Were combats specific for LH models and special models or were they widely available? or as an accessory option?

What year range were combats available from factory?

Why are they expensive in general?

I know, a lot of question, just trying to learn the history.

Thank you.

12 to 15 years ago you could buy them directly from Smith and Wesson for less than $100. The rest is just supply and demand. In 1975 I was taking N frame football targets off new guns and buying brand new smooth targets from my distributor for $45. Now those grips are going for $200 plus.

I remember seeing them in factory blister packs hanging on Oregon gun store walls , covered with dust. You could buy them then for "make offer" prices. That was a long time ago (1980's?).
Tastes change. Back then, at least in the territory I lived in, most everybody serious about shooting revolvers was replacing the factory grips with custom wood, Hogues, or Pachmayrs.
I don't know whether you could order them as an option from the factory. I remember the Models 14, 17, and 617 with full lug barrels coming from the factory with combats.

I used to have a FFL and I dug out a Gil Hebard catalog from 1990 and the combat grips were priced @42.00 and a dealer price of 29.40 same price for k/l and N frames. I saved all my Hebard catalogs from the years I had a dealers FFL. Jeff

Everything is supply and demand and more so after an item is discontinued.
The combat stocks almost always have beautiful color and grain so that alone will command a higher price.
When was the last time you saw K/L bananas offered anywhere?

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On the Model 17, the combats arrived at exactly the same time that the full lug barrel arrived, I believe late 1989 or early 1990. It’s interesting to note that this was the 17-6, and the first roughly 40% of the dash-6 have the very familiar ribbed target barrel and goncalo alves target stocks, while the later 60% or so of the Model 17 dash 6 came with the full lug barrel and the combat stocks.

I only know about the Model 17, I would venture a guess that combat stocks on other models may likely have hit at the same time… late 1989 or early 1990. If I recall, my 686-3 was roughly spring 1989 and it had goncalo alves target with speedloader cutout, exactly like my earlier 17-6.

I ordered our departments 686's all with the combat stocks. Not sure when, but they were fairly early ones with many AALxxxx and AAJ xxxx serial numbers. I still have the M improvement records from 1988 on them. :-)

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I remember a bunch of N frames with roundbutt combats in the early 90s.... didn't think they looked nearly as good as targets, and sure didn't feel as good. A long underlug barrel would pull the muzzle down cause the grip rotated in your hand. Main reason I got rid of my 610........

The FGSC grips showed up here by the late eighties. I was shooting in a casual PPC league at the time and found them to be a perfect match for my hand size and gripping style. I put them on just about every K frame that came in reach back then, and a nice set came to me on the Model 16-4 I bought when they came out. They stayed pretty affordable until about the last 6-8 years, but now collectors who can’t even spell combat grips are snapping them up and driving prices through the roof.

Froggie

True S&W issued "Round-Butt Combats" are simply a work of art and made from species of wood such as Goncalo Alves aka... (Tiger-Wood) and Pau-Ferro... aka... (Morado or Rosewood) of which both an extremly desirable wood species only to be known and grown within the South American Rain Forrest... Exclusively!

Not only do these OEM Smith "Combats" have a very attractive and honed/milled to a near perfect grip.... for any man with a medium to a large hand grip profile... (as most of us have to begin with) but they are made with very attractive species in regards to both esthetics, coupled with the Combat's ergo's, and profile... Far-Far more-so than any other revolver or handgun manufacturer has EVER attempted to do so! Most handgun manufactuer's put absolute ***** on their firearms grip-wise and stocks whether semi-auto's or revolvers...
And that is why the OEM Smith Combats in both Round and Square Butt's will ALWAYS here forth command a premium to answer the OP's original question... Hope this Helps!

The good news for those of us who shoot our guns and want attractive, original appearing Combat stocks without emptying our wallets, many of the ones coming from Thailand are great and affordable options that are often available on eBay for all frame sizes and round or square butts. For about $120, you can buy ones that have only one flaw - their fit and finish is superior to S&W's. I have numerous sets made of different exotic woods and I actually like them better than all but a couple of my sets of factory Combats.

Ed

Supply & demand. Here, in Italy, they are very affordable (when available: not so often): they are usually priced 60-70*
Note: euro and dollar are about the same

I bought my first S&W in 1989, a brand new six inch 66-2

I didn’t care much for the target stocks, felt they were too wide at the bottom despite having large hands, so I bought a new pair of combats available from the LGS as an original S&W accessory



I fell in love with combat stocks, they fit my hand well and some of the woods are spectacular. Bought some in the US, $ 175-225 for K/L frames, $ 300 for N frames. I also found some here locally in Switzerland, much cheaper, $ 60-90.

Then I bought a 17-6 with the wrong grips, so I corrected that



Equipped my pair of 586



19



A pair of 29/629 Classic Hunter. N frames SB combats are hard to find and expensive





Then they were stock on some round butts I believe

686



610



627

The ones on my 3" 629-2 are dated Oct of 1988. They fit ok but not as good as my Ahrends retro combat w/ finger groves so they live in the original box.

Same here in Australia. I bought my last two Square butt pair for $100 AUD each, which is about $72 USD at the moment.

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Back in the day, the revolver was the main work handgun. The first thing most people did after buying one was take off the wood factory grips and put on rubber grips. Most of the gun shops had a box of cast off factory grips that were cheap to free and still sat around collecting dust. When you found a shop that had the factory bubble packed grips hanging on a peg, they were usually covered with a heavy coat of dust. There just wasn't a demand. Smith realized this and started to put rubber grips on the gun right from the factory. Then the move was towards the semi auto as the main work gun and there was just no real need for them to start up the wood shop. The wood grips that they use now are geared towards the collector/recreational shooter. Now they are made of laminate and pressed and squeezed into shape. To my eye, they are ugly. I think they would be better off sticking with the rubber. So with no supply from the factory and a demand from buyers trying to make their gun factory original, the price goes no where but up. One thing for sure, twenty years from now no one will be paying big bucks for M&P factory grips.

While my first choice would be an original pair of S&W combats because factory targets just don't feel right, you are correct about the Thai grips. I picked these up for about $50 a few months ago on eBay and they fit just like a tight glove on O.J.'s hand. Love the color contrast, too!

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Re grips from Thailand; I’ve discovered that from a purely “using” standpoint, I now prefer them over the factory version because they enclose the rear grip strap. At one time I had factory FGSCs on my “using guns”, but I’ve now moved toward Thai grips on revolvers not wearing original Magnas.
I have found that the grips on my K framed Project 616 seem to have dried out and become a little loose. They are currently shimmed, but they really need a little glass bedding. The little J frame grips on my 60-4 are nearly a perfect fit, both to the gun and to my hand.

Froggie

PS At least one of the major Thai/eBay sellers advertises that his grips are made on CNC machinery. Of course this isn’t a guarantee of good fit, but what you get should be consistent!

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Ummm, no, no you don't... I have a set or three of the Tailands too. BS... They don't compare and you know it. Post some pics!

ETA: and when you do post some pics... Winn-Dixie called... They want "Their" pics back!

I’ve come across some very nice wood coming from the East.

Fit-and-finish are usually not as nice as factory in my limited experience, with the trade off of them having grain and varieties of wood not typically seen.

After a refinish, some of the imported grips are spectacular. I still prefer the factory offerings.

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I have fingers like Italian sausages and have yet to find a set of finger groove stocks by ANY maker that fit my hand comfortably. My Model 17-6 came with a set of Combat Stocks. I replaced them immediately with a set of smooth Rosewood stocks from one of the sellers from Thailand who lists them on ebay.

But looking at the price of Combat Stocks today, the ones I put back in the box for the Model 17-6 are worth close to what I paid for the gun back in 2003 ! I'm glad I kept them and they will go with the gun should I ever sell it. I do agree that S&W seemed to do a good job of picking nicely figured and bookmatched Goncalo Alves wood for their Combat Stocks and that certainly adds to their appeal.

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Twenty years ago I worked behind the counter of an old long time LGS in my area. There were boxes of NOS S&W grips, targets, magnas, combats both round and square in the factory packaging. None of them had price tags over $15. Where’d I park that Delorean with the flux capacitor?

Ask and ye shall receive. And who/what is "Winn-Dixie?" Isn't there a chain of convenience stores by that name?

Ed

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Live in North Carolina in the 1970s/80s and Winn Dixie was a grocery store. Love the looks of the combats but they really do not fit me well at all. Sold a set here a few years ago 17 minutes after listing! Bought a 586-4 a few years ago that came with combats and took them off right after taking some pictures!

I remember long ago trying a factory combat stocked revolver and my small hands did not fit them at all. So I lost any interest. Oh if I could only go back in time. LOL

Beautiful. Where can I find those round-butt stocks?

My go to store for S&W factory grips:
Smith and Wesson Revolver Parts & Pistol Parts For Sale – USA Guns And Gear-Your Favorite Gun Parts Store

I bought them on eBay - they are Thailand copies. The most I paid for any of them was $120 shipped. They certainly are not as collectible as the factory stocks but they look and shoot just fine. Their only flaw is they feature better fit and finish than a lot of factory ones!

Ed

I've a set of "Combat" grips on my 24-4 in 44 special. While the cartridge is special those grips aren't. Most useless pair of grips I've ever owned. the grooves for my hands are in the wrong position. Literally have to "Grab"them. Frank

I don’t know if I set out to focus on combats versus them just coming with the guns that I liked…….

For me they look nicer than they fit. I keep all my combats on their respective guns when not in use. I am always on the lookout for good deals on used combats, but they are far and few between. I got lucky when I found these on a table at the November Big Reno Show for $50. They found a nice home on my 610-1.

Ironically, you can easily get a nicer set from Culina for less $$

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I hope those bottles didn't start out your photo shoot full!

I badly need that 657!

The last PDs I sold guns to were 686s. They came with S&W Target grips.
This would have been about 1989. I took trade in of Depts. Guns and holsters. Many of the PDs wanted guns delivered with Pachs. I remember sitting and switching out dozens of guns and putting grips into bargain bin.
It seemed back then that S&W factory grips were for those who didn’t know any better.
I’ve always like S&W targets but not smooth grips on guns that recoil. For me those should be banana grips. Whether Target or Combat Target they slide in my hands.

Many times I have been similarly Jonesing……I stumbled upon this 657 in my own backyard. The older than me gentleman needed some quick cash so we struck a deal…..I offered him the opportunity to buy the gun back at a future date, and he replied, “don’t worry I have a 657 mountain gun still “……..I stopped feeling sorry for him.


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Fewer factory combat stocks were made by the Smith & Wesson compared to target stocks. So the nicely grained set of Gonzalo Alves combats in like new and with original finish commands a premium nowadays.




In my opinion these are the nicest looking stocks. I tend to collect these separately from my guns when I find them at a good price.




I also installed a set on a 681 PC Camfour whose original stocks I disliked. I think it looks much better now.

Here are some of the last of the factory N combats to come from Smith.

L-to-R: Flat-side combats, seen on a 610, no-logo Flat-side, and the S&W Grip Co laminate combats.

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