Does the delta grip absorb more recoil than the compac's?
Well, in the first place, that's going to depend on the hand geometry of the individual shooting. I've got normal sized adult male hands, but I have fairly hollow palms relative to normal, and my fingers might be a little on the long side. What works for me is not going to work for my friend with Sasquatch hands, or my friend with stubby fingers. So, take what I have to say with a grain of salt: it's how it feels for
me, which might not translate for you.
Secondly, it's hard to talk about recoil in these because I've only used the Compacs and the Ergo Grip Delta Grips on a .38 Special revolver, and I honestly don't recall there being any sort of a recoil issue with my +P loads and either set of stocks. I'm not saying a warm loaded .38 can't recoil out of a J-frame (or that some stocks can't transmit that recoil in an unfortunate manner), just that both of these are just fine in my experience.
My
recollection (since it's been a little while since I've shot the gun with either) is that the Compacs are a little fatter (so they give you more to hang onto on the horizontal axis) but they don't protect your middle finger from the trigger guard (a potential issue with stiff loads, as we all know) so well. The Delta Grip is fairly flat and feels like it'll drive back into your palm more, but
doesn't because you're grabbing so much of it . . . and there's no issue with trigger guard whack at all (due to the way it places your hand). Both sets of stocks point well, but the Delta Grip points better for me insofar as no eye coordination, thinking or wrist movement is involved - I can point blindfolded at a target and hit it with these. I find follow-up shots are faster with the Delta Grip, too, which
could argue that they mitigate recoil more, but I think it's really just a function of how they point
for me.
Hope that helps.
Edited: by the way, it was a really good idea you had to compare them to the Compacs, which also extend the length of pull/distance between the backstrap and the trigger to something that's a little easier for the average adult male. Both sets of stocks increase the size of the J-frame and take it out of the super-concealable package that is often sought - personally, I wouldn't use either on a pocket gun. On a 3" J-frame, though, either the Compacs or the Delta Grip make the gun more useful to me - the gun becomes a lighter, skinnier K-frame for shooting purposes. I would not that, while I've had Pachmayr Compacs for years and would sometimes trot them out for range use, they really didn't ride on my 36-1 very often - the performance improvement was not enough to get me beyond the detraction in the gun's appearance (I like blue steel and walnut), so I'd stick with the factory splinters and a T-grip. The Ergo Grip Delta Grip
has stayed mounted on my 36-1: it's ugly as a hog-nosed snake, but the sucker will
shoot.
