy to most collectors who only wish the fool with the nice gun had left it as it was shipped. Not me, I feel unconstrained by collecting ethics. Remember the saying from the 1960s? If it feels good, do it. Well, I've altered that to my liking. If it looks good, do it seems to work very well. Besides its fun confusing others.
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