I have a baby Chief made in 1952-53. Serial # 35404. Round Butt 5 screw. I was looking for a set of grips for it as I believe it is an "i" frame. I put a set of j frame grips on it and they are about 1/8" too long.

I bought a set of i frame grips from STCM on here but they would not fit it. He said they came off his Regulation Police.

2 questions -
1. Could the gun be an improved i frame and if so, is there a difference in the size of the grips compared to an i frame.
2. The grips I got from STCM did not have medallions and had " Patent Date June 1917" stamped on bottom of grips. I have never seen any with a patent date on them. Is this something Smith did for a short time?

Thank you in advance for any assistance you may offer.

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Psalms 37:4

Well someone might come along and correct me, but offhand I'd say the grips with the patent date didn't fit because they are square butt. They likely came off what is called a Regulation Police. You need round butt grips, I frame.

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Geoff. Since 1960.

I'm still kicking myself in the rear for not jumping on a 4 digit Baby Chief (51/52) several months ago. If i remember correctly, your gun is a J frame but a bit shorter grip frame than maybe a 1955 or later made model. You will get some expert help soon.

Markeb has it right, it is a J frame but 1/8" shorter than the later standard J in the grip frame but the same dimensions as the I, so a standard set of I frame service stocks (.32 HE, .38/32 Terrier) of the same era should fit correctly.

The Regulation Police had a round butt frame with a notch on the rear strap ("rebated"), with the two edges of the rear stocks fitting under the notch. It sounds as though they will not fit a standard I frame from your experience.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Yes, they were square butt. I didn't know they put the patent date on them.
I have attached pic of gun with a set of j frame grips on them. You can see the difference in length at the bottom of the grip. So , my question is , will an i frame rb grips fit this gun?

Attached Images

	DSC00004.JPG (144.9 KB, 49 views)
	DSC00002.JPG (125.6 KB, 56 views)

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Psalms 37:4

Thank you Murphydog for that info and thanks to everyone who replied!

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Psalms 37:4

Baby grips are a little hard to find. I sent my last set up to a friend in VA.
A little not perfect. I will keep an eye out for another set. Old Diamonds are geting hard to find. Mike 2796

Yes. And if you give me a bit to check my bins, I may have a spare pair. Send me a PM.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Your Baby J frame, and the I frame and Improved I frame all have the same size round butt grips. The Models of 1953 'New' J frame and 'New' I frame both use the 1/8" longer round butt grips (or new style sq butt grips).
All the pre Models of 1953 I frame Regulation Police style square butt grips use a modified (rebated) rd butt grip frame which is the design protected by the patent stamped on the bottom of the grips. The date stamp was deleted before the war.


These grips were not used on any Baby Js. The rare, late Baby J sq butt frames (which are 13/32" longer than the rd butt) use the post Model 1953 new style sq butt grips.

Your rebated sq butt grips with no medallions came from the 1920 to 1929 period. They can be adapted to the Baby J rd butt grip frame by shaving a 1/16" of wood from the interior back strap area of the grips.

Any I frame Magna rd butt grips from post war to pre Model of 1953 will be correct for your Baby J and look like this:


Hope this helps,

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Jim,
Thank you so much ! That helps explain a lot.

Thanks again,
Jack

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Psalms 37:4