Picked up a roundbutt j frame and absolutely hate the rubber grips on it, so I bought a beautiful pair of Altamont's bonded ivory classic panels to replace them. To my dismay, when I took the motorcycle grip off , I saw that the , what do you call it, grip retaining pin? had been removed. Smith is sending me a replacement pin- free of charge, very nice of them- but I'm wanting to know if there is a trick to putting it in... anything anyone can tell me to facilitate installation?

If you are referring to the solid pin that is at the very bottom center of the frame, that should go right in, some resistance but no tricks involved. just try to get it as centered as you can,although not super critical,some wiggly room there,depending on your grip manufacturer.

Torizus, thanks. Good to know. Goes in either way? Not tapered?

Support the frame, hit it with a little Rem Oil or equlivent line it up and tap it in with a brass or plastic hammer.

Another method for pins that are really tight.......

Put a socket or a small bench block with a hole over the pin hole in the frame, then start the pin in and put and a small brass block on the other side, then squeeze in a vise to press the pin in.

Later S&W frame pins are roll pins and can be deformed by hammering.

If it’s tight. Use the old mechanic trick my dad taught me about wheel bearing races. Put the pin in the freezer for an hour or two.

Then warm up the frame with a hair dryer.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

In the future, Roll Pins can commonly be purchased at most well stocked Hardware Stores. If you want a solid pin (as I personally prefer) I make one in a few minutes using a piece of Drill Rod.

If I am putting Ivory, Stag or exotic grips on a gun I MUCH prefer solid pins to the sharp and cheap Roll Pins. Worst case scenario if you do not have Drill Rod ( the stock that Drill Bits are made from ) sacrifice a drill bit. You can usually get a Number Drill to fit rather well and you can just cut the back end of it off with a Dremel Moto-tool. Works great!

I got myself a complete set of Drill Rod in pretty much every size available many years ago from a Machine Shop Supply Company that was going out of business. Don't recall what I paid but it wasn't much. I have been using the same set and cutting little pieces for pins off for 30+ years now. My supply is dwindling down and the last time I looked into buying a new set at the current prices I was aghast!

When my stock really gets too much lower I guess I'll have to pay the price or start cutting up Drill Bits

I throw those pins away. Are you supposed to keep using them ? I thought they were just for shipping, sort of like devices used for shipping appliances.

I hope you are kidding.........

Check out McMaster-Carr for dowel pins, roll pins, spirol pins, drill rod, drill bits, screws, and a zillion other machine shop supplies. They have the best online catalog of anyone, reasonable prices on quality tools & supplies, and super fast shipping. I just ordered (and got) a bunch of stuff from them for my drop in action kit prototype project.

Nope... I just made new ones from an old number drill (#31). I also super glued them in place so I won't be tempted to throw them away or simply lose them. I have a new set of Altamonts in the mail. When they show up, the first thing I will do is glue the pins in place.

"pins ? we don't need no stinking pins"