Picked up these bad boys recently and I am in a bit of a pickle. To rip or not to rip is the question?? I know what the grips are worth loose and not sure if there is that much more of a demand for them in the factory packaging or not.

Eric

The question you should ask is, did I buy these to collect and possibly sell in the future or did I buy them to use?

I'm not a "collector" in the proper sense. Do I collect guns and the stuff that goes with them? yes.

Are they safe queens or not to be used? No. I used what I have.

So...if they were mine, I'd rip'em and install'em.

But that's me.

Life's too short to buy stuff then not use them.

I would sell them.

You know how it goes.....In the box with all the papers brings more dough.....If you wanted a using pair and I had one to trade, I would be all over it. Those have gorgeous grain on both halves. They are nice

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On the Oak Savannah

Personally I would sell them now while the iron is hot.

Then if you want a set to use go ahead and spend a portion of what these brought you on a nice clean used set

If you bought them just to hold onto keep them intact. If you decide to use them keep the wrappers. It wouldn't Suprise me the way this market is going if the wrappers become valuable down the road.Crazy as that sounds.

I would sell them and buy ones that are not in the wrapper if you can make money on it. If you cannot, rip that baby open and install those suckers and enjoy!

James

Every time a NOS package like this one gets opened, all the other unopened ones out there increase in value (however slightly).

Go ahead, open it up.

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SWHF #448

If you're saving them for something, or going to sell them, leave them unopened.

If you're gonna use 'em, open 'em.

This ^^^^ Simple enough.
If you have a use for em' open..
If not, Don't....


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

JMHO, but the first modern K-frame to come my way, especially if it were one in stainless, would be wearing those grips in my collection. Your mileage may vary of course, and only you can decide what you really want to do with them, but you did ask!

Froggie

You should save them until you retire. Fourty years from now you will probably have a hundred dollars or so profit, which in 2054 will buy you a quart of milk.

Optionally, you should sell them to me and I use the snot out of them. I'll offer $10 postage paid...

I get the value part of our hobby, passion, sport (call it what you will) and have a few things that if I didn't use them would have more value...to someone else! But, then I got to thinking (risky) and decided that I wasn't going to go to my grave and let someone else be the first to shoot my NIB guns, put miles on my older bikes, or open my grips and use them. I have these things because I like 'em and if I like 'em enough to own 'em then by golly I'll like 'em even more using and enjoying 'em! (I will admit I have a few guns I don't shoot much but I have shot them.)

What's the difference opened or not...$25? Whatever the difference...is it worth that bit of change for you to sacrifice the satisfaction of putting them on one of YOUR guns?

I know what my stuff is worth and I take excellent care of it but it doesn't matter much 'cause I don't want to sell any of it...I want to enjoy it to the fullest and that means use. You have to decide why you have the grips and how you could enjoy them the most. JMHO.

Bottom line is they are yours to do as you please. If you will get more thrill out of looking at them in the package keep them there. If you think more enjoyment will be had using them then do so.

I personally would find another set and keep the ones you have in the package.

So I have a couple they would look great on and I'll shoot them too. Gonna sell em? My 15 and 64 have a need for dress up stocks on occasion. Might be interested, like others said life's short I use what I buy.

It's only your decision to make but those with the grain and color of yours have always sold for big bucks. Two or three years ago I saw them at gun shows not in the original packaging selling for $300+ and some as high as $350 from dealers that has many pairs on the table. I was standing there and a guy bought a $350 K frame model 15 and he paid another $300 for a set of grips like those.

That style of S&W stocks are both ugly and uncomfortable but for some reason, people pay big bucks for them. I'd leave them in the package and sell them to the highest sucker - uh, bidder.

Leave 'em be and buy an opened pair for using; there's some for sale jere right now, and eBay regularly has some for auction.

Crack me open. Yeah you could sell and buy another set. But they will probably have some wear. And the grain pattern is very nice on those. They would look nice on any K frame. And they are so nice to shoot. Very comfortable.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1412003281.400983.jpg


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Life is short. This world is going crazy today. Enjoy everything we can today for the future looks grim.

A few years back I purchased some new s&w combat grips from the s&w store. They look killer on my m58 in nickel.

I'm glad this thread went in a different direction than I feared it would when I read the title.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Thanks for all the different opinions guys. I originally bought them to open and use but then got thinking maybe I would be making a big mistake. As soon as I get another square butt 686 these babies are getting opened and put on. I will post a picture of these fresh out the prison cell lol.

Eric

LOL.........

Tom K, is this an ironic post or do you really have the strangest taste and most unusual hands in the USA? Those grips are the most beautiful wood to ever leave Springfield and fit most average hands as well or better than any other factory grips... at least that's what seems to be the standard opinion around here.

That's what I did with my last pair of smooth combats... they're on a 6" Model 686 no dash. In my case though, I got the gun first and had to seek out the grips to use with it. For my money, there just is no better factory grip out there!

Froggie

I like that plan! They were meant to be on a nice S&W not on a peg...seeing that they're your grips it should be your S&W. Now get out there and find a gun to go with those grips!

There yours, do what seems best to you.

I've never held them, but think the price those go for is crazy.

Me, personally, I'd be tempted to sell them, then buy a used set and ammo with the difference.

EDIT: Like your plan, as good of an excuse to buy a new guns as ever was!

I just moved an exact pair without the package on ebay.
$190.00

You can't shoot a wrapper.

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'Merica!

I paid $300 for mine last week. But I got the nickel plated heavy barrel model 10 thrown in for free


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Such a deal !!!!

I'd try to sell them to a collector for maximum value. Take the earnings an buy a nice set out of the packaging. Take the profit, set it aside to fund another S&W revolver.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I'm in Tom K's camp, if he's being serious. I hates 'em. Have swapped off and given away at least three sets. That was before I joined this site, though...

Same here. I don't get along with those grips at all. Don't like finger grooves.

I have a set of those S&W finger groove grips that I removed from an N-frame M624-3. Unsure if I'll sell the grips or keep them in case I ever decide to sell the revolver.

No irony or sarcasm on this particular post. I've had a couple of sets of these that came on a Model 17-6 and a 16-4 and can't stand them. The finger grooves create a misshapen, lumpy surface on the palm side and do not match my fingers on the finger side. Appearance-wise, the grooves appear crudely hacked out and are almost comical. Who has a pinky that wraps all the way around a grip and comes nearly to the backstrap - E.T.?!




Well that right there is damning with faint praise. Nearly all factory grips from S&W fit my human hand pretty poorly. They look good but feel bad. Service and magna stocks are skinny at the top and wide at the bottom, which is fine if you're using the gun as a club but feel lousy for shooting. Adding a grip adapter looks like what it is, an ugly kludge to fix a situation that shouldn't exist.

Targets are wide at the top and even wiiiiider at the bottom, again good for using the gun as a club. I haven't ever experienced a set of true S&W cokes but have a set of Eagle grips which are supposed to be a close duplicate and they feel pretty good, a nice oval shape in cross-section. The later targets are barely rounded on the corners and just clunky.

Here are some factory S&W stocks, the previously discussed finger groove combats and a set of targets. Neither fit my hand. Note the base of the targets - looks like a 2x4.





Here are some stocks that look good and feel good - that are not S&W factory. http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/...ieldkid81.html





While not pretty, I like the feel of a particular model made by Sile some years back. They are no longer in production but I bought bunches of them when CDNN was closing them out. It would be charitable to call the wood "bland" and the workmanship isn't particularly great, but they feel better than any common factory S&W stock. They fill in behind the trigger guard nicely and leave the backstrap exposed, and are a pleasing oval in cross section.




Don't get me wrong - a pristine set of fitted pre-war walnut checkered service stocks is a thing of beauty. I just want to look at them, not shoot with them (although the older the grips, the more likely I am to leave them on.)

All of the above is just my opinion, of course. And my opinion is correct.

Tom,

Have to highly disagree with you. I think the combat grips are the best fitting grips I have ever held. I also think they are works of art with the beautiful grain patterns. I think I have 2 guns that do not have them on them and one is because I have got some good fitting badger grips on them and the other is well a Ruger lol.

Eric

I agree that they are the best fitting stocks I've ever held as well. I have thin fingers and wear and extra large glove. So the may not fit stubby fingers too well.


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