Since I'm going to begin shooting more powerful ammunition -300gr cast core - in my 6" S&W 629
( .44 Mag Hard Cast Ammo Question)
I got wondering if different grips would make the recoil easier to handle. Currently the gun has factory wood grips.
Are the rubber grips of assistance in reducing felt recoil? I looked at Hogue and Pachmayr's sites and saw two rubber grips. Anyone have these and notice a difference?
If you want to use rubber then the X-frame Hogue grip is hard to beat at eating recoil. It’s slightly more bulky though but it fits an N frame just fine. I don’t like Pachmayr for heavy recoil since the front opens up and can bite your fingers. If you have a wood grip that fits your hand then a glove might be good enough. But this is all subjective to what you feel is heavy recoil. The .44 magnum in 240 grain is enough recoil for me so I added an X frame grip to mine. But I rarely shoot that big so I’m not used to it at all. 255 grain .45 Colt is the most recoil I play around with on a regular.
Typical advice is to go with a bigger, bulkier, softer grip -- and probably, for most folks, that's good advice.
For myself, I have found the best recoil solution for an N-frame is just the opposite. Nothing I have found works better for me than Magna grips supplemented with a T-grip. I believe the secret is that this combo is small enough to allow my rather small hands a full grip, allowing me to really lock down and control all the commotion.
I have Houge grips on my 19-6, and find it very comfortable to shoot even hot .357 rounds. Yeah, there's still some kick - but it takes out that sharp "snap" you can get with some big-caliber guns. It helps that the grips seem to have been molded for someone with hands exactly the same size as mine... I picked the gun up at a gun show and couldn't put it down. You might want to make sure that any grip you're looking at that has molded finger relief actually fits - otherwise you might be making things worse instead of better (by not being able to get a good grip on the gun).
Grips and Felt Recoil?
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