Types of Smith & Wesson Revolver Grips

[CombatController]

What about these? The Lady Smith came with L frame smooth stocks. The bottom pair came with the 28-2 although I know they are not original; they are very nice wood perhaps cocobolo? I put the T Grip adapter in there and would like to find a correct set for the gun.

But I have never seen either on any S&W so far.

 

[41magman]

1957 N Frame Target Grips - Cokes or not?

I just received a letter on my 1957 4 screw pre-29 from Roy Jinks and I am still unclear as to what grips came on my gun. The letter says: "... checkered Goncalo Alves target grips". Would these grips be "Cokes" or in 1957 did the factory ship targets both with and without the slight palm swell? Also, should they be relieved or not? Thanks for your help!

 

[VM]

I just received a letter on my 1957 4 screw pre-29 from Roy Jinks and I am still unclear as to what grips came on my gun. The letter says: "... checkered Goncalo Alves target grips". Would these grips be "Cokes" or in 1957 did the factory ship targets both with and without the slight palm swell? Also, should they be relieved or not? Thanks for your help!

Yes.......cokes and relieved.
"Cokes" is a collector word, not a factory term.

 

[Rogue12153]

I'd like to say a big Thank you! to everyone who provided info on this topic. It's why I like this forum so much and keep coming back.

 

[beemerrider]

Are these current factory?
(somebody should slap me. Barb? Lynn?)

"Slaaaaap!" Lynn, aka Beemerrider

 

[MIKELUVR]

In re-reading this entire post , my heads kind of spinning -
There was a period of time from 1948 to 1956 when the .357 magnum Smith & Wesson is known as a "pre-Model 27."
These are my favorite guns in all the world ; my name is Mike and I'm a Luvr of them !
If I don't include the oddball's and rare exceptions to the rule -
what various grips were placed on these "N" frame guns straight from the factory ?

 

[Göring's S&W]

Well the 1948 guns are just too rare to say much about. The basic post war 5 screw 357 had diamond N frame magnas as standard with from about 1950 to 1953 N frame diamond unrelieved targets as optional. The N frame magnas were hand fit to the frame and will bear the SN on the right grip panel when original. Very few if any target grips were ever SN'd to the gun. That unrelieved type is the type on my 357 in a current thread. That grip type was replaced with the relieved diamond N frame target, which was then replaced by the coke bottle type in 1955/56. The cokes were phased out around 1964, in favor of the relieved diamond N frame targets, which were then replaced by the plain non-diamond N frame targets around 1966. You also could have got smooth presentation grips as an option as well as special order grips as extra cost options.

 

[JP@AK]

There's a style I've been waiting for someone to post so I can find out their real name. I've always called them "service" grips

Yes. There are no photos on this thread of the earlier service stocks. On those, there is no wood above the stock circle. These went through various changes, too. Before 1910, the stock circle was concave. From about 1910 to 1919, the stock circle had a gold medallion. From 1920 until 1929, there was no medallion and the stock circle was convex. The medallion reappeared in about 1930, but the Magnas came out soon after. By the end of WWII, the service stocks were well on their way out, pretty much replaced by Magnas and, a bit later, Targets.
That is a very brief summary - and there are some exceptions. If I get a chance, I'll try to post some photos later today. Unless someone beats me to it. And there are some examples I won't be able to show, but I have many of them.
Jack

Forgot to add that the Victory Model, during WWII, was kind of a swan song for the service stocks. These, like those on the wartime 1917 military guns, were of the service variety, but with no checkering.

 

[JP@AK]

There are no photos on this thread of the earlier service stocks.

I'll try to post some photos later today. Unless someone beats me to it.

Dumb! I failed to look at page 2 of this thread. So I hadn't seen David's nice photos and excellent information. Sorry.

In any case, I hope the details I provided will serve as a good summary, anyway.

Jack

 

[MIKELUVR]

another member is asking about period correct stocks for his Pre 27 from 1952 in his new post - I directed him here

 

[mlapaglia]

another member is asking about period correct stocks for his Pre 27 from 1952 in his new post - I directed him here

My Name is Michael and I am search deficient.

I missed this thread. Thanks Mikeluvr for pointing me in the right direction. My original question is here

Not sure if it would be a double post to also ask it here.

 

[brokenprism]

Standard square butt Magna stocks look like this (except J frame).

　

Whoa! What's this? Looks like a 3" 28. Could it be, or is it just perspective?

Also, why do you suppose they didn't make N frame magnas? I think combats are too much of a good thing, and RB magns would look classy. My opinion.

 

[The Gila Bender]

In another thread discussing a rare transitional Model of 1926 .44 Target, Doc44 made an observation of the stocks:

.... Target stocks did not exist in the 40s and the type on the revolver are not the early type seen in 52/53. The stocks most likely date to 54-56 and are made of Goncalo Alves.

I owned a gun like yours for several years that was NIB. It has serial number S71099 and was shipped on November 7, 1947. It was fitted with Magna stocks numbered to the revolver. The S&W monograms in the 40s are slightly different that those seen in 1950 and later.

Bill

This prompted me to compare the monograms and magna stock medallions of a transitional N-frame (1946 .44) to a 1950 model (1952 .357), and a later N-frame (1954 HP). There is a difference between the transitional and post-1950 "Trade Mark" lettering style on the sideplate mongram, and it appears (to my tired old eye) that all three magna stock medallions are slightly different as well. The transitional stock medallion has a larger "SW" logo on a plain-ish background, the 1952 .357 medallion is more refined with clearly defined ornamentation on a nicely pebbled background, and the 1954 HP is similar but seems a bit muddy and not as crisp as the '52.

I know this is minutiea but discovering and studying small details are part of the fun of collecting.

 

[ProfSkip4212]

I first joined the forum some time ago, but posted only once. I fear I'm too uninformed to make any intelligent commentary, so I've sort of "lurked" in the background, occasionally reading posts that I found interesting, but never having the nerve to ask a question. However, I have a 3rd Model Hand Ejector, Model of 1926, that according to the S&W historian was sold in a lot to Wolf and Klar in 1930. It's engraved (and the real reason I got my nerve up was that I found a picture of similar engraving on a thread about that particular model), nickel plated, but instead of the usual after-market grips, it has bone grips. The gun found its way to Hinton, Oklahoma somehow, and my Grandpa owned it for some years. He told the story (and he told LOTS of stories) that Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, Dan Combs, occasionally borrowed the gun for exhibitions and lectures, and always returned it cleaned and oiled with two boxes of hand-load wadcutters.
OK, there it is. Now, what I'd really like to know is how to post pictures to this forum. I can't find any instructions on the site, so someone please help me, and I'll show you what this old gun looks like. The finish isn't pristine, but it's still a good shooter, very solid and as accurate as its operator. (with tri-focal lenses, that is to say, nominal) Help, please.
ProfSkip4212 (retired college professor, decidedly out of step with most of that ilk)

 

[MIKELUVR]

I have always speculated that Perhap's Albert Gagne may have been the Original driving force behind the Birth of the Coke Profile stocks with their Gentle Palm swell that shared a same Likeness to his Father's custom made Target stocks. Albert was also on the S&W Factory shooting Team when he worked there, and worked in their design & Development department.. Here is an early {1950" Time Span} set of S&W Factory Non-Relieved Non-Coke profile stock's that I have. They like most of that time span have no serial numbers or markings of any kind on the rear of them as shown...

[/QUOTE]

These grips ........ look to me to be non-cokes -
the checkering should be more like the one's pictured in an above side by side comparison ? I just want to see the differences .

 

[MIKELUVR]

....I see now where the poster clearly sez they are "non cokes" .
Would it be safe to say that before and after the era of "cokes" that the the checkered Target grips were available ?
So it might be possible to have Target grips that were made from either say 1951 to 1955 OR from 1964 to 1968 and not be able to tell which decade they were made in ?

Can the black washer changing to silver color help ??

 

[DCWilson]

I first joined the forum some time ago, but posted only once. I fear I'm too uninformed to make any intelligent commentary, so I've sort of "lurked" in the background, occasionally reading posts that I found interesting, but never having the nerve to ask a question. However, I have a 3rd Model Hand Ejector, Model of 1926, that according to the S&W historian was sold in a lot to Wolf and Klar in 1930. It's engraved (and the real reason I got my nerve up was that I found a picture of similar engraving on a thread about that particular model), nickel plated, but instead of the usual after-market grips, it has bone grips. The gun found its way to Hinton, Oklahoma somehow, and my Grandpa owned it for some years. He told the story (and he told LOTS of stories) that Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, Dan Combs, occasionally borrowed the gun for exhibitions and lectures, and always returned it cleaned and oiled with two boxes of hand-load wadcutters.
OK, there it is. Now, what I'd really like to know is how to post pictures to this forum. I can't find any instructions on the site, so someone please help me, and I'll show you what this old gun looks like. The finish isn't pristine, but it's still a good shooter, very solid and as accurate as its operator. (with tri-focal lenses, that is to say, nominal) Help, please.
ProfSkip4212 (retired college professor, decidedly out of step with most of that ilk)

Two ways. Both assume that you have the photos you want to upload stored on your computer.

(1) Use the direct upload to the forum approach. On the page where you compose a post, look down below the composition box for a button that says "Manage Attachments." Click on that. Then you get to pick the photo files on your computer that you want to upload. When they are specified, go back and make sure you have said everything in the compositoin box that you want to, and then click "Submit Reply." The photos will come along with your post, and will appear in your post as thumbnails. You need to make sure that the photos on your computer do not exceed the forum filesize limit. If they do, they won't be uploaded. In general, if your photos are formatted not to exceed 1000x800 pixels, they should upload just fine.

(2) Use the Internet photo hosting service approach. Sign up for a photo hosting account with a service like Photobucket. Upload your photos there. Then when you compose a post to this forum, just insert a link to the specific images you want to display from your Photobucket library. You don't have to worry about filesize limits this way, and the photos will appear embedded in your post instead of attached as thumbnails.

The only thing to look out for is that each link needs to be preceded and followed by the

tags. This happens automatically if you click on the "IMG Code" version of the link from the several options on the right side of the page.

Other image hosting companies exist, and they will operate in ways similar to Photobucket, but probably not identically.

 

[ProfSkip4212]

Posting photos

David,
Thanks for the reply, and the directions. As I'm currently involved with a project out-of-state and only have my iPad with me, I'll have to wait until I get back home. Also, I may have to re-take photos at a lower resolution before attempting an upload, so it may be a while. I also have a post-war Model 10, which shows signs of wear, stamped "Bavarian Municipal Police" on the left side under the cylinder release. I'll post that one too, when I get the whole thing figured out.
Thanks again,
Skip

 

[Pontiaker]

How about a pair of PC targets?

No, S&W never made a pair like this.

Yes, Smith and Wesson did ;~)

All J frame checkered or smooth targets look almost exactly like this from the factory. It kind of sucks, they look great with square bottoms. My dad has been cutting them short for years, makes them square bottom and I have seen at least one pair of custom KB grips with square bottoms and they look awesome!

 

[Pontiaker]

That left grip in the pic looks VERY suspect to me and that grain pattern is close but is not a book match. This grips looks made to match the other grip. The checkering is crooked on the borders and the back of the border is very poorly cut, double cut. I would bet alot of cash that this is not a matched set from S&W. Edit to add, I wonder if this was done later at the factory? Also looks like non factory clearance holes for screw heads on the inside of these. One from a rounded upper side plate screw head and one from the strain screw head on the front of the frame?

I have always speculated that Perhap's Albert Gagne may have been the Original driving force behind the Birth of the Coke Profile stocks with their Gentle Palm swell that shared a same Likeness to his Father's custom made Target stocks. Albert was also on the S&W Factory shooting Team when he worked there, and worked in their design & Development department.. Here is an early {1950" Time Span} set of S&W Factory Non-Relieved Non-Coke profile stock's that I have. They like most of that time span have no serial numbers or markings of any kind on the rear of them as shown...

These grips ........ look to me to be non-cokes -
the checkering should be more like the one's pictured in an above side by side comparison ? I just want to see the differences .[/QUOTE]