I have a 4" 686, and just wondering what's involved in converting from a square butt to round butt? Is this a do-it-yourself project or gunsmith required? The round butt really feels better in my hand when shooting than the square butt. Thanks, FM12

It's not too difficult to do as a DIY project. There was an "how to" article in one of the old issues (1970's) of Shooting Times that showed how to do it. It was a popular project for N Frames before the round butt became standard.

Basically you use a set or round butt service grips as templates. Mount them on the frame and scribe a line along the edges of the grips.

Remove the grips and the squared edges of the grip frame are cut off at 45 degree angles close to the scribed line. Then the rough shaping is done with a dremel tool and grinding wheel, with the final shaping done with a file and sandpaper.

Most important... is first check the position of the serial number on the butt of the grip frame, if the reshaping will alter that stamping in anyway, don't do it.

This is all from memory, I'll try to find the article to scan and send to you.

You may have to replace the strain screw.

Also check this out:

GUIDE

It should go without saying, but as a retired Emergency Room nurse, and the observer of numerous AD recipients, please make sure the piece is unloaded before doing any work on it. I don't mean to be insulting, but I never had a a patient (brought in dead or alive) that was shot with a "loaded gun", they were all shot with the "unloaded" variety.

Good luck in your project,

Dave

Thanks, fellows, I'm encouraged!

Dave, good advice, and always proper for any gunsmithing project.

Thanks, Ken

Don't forget your safety glasses when you take it to the big old grinder. And thanks to Double-O-Dave for the safety reminder about "unloaded guns". So true.

I agree about the RB vs SB, and have a whole bunch of really nice RB grips for the K-frame. The 3" RB's are getting hard to find and I had to settle, recently for a Model 10 & 13 in 4" SB configuration.

I have always wanted to do the conversion, would rather have a pro do it, and I do have one piece of advice if someone were to take on this project themselves. I would at least remove the forward screw on the sideplate and remove the cylinder and yoke. This would definitely prevent the possibility of an empty gun going off, give the operator more purchase on the frame, and remove one very valuable part of the revolver from the possibility of getting buggered in the process. Thanks for the valuable information, and the link to the Website for the purchase of the jig, Stan aka Peepsite