Swing and a Miss on Hogue K/L Grips...Requesting Suggestions

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ScottN

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I recently purchased Hogue 19300 wood grips for my 69 2.75” k frame. The grips are combat style with finger grooves (see attached pic). The 69 is a woods gun for me and had been wearing Hogue Bantam rubber grips which fit my hand well and are comfortable when shooting. The only problem with the Bantams is that they can get caught up pretty easily on your shirt when drawing...so I ordered the Hogue wood grips thinking they’d be similar in contour to the Bantams.

Well, the fit and finish of the wood Hogue’s is great but my hand didn’t like the contour at all. Too much swell and/or arch made them uncomfortable just in the hand and even worse when shooting.

I have weird sized hands that are long-ish but narrow. I can get a full three finger grip on a Shield with the flush mag just to give you an idea of how narrow my hands are. Long, skinny fingers force me to wear large gloves otherwise medium gloves would fit my palms better.

So, now to the request for suggestions. I would like to get wood grips that allow a full grip and have mild to medium palm swell but not a lot. I’m considering Altamont Bateleur conversion grips or Badger conversions. I would love feedback on those two grips as well as other suggestions on grips that may fit my criteria.

Just for more perspective, I have experience with Altamont Altai k/l frame grips and find those to be too thin (not enough swell).

Thanks!
 

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Some of the older Mustang grips were longer front-to-back without too much palm swell.

Good luck. I couldn’t find ANY wood grips for the M69 that were comfy, went with the M500 grips.

Have you tried any round-to-square conversion grips?
 
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I put some of the Altamont grips on my J frame and really like them. They were very comfortable to shoot. Just ordered some for my SP101.
ecf4d2f1c20d7bc697c5e000eb544555.jpg


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Try something without finger grooves.

Check out VZ G10 grips. I know they're not wood, but they make great working grips and there are a lot of variations.
 
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The Culinas are fantastic and gorgeous, but the ones I have had tend to be on the thick side. For my 69 I really like the smooth G10 VZ grips. They are very comfortable and don't snag on clothing. (They don't come with medallions)

 
My 686-4 has been wearing these Altamont Combats for a couple years. Altamonts are a good choice for a little less dough than some of the other brands.


 
Try S&W Factory round butt target grips..... aka "Banana Grips"

No finger groves.....

IMHO the best wood grips out there are Spegel Boot grips and he makes an extended version which I use on 4 and 4 inch guns..... but a 2 year backlog on orders.
 
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PatriotX said:
Some of the older Mustang grips were longer front-to-back without too much palm swell.

Good luck. I couldn’t find ANY wood grips for the M69 that were comfy, went with the M500 grips.

Have you tried any round-to-square conversion grips?
Click to expand...

I have a set of K/L Mustangs like this. Long front to back, medium swell. Good for carry, but my hands are better suited to something different. They’re too long front-to-back for me.

ETA: i see now you are in market for RB grips. Mine are SB. Sorry!
 
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Culina's are beautiful for sure but I don't think you would want them on a woods gun unless you have a lot of money to burn and don't care if they get roughed up.
 
I'm afraid I can't help because the Hogue smooth wood combat grips that you received are perfection for me.
 
@ScottN

when your hands don't fit the norm, they probably won't fit most of the grips with finger grooves. You might get lucky with the standard Hogue Wood Round-to-Square Conversion without finger grooves and without cap


625-4.jpg


or the Ahrends Retro Banana (which are very hard to come by now)

Of course both are smaller for K/L-Frames

regards from Germany
Ulrich

624-rb-1.jpg
 
Wow, thanks for all the suggestions! I have some homework to do.

Full disclosure...I love the idea of Culinas, Herretts or Spegels but do not have the patience to wait nor the desire to bang those around in the woods. Some day one of those will go on a 686 3” I have yet to obtain.

The leaders in the clubhouse right now are Altamont Bateleurs, VZs and Ahrends (if I can find used ones). But, I’m stilling thinking through it.

Can anyone speak to the thickness and swell on the Bateleur or VZ grips?

Thanks!
 
The VZ round butt grips I own have a fuller palm swell than the Altamont grip, but not as much material in the pinkie area due to shape.

The VZ were my everyday grips on a 3-inch 686+ for a while, but fell out of favor during longer range sessions due to their abrasiveness. They will sandpaper your hands or gloves with lots of magnum use, a decent trade off for the all-weather grip IMO.

The current production Smith and Wesson rubber grips are now back on it, and they are a very good balance of size and grip.
 
The thought of hardwood grips on a 69 makes me cringe ever so slightly. Just seems brutal. That being said the wider Culina's may better distribute the recoil force with it's larger surface area.
 
SLT223 said:
The thought of hardwood grips on a 69 makes me cringe ever so slightly. Just seems brutal. That being said the wider Culina's may better distribute the recoil force with it's larger surface area.
Click to expand...

I hear ya but I consider my 69 a 44 special gun that also has the capability to fire magnums. I carry it with Underwood 44 specials as that’s plenty of power for the woods I commonly travel. If I want/need to fire magnums then out come the Hogue 500 x-grips.
 
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