I love these new grips on my 629-6 and would have put rubber grips on if it had wood grips anyway which saved me some $$$. This is my bear defense gun also and I want to be able to get a good grip on the gun in a hurry even if my hands are wet from sweat/rain/or blood running down my arm from a bear bite. My hands are small and even with the covered backstrap I have a good trigger reach which is the best of both worlds for me. If I were to really nit-pick these grips the only thing I don't like is the rubber grip does kind of hang up on your clothing/sleeve when you swing your arm while walking. I toyed with the idea of getting the rubber 500 X-frame grips but after info gathered here I think they might be too big for me. These factory grips with covered backstrap which helps tame recoil, good trigger reach, the material and size just work well for me. If it were for looks I would go with wood grips but it isn't for the " Look " I have this gun for.

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44 Garrett Defender Ammo 4 me.