Altamont "Super Rosewood" = Nice!

[TucsonMTB]

These are smooth "Super Rosewood" boot grips that arrived about a week after being ordered.

"She Who Must Be Obeyed" has soft rubber S&W grips on her J-frame (638-3). She thought these grips were really pretty. But, during their first range session, the square rear edge on the top of left side of the grips dug a hole in the web of my wife's right hand . . . after only a few rounds of normal pressure, 38 special. Ouch!

Fortunately, after a little time spent in the garage today using sandpaper, that square edge is now smoothly rounded, as you can see in this picture.

I posted this mostly because I thought some of you might be interested in how easy it is to restore the surface shine and deep luster of the wood after reshaping Altamont grips. Apparently, Altamont's wooden grip material is impregnated with something that allows simple polishing of the sanded area to restore the original luster and the glorious appearance of depth the wood grain exhibits.

In an email exchange, Altamont recommended 400 grit sand paper, followed by buffing with "white rouge".

Because ya' gotta' use what ya' have on hand, my approach was to round off the corner of the grip with 320 grit sand paper and then follow with 1500 grit paper to eliminate the scratches. Final polishing was performed using red rouge and a felt wheel, with my Dremel tool spinning at a relatively slow speed.

Remarkably, the results in person are just as nice as they appear in this picture, maybe nicer since you can see the depth of the finish as you turn the pistol in your hand.

 

[hotrod150]

The colored laminate grips can look really nice. I had a set of rosewood laminate boots from Jim Badger that had beautiful "figure". I liked the grips so much I held onto the SB Chief Special they were on for a long time, even though a SB j-frame doesn't really fit my hand very well.

 

[wproct]

Wow! The fit of those grips looks perfect.

 

[TucsonMTB]

Wow! The fit of those grips looks perfect.

Yes! In all the noticeable areas, the fit is very impressive, especially if you have ever tried to make revolver grips yourself.

There is a 0.035" gap between the two halves in the front of the grip. It makes an evenly spaced, open slot the whole length of the area where your fingers rest. When looking at the front of grip, it is noticeable. But, you can just barely feel it when gripping the gun to shoot. So, it is easy to ignore.

The other areas of the grip do seem perfect.

I am a very happy camper, especially considering the beautiful wood.

 

[TucsonMTB]

We bought another set of Altamonts just before Christmas. They are "Combat" grips made from Super Rosewood and offer a little more grip length than our first set of boot grips. The added grip length seemed important because they were intended for my wife's 638-3. But, like my boot grips, she still finds them uncomfortable while shooting.

So, trying them on my 642-1 seemed like a good idea. At the range, compared with the Altamont boot grips that work well for me, I wasn't too happy with them either.

This evening, after looking them over and taking a few measurements, it became clear that they are closer to the same size as the boot grips than they look, but lacked the thumb rest that helps make the boot grips stable, for me.

So, I broke out some sand paper and the Dremel buffing wheel and went to work thinning the top to provide a thumb rest area. The resulting shape has a nice side benefit. My clunky, old Dade speed loaders (with one layer of electrical tape to prevent their springs from scratching the revolver) now fit with plenty of room to spare. They are almost as easy to use as Jet-Loaders and that's very cool.

I continue to be amazed at how easy it is to get nice results when modifying an Altamont grip. Sand to reshape an area of the grip, smooth it with 1500 grit paper, and then polish it with the Dremel felt wheel using a little rouge. You are done. Just like the original "finish", there is nothing on the surface of the modified area and the glossy surfaces match the rest of the grip perfectly.

 

[RonS]

Stabilized wood takes a nice shine when polished. Have made several knives using it.

 

[Old No7]

Those look great, good report.

And it's nice to know we can easily touch them up (or more, as you've done) if needed and still end up with a factory-quality grip.

Guess I like their Super Rosewood grips too! You can see here that the "shade of red" can vary a little from grip to grip, but that's not an issue for me. The fit and finish of these grips is great, in my opinion -- with great gun handling too -- as was the pricing and delivery. Every time I handle them, I still marvel at the execution of the checkering and Fleur-de-lis detail on my 686 & 631... Nice!

Tight groups.

Old No7

 

[Culina]

I think you just discovered why a lot of grip manufacturers use laminated woods.

In addition to being easy to finish, I am sure you don't find a lot of surprises like hidden voids, worm holes, checks, knots and of course chipping while in production. Plus, you don't have to really know too much about wood to cut some up, chuck it in a vise and press the green "start" button on a CNC mill.

 

[outflyin]

I bought a set of Altamont super walnut checkered boot grips for my 686 Plus and was quite impressed with the quality and the looks. The checkering is very good.

The grip is fatter than the stock rubber grips but that doesn't really bother me much. My hands aren't huge, but they're not small either. What bothers me more is the flatness of the underside of the grips right behind the trigger - the part that rests on my second finger. I think it would be a much better fit if it were curved up in more like the rubber grips which allows a higher grip on the gun. Too bad Altamont isn't interested in customer feedback. I may have to try some dremeling there. I also noticed a slight interference with HKS speed loaders, but not enough to be a big problem.

I had the exact same problem with the square corner on the upper left grip hurting the web of my thumb when shooting full power .357. Not a problem with .38 Special or lighter loaded .357. I had the same pleasant surprise after sanding it down with fine grit - no refinishing needed. I didn't even have to polish it because it's such a small area you can't see any difference.

I thought the fit was very good as well, but found the exact same gap in the front as mentioned above. I sent Altamont a very nice email praising their quality but asking about the gap in the front. It's not that big of a deal but I thought it would be something they'd be interested in since every other aspect of the product has such obvious great attention to detail. It would seem to be a fairly easy thing to correct to make the grips virtually perfect. But Altamont completely ignored me, even after I gave them plenty of time to reply before sending another email just in case the first one got lost or overlooked. A third email was also ignored. I know some folks don't like to use email, but they responded to my emails a couple of times when I was asking pre-buy questions. Too bad they care so little for their customers post-buy. This really soured me on an otherwise great product. I had plans to order some other grips from them but now I'm not so sure. When I placed the order on the phone, the conversation was a bit cold and impersonal. I felt like I was bothering him. I don't expect to be treated like Smith & Wesson, but a little friendliness would go a long way. That wouldn't even bother me with a great product, but being flatly ignored after the purchase really bothers me. I would have been happy with a simple, yeah we know about that, or thanks for the feedback. It's not like I was being a pain about it.

 

[Nemo288]

These don't have a flat front and so far soak up the recoil well:

 

[outflyin]

By the flatness on the underside of the grips, I meant the horizontal area right behind the trigger guard. On the rubber grips it's rounded up in, giving a nice higher grip on the gun (indicated by the red arrow in the pic). The Altamont grips leave that area filled in flat instead of rounded out, resulting in a lower, less comfortable grip.

 

[TucsonMTB]

Yeah, that curve looks like it would help reduce finger slapping by the trigger guard. I can see that I would be wrapping some 320 grit around a 5/8" dowel and going to work on your grips, were they mine.

You probably have a more deft touch than I. It's hard for me to get smooth curves with the Dremel. So, I usually reshape by hand.

I have also noticed that it is hard to put wood back on, which may partly explain Altamont's reluctance to cut that curve for you, especially if some other customers like the flatter shape. I dunno what the bulk of their customers like. Based on your comments, they may not either.

In any event, I am pleased at being able to reshape to my heart's content and end up with a great final finish so easily.

 

[outflyin]

You're probably right about the hand-shaping being a better idea.

I'll probably wait for some warmer weather and some more shooting time with these grips before risking their good looks by carving on them that much. The feel is not really that bad. I may just need to get used to it.

My finger is not getting hit by the trigger guard with either of these grips.

If I could just find someone who made a nice wood grip shaped much like the rubber one, but in a boot style... Altamont came pretty close.

I agree it is great to be able to work on it without messing up the finish. I used 400 grit on that corner and nothing else but a little hand rubbing with whatever oils may have been on the gun and my hands at the time and you can't tell there was any work done even under a magnifying light.

 

[TucsonMTB]

These don't have a flat front and so far soak up the recoil well:

Nice grips and a beautiful revolver, sir! Thank you for sharing.