As I posted the other day, I just acquired my first P&R S&W, a 19-3.
My first P&R! A Model 19-3.


As was disclosed buy the last owner, the grips were a bit rough - good structural shape, but cosmetically in need of some TLC.

Well, never a real fan of the shape of factory Targets (and less a fan of Magnas), I decided to try my hand at re-shaping these into something I liked better.

Here are some "Before" pictures:








As shown, the finish was a little beat up and there were some small dings and chips in them.


Well, first came the belt sander to reshape them (I also removed the checkering).
I thinned them out in the bottom front to make a better fit for my pinky finger and also took a little off the back to even them out with the frame of the gun.
Then came the sanding block to smooth them by hand.








Testing for fit:





The color of the grain didn't match very well, so I stained them to try to get them a little closer:



I let the color set overnight, then sanded them to lighten them up a bit:



First coat of polyurethane:



(After sanding in between coats) The third coat of poly:




Finally, the finished product:










I'm pleased with the result, and more pleased with the way they fit my hand now.

(Hopefully I won't get thrown out of here for "ruining" my grips. )

GET A ROPE!!!

Nice job! I like them, besides, it's your gun and your grips, YOUR opinion is the important one.

You can always buy another set on Ebay, if you ever change your mind.

Enjoy the gun!!

OK, once again, EVERYONE KNOW THEY WERE HIS GRIPS, ALREADY! (Slap forehead.) That was not the question.

Miss your Midol today?

Ok, guys. Let's not have a P'ing match here...

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For the record, S&W45Colt is the guy I got the gun from.
Here is an excerpt from some PM correspondence with him just a couple minutes ago:

I had told him that I hoped he didn't think my decision to refinish these grips was an indication that I was unhappy with the gun, and this was his response:
His response to this thread wasn't an antagonistic one.

After dealing with him on a gun trade, I learned that he is a gentleman, and a man of his word.

NICE Job!!!

The worker that matched those two panels at the factory was either hung over or mad he didnt get a raise because that right panel had some of the nicest grain i have seen in a Target GA,
The other panel not so much.

I probably would have tried to find a left panel to match up and refinish the heals to match but I have real long fingers so target grips fit my hand.

Unless the checkering is beyond repair sanding through it leaves that router outline, removing that outline makes them too thin

Now go Shoot Shoot Shoot...and then give us a Range Report.

I think your going to like this one!!!

Perhaps I was not clear when I said I liked the grips? I meant I like what he did with them. He did a nice job with what seems to be something you could easily mess up. I think Hillbilly77 made some neat grips that he feels best fits his hand.

I do love the right side and I wish they matched.

I thought of removing the router groove, but I also thought it may make the grips too thin, plus I kinda like looks of the groove in them.

I've already put a couple dozen rounds through it.
At 20 paces when I do my job, the gun does it's job.

And you're wrong....
I don't like this gun.

I love it.

I may have to do some work on my K targets I got from a member here.
They overhang the back of the grip a little, and are a bit big for my sausage fingers.
I've thought about reworking them (not the sides) to match the profile of the J targets.
That, or putting a pinky groove in the bottom, like the rubber grips on the Colt Commando Special from the mid 1980s.
Blasphemy, I know.
I like wood stocks better than rubbers.
I like wood stocks that fit my hand better than those that don't
Go figure.

To the OP: I will not presume to tell you what to do with your property, sir.
If they didn't fit your hands, they were of no use to you.
What the modification does to the value of your gun only matters
if you are trying to sell it.
I'm not trying to sell any of mine, unless I need to.

It would be sweet, if you could get the medallions replaced and the sides re-checkered.
I really wish Smith had made these to fit non-Bill Jordan hands.
Whoever designed the K and N targets stocks must have had Sasquatch hands.

On a related note, I think the Desert Eagle should have been named "Desert Sasquatch".

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

Excellent work! Congratulations!

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Steve
NJ State Trooper (rtd)

Nice job. I like the looks of the router groove without the checkering.

Wingmaster

I have an old set of speed loader cut targets on my list of projects to make into FG combats like these on a 17-6

If you like them great. Next time try true oil, you will like the finish.

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Flipper

This gun was one on my wish list, so selling isn't an option.
It took me too long to locate this one to ever let it go.
I actually like them smooth, now that I see them that way.

I've read up on it, and I don't rule out stripping the polyurethane off and trying it someday.
I generally like the look of wood with a gloss finish, so that's what lead me to choose this finish. If I decide I don't like the gloss or it makes the grips too slippery in my hand, I'll be rethinking the finish.
Thanks for the tip on the Tru-oil.

Me too.

It is funny the difference in the two grains L & R
Functional is always good, especially if they were messed up

I'd like to see how they'd look stippled where they used to be checkered.
Maybe even stippled with a wood burning pen.
That would give a nice brown and black look.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

Those grips look great, beautiful job.
Looking at them, I kinda think I'd try to figure out a way to do an inlay in the router groove. maybe something bright brass or find a cord that fits the groove and glue it in and seal it with a couple more coats of polyurethane.

Or inlay some contrasting wood,a little sanding and voila!

Oh wait, I got it. recess the entire area and apply a tooled hunk of leather then make a matching holster and belt for it.
Talk about a BBQ rig.

or some silver wire and small conches (sp?) southwestern theme :-)

Geez, and I was gonna leave 'em as-is.

I see now that I lack vision.

You work,we side walk supervisors will nod and comment lol

On a serious note, I do like Snubby's inlay idea.
Something to consider....

With matching larger conchos on the holster.

And you know Hillbilly, I have 1 and soon to be 2 sets of K/square/targets if you want to do some more experiments or want to try something different than you did on those...

Looks great! Little dark for my taste, but I get why you did it with the two halves so different from each other with the grain...

You're just gonna abandon target grips altogether when your Altamonts come in, ain'tcha?

I wouldn't exactly say that now.... But I'm up to modify a set or if you need, could pass a set to you for keeps.

Fill in the router grove. Add a picture of your sweetheart in the panel. Oh yea! That will dress it up nicely. Just don't ask me how to do it.

Ithink its a nice job. The idea of a silver wire inlay in the groove is a good one. It would add a classy touch. Best of all, they fit your hand. Thats the point, isn't it?

Charlie

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SWCA # 2294

I fired Hillbilly's m19 today. I found it to be a very nice shooter and I like what he did to the grips. Much more comfortable than the fat targets..

I agree. I love the new profile of them.
Ultra-comfortable.

Stippled using a small diamond burr with a Dremel tool.

Attached Images

photo-4_zps958b8d12.jpg (74.6 KB, 76 views)

These started out as checkered K frame targets.

Attached Images

1133_zps4e26b850.jpg (89.2 KB, 12 views)

YUK! But, I'm glad you like them.

I think saving a set of grips is always a good thing. They don't always have to be resurrected to factory condition. The ones I showed were just beat to snot. Hard to put wood back, and, I can't checker wood, so a set of K frame square butt targets became round butt "banana" grips.

You did good, took off what didn't fit your hand, got rid of the dings. And, it's fun to tinker.

Oh Lord. So you're the guy that does that... I see your work all the time... here and I thought it was just bored bubbas with Dremel tools and too much time on their hands....

Please don't do that to any collectible wood. Thank you.

Boy, you guys are brutal!

Did anybody honestly think that I'd do that to a set of nice, well-matched grips?
I only did it because they were beat up anyway, and I didn't have $75 extra laying around for a set of Altamonts that I like.

Of course, I will accept donations....




Do I at least get points for getting myself a P&R?

100 years from now they will be known as folk art.You're just ahead of your time :-D

Hillbilly77 -
I respect you for doing what you want with your grips and making them fit your needs.
There are numerous Members on this Forum who have CUSTOM guns and grips.
I don't mess with grips any more but there have been many people that asked me to modify factory grips in the past. These started out as square butt checkered target stocks.
Guess what ? This Model 29 was modified to rd butt and short Barrel too!
Oh, the HORROR!

My .02 is pretty simple, like me: I like what Hillbilly did with his grips to make them more his grips, and I REALLY like Sgt. 127's modified grips. That one side looks great and if the other side matches grainwise, that's one sharp set of grips.

Hillbilly77, I believe the shape of the wood has much to do with how the gun points naturally in the hand. How does it point now that you made the modification?

It's actually more comfortable and points more naturally now than before.

It's also less likely to "rock back" in my hand now when shooting magnums.

Being that I fired his M19 the other day, I concur.

It doesn't seem to want to pivot on the middle and ring finger as hard as they do with the fat target grips. Your pinky is actually helping hold things in place better with his grips...

Dang Hillbilly, you sure have stirred things up! LOL!

That's been known to happen from time to time.

You?? Stir things up???? That's not possible! LOL!

I'm sitting here shaking my head and wondering why but I have no stones to cast. I have modified more than one set of S&W stocks to my satisfaction but not quite so drastically. Maybe if you hadn't used the polyurethane I wouldn't be so queeze. In the end they are yours to do as you please. Here is a set I did for my pre heat treated 1905 4th change. Not as drastic but modified just the same.
DW

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"NUTS"