Altamont Grips -

ImDrRich

ImDrRich

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This post is a slight rant so prepare yourselves. Mods, if you believe it is in the wrong place please move it, and thanks in advance.

With the exception of J-frame grips, I have had particular trouble with this brand of grips. They rarely fit exactly and there can be both play and slippage with fit. My range guy suggested I use a shim to tighten them up, but I find that goes against the entire purpose of a good set up grips. Of particular concern are the K/L - sized combat/banana styles. You can tighten that screw all day long and the grips still have some play in them. - Yet, the woods and finishes are beautiful.

I'm wondering if others here have had similar experiences?

Thanks -

Rich
 
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Yep!

But not just Altamont. Haven't found too many "non" custom mass produced grips that don't need a bit of tweaking.

Dan
 
I have never dealt directly with them about a fitting issue, but based on the popularity and quality of the grips and stocks made by Altamont, I would expect them to take solving these kinds of fitting issues very seriously.
If the grip panels move around after being positioned properly and tightened down, then something is certainly wrong. Perhaps a call or e-mail to the company Customer Service people would be a good start?
 
I have a set of Roper N frame conversion grips for a Model 29. The fit is excellent and I have not experienced any slippage or movement under 44 magnum mid range loads. However, the checkering is too shallow and too fine to be functional and the finish is ultra smooth and slippery in its own right. I find these grips to be hard to hold on to under recoil, particularly if your hand is wet, and I question their utility for this application. All in all, I would not purchase these grips again. Here's to a better year ahead, IrishFritz
 
Chock me down with Pine_Worker and Kruezlover. The Altamont Combats have been on my 637-2 since the day it was first sold in 2002. This gun has been my EDC ever since.

The Altamont grips are very tight fitting, very comfortable in my hand, just the right amount of palm swell, no snag points at all, good feeling with full load +P ammo and fast DA shooting.

The OP did say with the exception of J Frames, so I really can't help much about the fit or feel on K, L, or N Frames because I just don't have any Altamonts on any of those guns....all whatever S&W had when they left Springfield.
 

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ImDrRichard said:
This post is a slight rant so prepare yourselves. Mods, if you believe it is in the wrong place please move it, and thanks in advance.

With the exception of J-frame grips, I have had particular trouble with this brand of grips. They rarely fit exactly and there can be both play and slippage with fit. My range guy suggested I use a shim to tighten them up, but I find that goes against the entire purpose of a good set up grips. Of particular concern are the K/L - sized combat/banana styles. You can tighten that screw all day long and the grips still have some play in them. - Yet, the woods and finishes are beautiful.

I'm wondering if others here have had similar experiences?

Thanks -

Rich
Click to expand...

OP, did you at least try the shims as your range guy suggested? Maybe not as a permanent fix but as a temporary just to see if it works? I'm only curious, as I have an N frame with the factory rubber grips that I bought preowned, 4 years old. The threaded bushing that the screw goes into just won't stay tight, and wood seems to look better anyways, so I was looking at replacements. I suppose aftermarket grips would be okay (for me) if a shim would keep them tight. I was just looking at some online yesterday. My shooting hand says keep the rubber, but I bought a decent pair of gloves for this purpose; I just need to cut off the trigger finger part of the right glove. Thanks.
 
I ve never had any problems with Altamont, in fact all mine have fit well. Eagle grips, on the other hand, were warped, left the back strap standing proud or required fitting. Too bad because they have some nice looking grips.
 
I bought a set for my Colt Python they look great, but when I put them on there was significant slippage and I was afraid to tighten the screw any tighter. Over all I was disappointed with the grips
 
90% of the non-factory wood grips I get for my revolvers are from a couple of sellers on eBay who are located in the Malaysia area of the world.

With the exception of a pair for an SP101 that I couldn't get to fit right no matter what I tried, they have all been excellent fit and quality.

I do have Altamont grips on some of my L and N Frame S&W revolvers but they came with the guns when I bought them. They are holding up nicely and fit very good.
 
More than ten years ago, I bought four or five S&W stock sets from Altamont. I think it was a mixture of N-frame and K-frame sizes. I kept one K-frame pair and sent all the rest back because of poor fit. I should have returned the pair I kept. While the fit was better than the others, it was not all that good. I figured Altamont had improved since then.
 
I have no specific proof about the
fit of Altamont grips but I think the
company is caught in the trap that
S&W GRIP FRAMES VARY IN SIZE
AND CONTOUR. This was especially
true with revolvers back in the 1950s
through the 1990s.

The Altamont grips seem to fit
tightly on the newest Smith revolvers
made with the newer machinery. I
suspect the company is making those
grips to fit the newer grip frame contours.

With Magnas back "in the day" I
sometimes noted variances in the
backstrap frame contours, some a little
more pronounced than others. This
was in the day of hand finishing, some
hand fitting which so many hail as
a benchmark of quality. So you have
to live with those old time variances.
 
CH4 said:
I ve never had any problems with Altamont, in fact all mine have fit well. Eagle grips, on the other hand, were warped, left the back strap standing proud or required fitting. Too bad because they have some nice looking grips.
Click to expand...

Not to steal the thread, but I have 2 sets of like new Eagle Heritage. One rosewood, and one walnut. No problems. Love em!
 
My opinion on Altamonts is they're made to look at, not shoot. The ergonomics to me is horrible, especially with magnum loads. Their low cost is probably what won them the contract with S&W. I sure do hate that Ahrends went under. They understood fit-to-hand.
 
75Vette said:
My opinion on Altamonts is they're made to look at, not shoot. The ergonomics to me is horrible, especially with magnum loads. Their low cost is probably what won them the contract with S&W. I sure do hate that Ahrends went under. They understood fit-to-hand.
Click to expand...
The fit of Ahrends are great! And real wood too..
 
i posted these photos in another thread I started about ill fitting grips on an new 327. I contacted both Altamont and S&W about the issue. Altamont replied first advising try S&W then they would see what the could do.
S&W advised they are ordering me a new set of grips. I don't think this will help and I tried the grips on a 21-4 round butt N frame and the fit correctly. The problem seems that the top of t he 327 frame is a bit shorter than other N frame round butts. The first photo is 327 2nd is the 21-4.
lF6CYB0.jpg

rKnalMI.jpg
 
I've purchased 5 sets of Altamont grips, though none for an S&W revolver, and they all fit well. I had one pair I had to modify the right panel on because of an ambi safety but I knew that going in. On a couple of pistols I did go back to the factory grips since I thought they felt better - but were not nearly as pretty.
 
I had one issue. A simple phone call had the issue rectified. They sent me a new set. I have four revolvers with them now.
 
I can say that both sets of Altamont grips I purchased for my 629 fit the pistol superbly. They are snug and smooth with almost no noticeable seam. Honestly, however, the first set I purchased that I like the looks of fit the gun better than they fit my hand... But that was just my fault for not handling them before making the purchase.

A prior poster mentioned that they don't like grip checkering that is too small. I recommend to look for the Altamont grips with "Spanish Checkering". The diamonds are larger than standard checkering and in the center of each diamond is a small nib, which gives them excellent grip feel and texture.
 
Last edited:
I've had three sets. One I bought, the other two came with used guns. Two of the three were ill fitting. Draw your own conclusions.
 
I have a single pair of Altamont grips, a solid walnut set of their Roper style grips for the S&W K/L frames. They fit reasonably well, and the general style of the checkering is reminiscent of that done for Roper by Gagne, but the shape of the grip is too flat and only suggestive of the originals. They are mass produced to specifications suitable to bean counters, not artisans. Mine were on a project gun for a while, but are now residing in a box to take to the next gun show. YMMV

Froggie
 
To cite my post, #15, please
be mindful that not
all Smith backstrap frame
contours are the same given
different years they were
produced. In older guns
the contours varied more
than you might think.
 
Personally, I have always been a Hogue grip fan for my revolvers. However, last year I ordered some Altamont high end grips for my Smith & Wesson Victory pistol and the fit was perfect and I was well pleased with the finish.
 
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