Strange Grip Adapter

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Wyo

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So, I recently acquired this K-22. Serial number puts it at 1948 production, grips number to it and it's in generally good shape. Not quite collector condition but very good shooter shape.

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It came with a grip adapter, though, that I've not seen before. It looks like it was probably made by Pachmayer, but it has the S&W logo and is also drilled for access to the strain screw at the front of the gripframe.

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Also, the front sight is a pinned type, almost like a Baughman rather than the Patridge type that sits on a 1952 gun that I have.

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Of course, someone had to paint the front sight. Anyway, has anyone else run across one of these grip adapters? I'm sure they can't be all that uncommon, but I haven't seen one before.

By the way, the gun also came with a holster marked "San Francisco Gun Exchange." Now there's a throwback to the good ol' days of yesteryear!
 
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There is a series of company names that made this style of grip adapter, not necessarily in order. Mershon, Fray Mershon and Pachmayr. The S&W branded ones were made for sure by Mershon and Pachmayr, but possibly by all three. These were not different companies but successor names for what was a continuous enterprise. The hole for access to the strain screw was drilled after-market by a previous owner. Except for the hole and S&W trade mark just what is it you thought was strange?


Here is a thread with more: Puzzle -grip adapters - Mershon, S&W, Pach
 
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S&W marketed them in the late 1950s and 1960s. If you remove the stocks, you should see a brass clip to the butt-frame. I have not determined if Meerschaum or another company made these for S&W?
 

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glowe said:
S&W marketed them in the late 1950s and 1960s. If you remove the stocks, you should see a brass clip to the butt-frame. I have not determined if Meerschaum or another company made these for S&W?
...........
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Umm ... Meerschaum is German and describes a mineral material used in the old days to fabricate pipe bowls :)

Mershon, on the other hand, was a Southern California company fabricating gun accessories.

I've been trying off and on to sort out the intertwined company histories of Fray Mershon, Mershon, and Pachmayr, and accumulated some stuff, but little clarity.

Common wisdom used to be that Mershon in Glendale/L.A. (both inscriptions exist) made them first, named "Sure Grip". The fact that several police revolvers dating to the 40s which I bought over the years all had Mershons supported that.

Based apparently on Lachuk's biography of Frank Pachmayr (a book I do not have), the latter bought Mershon in early 1958, but continued letting the company run under its own label into the 60s.

Sometime in the 60s, the Pachmayr-labeled adapters came out, and at about the same time they also made the S&W branded adapters.

What shoots down the early history is the 1938 Stoeger catalog, of which I recently acquired a reprint. It offers .... a Pachmayr Sure Grip adapter (see first picture). I'm stumped.
 

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shadowriders600 said:
Tyler also made similar adapters of aluminum!
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Those are clearly distinguishable by the finger swell. Melvin Tyler started making them in Oklahoma City in 1953.
 

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I believe that I have a small, medium and large example in my collection but would need to do some digging to find them. The extra material between the grip frame and the trigger guard is the same reasoning why Roper stocks have extra wood added in this location. Walter Roper believed that this aided the shooters ability to hold the gun properly.
 
Peak53 said:
I also noticed the ramp front sight. Doesn't quite look SW origin. What is the story on that?
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To me, it looks like a Patridge front sight that has been reshaped into a ramp. I did that to the sight on a 1950 .44 Special target barrel that was used in my M27 to .44 Special conversion. That Patridge was eating up the inside of my duty holster.
 
I'm really not sure what the deal is with that front sight. I have a 1952 K-22 that has a Patridge sight and the 1948 Stoeger catalog also shows the Patridge sight on the K-22. It could be a reshaped Patridge , but they did a good job if it is. You can see it has been nicely grooved under the red nail polish. Whatever the case may be, I like it. It presents a really good sight picture and it should also be easier on holsters.
 
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