I'm coming to this party late, but let me add my congratulations on your wise decision to take the trade and make a few observations. First and foremost, if S&W ever built a gun that could be fired a lot (in this case there is no such word as "excessively") you own it! It's built like a tank and the SS finish might be scratched, but can almost always be cleaned up to appear nearly new. You may wear out the "innards" but you would really have to work at it. As for the grips, I would humbly suggest you try on a pair of the factory "Smooth Combat" grips with finger grooves that were current production about the same time as that gun. If you don't want to pay the freight on originals, somebody is making a good copy of them now (Ahrends? Altamont?) that I think would also do nicely. To me, they are just about perfect for the K- and L-frame guns (see attached picture of my custom K-327.)
Regards,
Froggie
