In the interests of education, illustration and fairness, today I received a set of Altamont "Combat" grips for the J frame (ordered direct from factory). Of course, they look nice.



The fit was actually quite good, and would have been usable for shooting right from the box. The tang corners are not perfect, but not annoying either especially for the price. The rear face of the grips had their characteristic "squarish" profile edges, which in this revolver I'm guessing is not going to be a problem with recoil.



However, speedloaders were a no-go. Although appearing to the relieved for them, it is faux-relief, and various cylindrical loaders (HKS, Safariland and 5-Star) either don't insert at all, or hang up on or after release.



Once again, modification was necessary to make these "Combat" grips suitable. I used a sanding cylinder on a Moto-Tool to start - this requires a light artistic touch to avoid disaster. Be forewarned! After that, various grit paper and emory was used to final surface finish. You could do stainless steel wool afterward if desired. Wood doctor topical seems to be better than Tru-Oil.

Two hours later... All working great now with the three loaders, although the Safariland is first choice.



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