Can a Model 36 be carried free of complications without its factory grips? Only the mainspring would be exposed and it shouldn't create any problems, no? With my Kel-Tec being repaired (long story), I'm just not as comfortable pocket carrying my old Smith. I did it for years, but it hurts and is bulky. I fired off about 50 today without the grips on with good results.

Can a Model 36 be carried free of complications without its factory grips? Only the mainspring would be exposed and it shouldn't create any problems, no? With my Kel-Tec being repaired (long story), I'm just not as comfortable pocket carrying my old Smith. I did it for years, but it hurts and is bulky. I fired off about 50 today without the grips on with good results.

There would be a great opportunity for dirt and dust to get into the innards without the grips.

I can't think shooting the 36 without grips would be much fun.
No disrespect, but this begs to ask why do you propose to do so?

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Eccentric old coot

I'll bet the stock pin left a mark!

It sounds like a really bad idea to me.

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"I also cook."

If you need the gun, and you are in the heat of battle, what happens when your finger gets stuck in the mainspring.....
Just a bad idea....
If you want slim grips, call Kim Ahrends and have him make you a pair.....
Your life is worth the price of a pair of grips.

Terry

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Terry
SWCA, SWHS, IWLA, NRA

Dirt and dust in the innards are the norm for pocket carrying my old 36. I once cleaned a bunch of beach sand out with Q Tips after a summer at the beach. Never mind pocket lint. Not much different shooting it without the grip, actually. It's a little more comfortable in the Uncle Mikes pocket carry holster without the swollen wood grips, for sure. In recent years I've shoulder carried Hi-Cap semis, but I carried the 36 in the front pocket for years and it was always uncomfortable. Wish someone made a very slimline set of grips for the J-frames. I'm indoors in the winter at work, the shoulder holster is out of the question.

Who is Kim Ahrends? Website?

Ahrends grips

Whether you can or not isn't the question. The REAL question is WHY?! Do you REALLY think the absence of the grips somehow makes carrying your J-frame revolver better? The fact is, the weight of the grips is negligible and if you can carry it concealed without the grips, you can just as easily carry it with the grips in the same location and manner with no loss of concealability. Tough it out with the grips until your Kel-Tec is returned to you.

BTW, carrying a .380 as a primary defensive weapon is another bad idea, but that's another story.

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Steve
NJ State Trooper (rtd)

I would think that the grip pin would be digging a hole through the pocket and your flesh.
The cylinder is wider than the grips, Why uncomfortable with grips?
Peter

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Need 1/2 moon Chiefs special

I thought that I had misread the post, but I guess not. To the OP. What in the world ever made you think of not using grips? Kinda bizarre, don't cha think?

rd

I would bet that you could find or create some ultra-flat grips that wouldn't take up much space. I agree with the other posters that shooting a handgun without grips is probably asking for trouble.

If all else fails, find some Kydex or something similarly thin and tough and cut it out to shape, then sand it down. It won't be comfortable to shoot, but it will protect the handgun.

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NRA Life Member

Just wrap it with tape.

I know of a few NYC cops in
deep undercover who used some
tape after taking off the grips,
and carrying in their pockets
with a wet hanky over it.

If anyone tried to check the
pocket and felt the wet
hanky....well... it worked

This makes carrying w/o a round chambered sound like a "good" idea.

Why, please tell us just "why" you think this is a good idea...or just how you came up with the idea.

Be safe.

Wrap the grip frame with electricial tape and it would solve the problems set forth above with the exception of the stock pin issue-you would have to decide whether you want to grind it off ot just tape it to the point where it wouldn't jug you-but then you would be right back where you would be with grips.

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Forum consigliere

For awhile I carried my model 60 with these very small stags. It shot well, and carried well. It also got stolen!

I could probably think of a worse idea, but it would take a while.

Todd

Anyone with a modicum of woodworking skills could come up with some useable (though maybe not very attractive) thin grip panels.

This idea of not using stocks is not new by any means. SCSW3 (p352) shows that the U.S. Secret Service is aware of it, and has done it in the past. Some of the local cops I knew when I was a lad would do this with their Chiefs. (I always thought it was a little barbaric. ) The stock pin can easily be removed from the frame, and replaced, when desired.

A very thin set of stocks may be a better answer, as the poster above proposes. One might use Delrin, in place of wood. It is available in black, and is hard enough that you could probably get by tapping the panel (not using a threaded insert) and letting the screw head bear directly on the Delrin on the other side. It would be kind of a quick and dirty fix, but might suffice nicely.

Without stocks, I would be a little nervous about getting something in the gun that might prevent it from operating. The SS boys who carried that gun on p352 probably don't get much dust and grime on them, in the course of a hard day's work.

Have to be honest with you, I got the idea from a neighbor who used to be a Hartford cop. He said he carried a revolver without the wooden grips as a back up. Not only did it make it easier to carry between his belt and beer roll, he said it looked the part if it were needed as a "drop gun".

This is a bad idea. For twenty bucks or so you can choose a new grip that will not only give you the grip you want but also ensure that you don't have to worry about malfunctions due to debris accumulating in the open butt of your revolver.

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Cert. Armorer: AR-15/10/M16/M4

Bad idea. Real pocket carry will result in lots of lint all over the gun. Without the grips, all that lint will get up in the action. Bad idea. Use grips.

And Clemenza advises taping the trigger too, so no finger prints are left behind...
Put on some minimalist grips, or at the very least, some electrical or friction tape on it. Pocket carry even WITH a pocket holster is a lint trap like a clothes dryer. Unless you plan on using a compressed air source and a blow gun on it daily?

BAD idea.
Since the cyl is so much thicker than the grips, how much concealability is gained?

If the grip frame is taped, I have to wonder if an adrenalized grip could force the sticky tape against the mainspring, retarding movement enough to cause misfires???

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Best answer yet, IMO, and nearly shortest. How about some service (vice Magna) grips as illustrated above?

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Formerly Model520Fan

Although many today will shudder at the idea, it's very easy to file down the standard magna grips that come on the gun.

COME ON, GIMME A BREAK! That is an extremely bad idea!

I carry a J frame in my pocket in a Bianchi Pocket Change holster with Pachymeyer Compact Pro grps. I couldn't ask for a smaller, more concealable package. Even so, my gun collects dust bunnies and all kinds of ****. Also, what about coins and car keys? It's a disaster waiting to happen.

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G.P. Charlie

I don't see a single statement on that page that says the Secret Service ever used any revolver without Stocks of some sort. In fact, if you look at that picture you will "SEE" the Stock Locator pin is still present. So, I think you're "Assuming" something without any basis in fact.

As for the basic Idea, well, I think it isn't a viable one in any case and would be asking for trouble. And, any holster - including and IWB - would be better than just sticking it in your pocket. Just because you've done it doesn't make it a good idea.

KK - I have been known to do that, from time to time. I beg your pardon.

One would think that if the SS were so weight conscious that they didn't even allow a front sight, a set of stocks definitely would have been taboo, but I will yield my "thinking" to your superior reading and reasoning. Maybe they didn't want the front sight for other reasons...

That gun shown on Page 352 is not the gun the text talks about. It has a Performance Center seal on the sideplate, whereas the text says there were NO markings on the sideplate of the prototypes.

It does, indeed, have a stock pin.

It also appears to have a high-gloss cyl, which indicates STEEL, whereas, the text talks about an aluminum cyl.

Soooooo, in my opin, that is NOT the gun they are even talking about.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Ok. Ok. Anyone care to guess just what that trouble-making gun on p352 in fact really is?

I think I'll put the grips back on, geez.

During the time frame of that particular revolver - the Model 442 "Ultralight" - was "developed" the Secret Service was 're-inventing' the idea of using Point Shooting methods; therefore no Front Sight. And, I believe that these were also intended for last ditch Back-up use and when you're to the point of "screwing the gun" into the ear of the Bad Guy 'any' Front Sight would tend to get in the way.

As reported these never made it into production. My 'guess' is that they were likely equipped with the "Eagle Secret Service" grips which are shown on the Model 460 Performance Center gun on the next page.

This is close to the worst idea I've heard thus far this millenium...and I've heard some bad ones.

Review:

Remove the grips
Remove the barrel
Remove the hammer spur
Remove the front of the trigger guard "FRIT'S IT"
Convert to DAO

It sure would be short and light

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Semper FI

I think I might be able to carry my 37 without the grips on it...shooting it without the grips is something I would not want to try even if a hoard of rabid chupacabras was after me.

You've led a charmed life if that's the worst idea you've ever heard, Skippy.

wilsh -

Like your style, bro!

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NRA Member
Semper Fidelis

I think you will do fine.....

But I would use BBQ tongs to hold it.

Oh wait,please excuse,BBQ gloves...gloves

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I Love This Site

The stocks don't add much weight or thickness...if you want real concealability, remove the cylinder. And you can also lose the hammer so it doesn't snag on anything.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

IMHO this seems like a very bad idea because lint and other foriegn matter could enter the action and cause malfunctions.In my younger days the gang bangers would put electrical tape around the grip region and trigger to resist fingerprints.I do not see how any advantage in concealability would be gained by doing this.I have badger grips on my 640 which are thin enough for my small hands and laugh at full 357 load recoil.Stay safe and God Bless.....Mike

I used to know a guy who had lost both of his hands in a farming implement accident.

He took the grips off of all of his revolvers........

You haven't read a few threads started by TwoGunsStanding.

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

conn ak, don't let these guys get to you. I've taken the grips off all my delete guns and they feel just fine, even with full house loads.

'Reminds me of the guy on GunBroker advertising a Luger magazine, with a regular WW1 wood bottom, as a unique item with a lightweight wood base for "special missions." Surely it saved several grammes over the aluminum ones, and was a "must-have" on dangerous missions where they had to go light. Never mind the helmet, shovel, bayonet, gas mask, just get rid of the belt buckle and heavy magazines.

I don't know just what "<span class="ev_code_RED">delete guns</span>" are but I'm guessing the callouses on 'RAMS' hands must be as thick as the callouses on his skull between his 'Horns' because that's the only way shooting any hand gun could "<span class="ev_code_RED">they feel just fine, even with full house loads.</span>".

And, that doesn't address the Issue - a very real one - of allowing 'dirt and debris' to enter the internal workings of the firearm. But then maybe "<span class="ev_code_RED">delete guns</span>" don't have internal workings - who knows!!!

KKG, I don't blame you for being incredulous about the unbelievably light felt recoil of delete guns. Those of us fortunate enough to own them, however, have learned to carry them sans grips, especially when flying, because grips show up on X Rays.

I had assumed that all of us old timers on this Forum knew that, even though we don't often bring up the subject.

Alrighty then....

To each his or her own. If you can fire a gun without grips and you prefer to carry and shoot it that way I say go for it. As for me, some of you may think I'm a delicate flower, but I find that even 38+P in a K frame can become somewhat uncomfortable to shoot after 40 rounds or so. So, I'm definitely keeping the grips on!