Are there any tips for spotting what dealers lovingly call "aftermarket" grips that look factory? Thanks for any insights,,,

Some of them are much better than anything the factory has put out in the last 70 years. The factory degraded to the point where the wood they were using looks like it was salvage from scrap pallets. The better makers use a select grade of fancy walnut, at least the equal to the best factory wood from the 1930s.

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Dick Burg

about 30 years ago when I was buying every pair S&W rosewood target grips that I could find if they had the black or silver washers on the back I figured they were orig grips. A few years later I was at the Tulsa show and I was looking at S&W grips and I saw some that had the S&W emblems but no washers, I asked the fellow if they were fakes and he got a little short with me and said NO they were real. A year or two later I took the target grips off my 657 and low and behold he was right, the round that fits in the frame was routed and no washer. I felt kind of dumb not to know I had a pair just like his! Jeff

I asked one of the forum members, who has an extensive collection, if he would consider putting anything but originals on his S&W revolvers. He said that he would, and had several with aftermarket stocks. I just bought a set of Kuracs, and they are beautiful, and with the S&W medallions. Are you concerned that you will be sold non S&W stocks as originals? About the only thing that I can think of is that I haven't seen any aftermarkets with washers. But, you could write volumes about what I don't know, haven't seen, and will probably never see. Sometimes the date is stamped on the inside, but I am not so sure that it means anything either. I bought a nickel 27-2 from Fugate Firearms quite a while back, that was advertised as a 1980 100% NIB transition gun that had a recessed cylinder, but no pinned barrel. They advertised the year of the gun based on the serial number. I took the grips off, and they were stamped 1985. How did 1985 grips get on a 1980 gun, that was NIB. I called Matt Fugate, and he said that they didn't take the grips off every gun that they took in as trade or bought. I was a little disappointed, as I thought the gun was as advertised, 1980. But, I then find out that during the transition, they made "parts guns" from parts from one style that would work on the next style. The only grips that I would take as original would be either magnas stamped to match the gun, or an older set of target stocks without the cut out (the football style) with washers. This probably hasn't been any help, its just that with the aftermarkets being as nice as they are, unless you are a serious collector, and wants everything original, that is a headache that most folks wouldn't want, that is, worrying about whether stocks are original or not.
DLB

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Be Kind! John 3:16,14:27

There are some great aftermarket grips out there and in my humble opinion Kuracs are one of the best and most affordable and their are others that cost a lot but are stone dead beautiful from other top makers. Ahrends makes a great set of grips that are very affordable. These people don't try to replicate the S&W grips they just produce a beautful alternative to them.

As far as fake S&W grips go I guess there may be a few but I'm never seen a pair that looked enough like them to fool me.

The two that look most original I have seen are the
Eagle grips at
Smith & Wesson Grips |Smith & Wesson Grips Hand Gun Grips, Gun Handles, Pistol Grip from Eagle Grips - Eagle Grips Inc. - Gun Grips

and Kyle grips at
Smith and Wesson Double Action



Both offer S&W medallions and retro diamonds.

As long as they are not bought or sold as originals I dont see any problem,
The supply is way short of the demand and prices are high enough to warrant some enterprising individual making quality copies to fill the needs of buyers.

If I had a grip company I would make exact replicas of the N diamond cokes and K diamond targets as well as Finger groove combats all with medallions of course.
$2 in hardware and $2 worth of wood = $75 grips....Hmmm?

The interest in older S&W handguns has gotten to the point where people are attempting to market clone or knock-off grips as "factory original" or "correct."

Many are fooled by the S&W logo embedded into the grips themselves and simply assume they were made by S&W.

The clone manufacturers became prominent after the target "football" style was changed to the speed loader cut-outs. Today there is a company in Thailand that makes grips that are exact replicas of the old "footballs." To their credit they market them as "replacements" rather than attempt to sell them as the real thing.

I've been collecting for over thirty five years and it's easy for a long term collector to tell the difference. The woods chosen, the inletting style, the quality of the checkering (one area where the clones are almost always sharper and the lines more consistent and better), and the inclusion of washers.

Correct is correct. With the value of vintage grips continually going upward expect to see ever more creative attempts to fool the unwary.....

Buying clones to me is a lot like buying a Taurus because it looks kinda like a S&W. It just ain't the same and never will be.......

JMHO

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Terry

Don't forget Keith Brown's awesome looking grips.

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Miss Buddies crsides & fat tom