All this talk about rubber grips

[no-logic]

So I am relatively new to this forum but I have had a model 28-2 for 30+ years. It had the factory target grips on it when I bought it. Lately I've had more time to shoot and discovered that after 100 rounds or so it became really uncomfortable to the index finger on the shooting hand. So.....I tried some "rubber" grips and settled on a set of Hogue's. Very comfortable to shoot. Then I see all the hate for these grips on this forum. I know the wood grips look better but the Hogue's are much better for actual shooting. So are you guys shooting with the wood grips? Or are they just for for the awe factor?

 

[66Park]

I shoot with wood stocks. I really hate the way the rubber ones look. Having said that, I did have rubber on a M64 snub and and M60 back in the eighties because I couldn't shoot with the magnas that came on them, and I was unaware of any custom wood stocks that would fit the guns (this was way before the internet, and I was pretty much limited to what was in my LGS). The rubber grips did shoot well. Also, I'm not shooting magnum calibers. To each his own, but did I say the rubber grips look horrible?

 

[GF]

Welcome to the forum, glad your here!

I'm a grip snob - I like factory stocks ( that's what a grip snob calls grips ) and do have them on most of my revolvers.

I put rubber grips on my heavy hitter revos tho' ...

629-4

... because I, like you, want to hold on to them after discharge.

So, buy pretty stocks and post pictures of them here. Put Goodyears on for magnum shooting.

Nothing you do with your revolver is wrong if it suits you.

GF

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I don't even care for the awe factor. Hogues are great grips for some people, including me. I do like the looks of most Magna and service grips, and the guns are often usable with these grips if one adds a Tyler. But the bottom line is that guns are for shooting, and what shoots best usually IS best.

I have a 325PD that I would have sold, had I not found how well Hogues work with it.

I have Pachmayr Presentations on my 6" K22.

I have a 4" Model 29 that is now darn near a safe queen. It has been well used, but also very well preserved. Like many, I feel that it is a classic. Unlike many, I do not regard the original targets as classic, except possibly in the sense of "classic ****up." I proudly store and display my 29 with Pachmayr Presentation SN-S grips, rubber with no medallions. I feel that these were the classic correct grips for this frame, and probably still are. I have a pair on my new-production "1917."

I have wooden factory grips on most of my smaller Smiths, where a Tyler can correct their deficiencies, but for larger guns, Frank Pachmayr and Guy Hogue were the masters. They have been imitated, but not surpassed.

[Historical note: Walter Roper, whose designs were mostly executed by Matheis Gagne, was the pioneer whom Pachmayr followed. Not so sure of the genealogy of Hogue's designs, but there were others around doing that sort of stuff, notably Fuzzy Farrant and, much later, Bill Rogers.]

 

[Alnamvet68]

...and, if you choose not to correct the "deficiencies" of a factory magna panel grip with a Tyler T-Grip, then there is a plethora of deficiency correcting finger groove combat style wood grips, of which Altamont is on the top of my very, very small A List.

P.S. I do replace my wood grips for the synthetic rubber S&W full size grips if I plan on some extensive range time with my J frames.

 

[Old cop]

As has been stated it's mostly a cosmetic thing for most. I carry my 442 w/the wood magnas b/c they conceal better. I use rubber on the range when shooting more than 50 rounds to save my hands. When I was still on the job and before we transitioned to the Glock I had rubber on my issued Model 15. I was in uniform so concealment was not a factor and the rubber grips fit my XL hands better.

Lots of rubber grip haters out there but they do have their place.

 

[no-logic]

Thanks guys. I thought this was the case but I wanted to check with the real aficionados.

I'll get the magna's on my HP and take some pics for posting here.

 

[66Park]

I'll get the magna's on my HP and take some pics for posting here.

That's the spirit! You'll notice in my avatar that my 27-2 is wearing the original magnas. I can't shoot very well with them. I have some custom stocks fitted to my hand on order from Keith Brown, although those may be too pretty to shoot! Oh well, I don't shoot that one much anyway.

 

[souperdoo]

All of my revolvers have Hogues on them (except my model 19 - that would be uncivilised). Except for weight and balance, every time I pick up one of my guns it feels pretty much the same.

Why Hogues? Because they fit my hand. I tried Pachmyrs and a couple of different wood grips/stocks, but the cheap Hogues worked best.

I have the factory grips set aside and will always keep them, but with grips - form follows function. I'll be the first to agree, though, that rubber grips put the "fug" in "*****".

edit - Oh, look, you can't say 'f u g l y'...

Tom

 

[European]

I have Pachmayr Compac Professional rubber grips in all my S&W revolvers. They fit my small hands perfectly and absorb recoil.

 

[will527]

I agree with brother Wells. The rubber grips may be more comfortable with frequent firing but since I am blessed with the resources to have what I want. I removed any rubber grips when I rescued a S&W revolver, I did my best to place a quality set of proper grips on it. I have automatics for my carry, and when I want to show a classy girl off, I take one of my collection out for a spin.

 

[WaMike]

And here I thought I was the only one who was ashamed to show my choice revolvers in the black Hogues that I actually used to shoot them.....

 

[TAROMAN]

Where our rubbers go to die.
Quite a few added since making the image.
Hogue is, IMHO, the worst of the lot.
If I was to use any one, the now-defunct Uncle Mike's would be it.

 

[K-framer]

I went through a "cycle", as I call it, of messing with nice wood grips.....both making my own and purchasing them. I have become mostly practical-minded about it, at this point, with no more sentimentality. So, I switched back to rubber (Pachmayr). I've always shot better with rubber grips, anyway.

I still like beautiful wood grips as much as before, on other people's guns. Very nice to look at.

 

[gunny4053]

Not a Goodyear hater, I've just never found to many that fit my hand. I loved the Bantum grips on the J and L framed guns, but can't get them for my N frames, so Magnas and BK adapters are the norm for me now.

Blue steel and fine wood on a classic is just the way it should be, but if it hurts to shoot, there's always the rubber option. No sense letting a fine firearm languish from lack of shooting.

 

[M3Stuart]

Only a very few of my S&Ws came with the original wooden grips. So I have hogues or pachmayrs on most of mine and really like shooting with them.

 

[4barrel]

I STILL have my original grips & sights & deluxe box I bought new. If you shoot a mag you can shoot a better score with the aftermarket grips. The people that rag on these u can beat like a drum.

 

[ckpj99]

Couple of things:

I find it way more important for a grip to fill and fit my hand properly than to be soft and mushy.

Next, unless they cover the back strap, rubber grips are doing little to "absorb" recoil. They might give you a more solid grip on the gun, which might help with muzzle rise, but web of your hand is still screwed.

And finally, I find most rubber grips and magna stocks to be far to abrasive. The texture feels like it chews my hands up.

I used smooth wood stocks on all my revolvers. I prefer the Jerry Miculek grips for K/L frames because they fit my small hands and don't have stupid finger grooves. And I like a Bantam/Boot style grip on my J frame.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Couple of things:

I find it way more important for a grip to fill and fit my hand properly than to be soft and mushy.

Next, unless they cover the back strap, rubber grips are doing little to "absorb" recoil. They might give you a more solid grip on the gun, which might help with muzzle rise, but web of your hand is still screwed.

And finally, I find most rubber grips and magna stocks to be far to abrasive. The texture feels like it chews my hands up.

I used smooth wood stocks on all my revolvers. I prefer the Jerry Miculek grips for K/L frames because they fit my small hands and don't have stupid finger grooves. And I like a Bantam/Boot style grip on my J frame.

Interesting observations. They come close to my experience, but don't match perfectly.What I see as a common thread here is that the fit of the grip to the hand is really what is important. I can't know for sure, but I think that if the rubber grips, or even somehow the Magna stocks, fit your hand better, the texture wouldn't bother you as much, if at all. One of my best set of grips is a checkered set made by Roy Fishpaw for my 520. For reasons too lengthy to go into, I put them on a 3" 629. They work just fine there, checkering and all, with backstrap uncovered, because they fit my hand very well and distribute the recoil over the whole hand, not on just one spot. Rubber isn't soft enough to erase the effects of bad fit, and checkering usually isn't rough enough create a problem that really good hand-to-grip fit wouldn't eliminate from the git-go.

 

[perfectcircle1]

Its one screw and 1 minute. You can have both

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