While pleasing to the eye, the wood stocks on this newly acquired 296 are not going to work for me. I need to cover up the back strap with an over mold combat grip of some sort.

The CT grips on my .44 Bulldog has proven to work well for me, but I really didn't want to spend the extra money for a laser at this time.

After giving the 296 an ultrasound bath, I stuffed a used Hogue Mono grip on the 296. It feels alright, but the guttered back strap is still exposed and the heel hangs down too far.

Any suggestions?

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Up until recently I had Pachmayr Compac Professional grips on my 242. Though an open back design, they are also available in a closed version called just the Compac. These days it wears a set of thin stag grips. btw, those wood grips look like Nills boot grips and if so are worth a pretty penny themselves.

Mine currently wears Ahrends Retro Banana Grips. They look good, but would not be great for shooting.





I also tried these Hogue Bantam grips on it.



Like posted above, I also tried Pachmayr Compac Pro grips on it. They don't cover the backstrap, but I have small hands and can't use grips that do. I qualified with for off duty carry, shooting 60 rounds of 200 grain Gold Dot HP ammo. I literally had blood dripping off my hand and had to take the grips off to clean the blood off the frame.

Won't do that again.

It's definitely more of a carry gun than a shooter.

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Bill

That sounded kinda brutal. Really though, the 21 oz. Bulldog I have is controllable with rubber grips. Recoil may be stout, but it doesn't hurt to shoot with its stock rubbers or the CT over mold grips. These hand slappers need a covered back strap.

My 45 oz., .44 Mag. Ruger Alaskan is a *****cat because of its shock absorbing grip and stainless girth. The 18.9 oz., 296... not so much.

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It was brutal. I'm not recoil averse, I think I held it too loosely for the first five shots and that split the web of my hand and as I kept firing it just got worse. It was one of those things that once I started I was not going to stop until I had qualified. Stopping would have meant beginning again or waiting and we don't go to the range that often.

I carried a 342ti for years as a backup and qualified with +P GDHP ammo annually. It too was brutal but not as stout as the 296. I may go back to my 629-6 fixed sight next year.

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Bill

Another fellow posted his use of a Hogue Tamer grip on his 296 several back. It's a compromise, but then I'd rather shoot it in comfort than carry it daily.

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The 296 has a standard L (K) frame round butt grip frame, so there are plenty of grip/ stock choices. If you are not concerned about their size, the Hogue grip in post 6 is a good choice, along with the Pachmayr Compacs (covered backstrap) mentioned above, and the truly large Decelerators.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Diamond Pros maybe

I had some beautiful wood combats on my 325. It was painful to shoot. I bought a Pachmayr Diamond Pro Grip and installed it. Still a handful, but no pain. The finger grooves didn't match up for my paws so I modified the grooves with my trusty dremel. Its my carry gun, it I want it pretty, I can stick the wood back on.

They must make this grip for an K/L frame. It is a bit different grip to install. You take off the old grips and then remove the roll pin in the bottom of the frame that helps locate stock grips. Then stretch wiggle the new grip on and then use a little screw provided that goes through the pin hole and the head kind of disappears under the rubber with just a small hole remaining. Gun used to hurt to shoot, now I can fire cylinder after cylinder with my hand not hurting at all. My wrist would get tired of it before my hand.