Kinman, please post pictures of your Model A in the lounge.
Bubba vs. Cokes, Bubba wins.....
- Thread starter M1Garandy
- Start date
I look at it as I am not a "care take" of anything I own!
What works for me is my business....
If some one doesn't like it, TOUGH!
Some guys soup up a Model T Ford for there pleasure.
So be it.
I don't cry over it, just maybe I should have bought it before that was done to it.
What works for me is my business....
If some one doesn't like it, TOUGH!
Some guys soup up a Model T Ford for there pleasure.
So be it.
I don't cry over it, just maybe I should have bought it before that was done to it.
Posted many times here, these butchered cokes had the bottoms shortened like the K frames pictured next to them. Only they weren't chipped like those. The late "Swamprat" at Colt forum and a member on this forum rebordered, recheckered and refinished them for me. Sadly, he died just a couple months ago. These chopped cokes fit my medium size hand perfectly and only look good on a short N frame. They look too stubby even on a four incher but perfect here on this 3 1/2" 27-2.
Those grips look amazing! Way to go!
Going back to the OP:
The "intent" of the guy who modified the grips in the OP is not, in concept, off the mark. The "execution", however, is pretty amateurish. But, it's probably not far off of where guys like Fuzzy Farrant were coming from. Personally, (this is just me...) I'd rechecker and reborder the grip panel, as per Wyatt Burp. I bet for a right hand shooter they feel pretty good.
If you ever want to see ugly grips, just go hang out with guys who shoot international style target, like Free Pistol, Air Pistol, etc. they'll get nice grips by Morini or Rink, made of beautiful French Walnut, etc. and then hack them up with dremels, die grinders, rasps, and then (!) start layering up plumber's epoxy, plastic wood, or whatnot.
One guy I know uses a die grinder all the time, and he often loses control of the tool. You'll see gouges on the frames, trigger guards, rear sights on pretty much his whole collection. It makes me cringe.
Best wishes with the Cokes!
Jim
diecidecimi
Member
I agree. I totally agree. Exactly what I was writing: the profile obtained is a Fuzzy Farrant style. I know, criminal to butcher a set of Cokes, he almost could catch a standard set. Btw, that's done. To me, for the same reason a refinished gun lose its value, so the stocks do. Amen. The best way to save something is to perfect the amputation's work, and then recheckering the panel.
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Odds are good when the modification was made the stocks weren't collector items worth a silly amount of money. 45 years ago, I thought the best thing about S&W N frame target stocks was that there was plenty of material to reshape them into something that would allow the human hand to maintain a consistent grip from shot to shot. They were shaped wrong as they came from the factory, too bell shaped at the bottom for good control with the hard kickers. So I modified many of them and turned them into something that works well. Still have a lot of them. Do I wish now I hadn't reshaped them? Yes, but only because they are worth so much now unmodified. But on a gun that is actually fired, they are much superior to when they came from the factory. (To allay the fears of the preservationists, I never altered any cokes.)
This has been a fun thread for me. I too cringed when I saw the OP's ground down cokes.
At best, I would "tell the story" that the prior owner was a motorcycle cop who carried a vintage 4" .44 Mag in a hip holster. In a high speed bank robbery pursuit, he took a right turn too quickly and his bike slid out from under him. He skidded for about 30 yards on his side and the only thing that saved him was the grips on the .44 Mag that took the majority of the road rash, grinding them down on the right butt side as he slid along the asphalt...
That's probably not what happened, but I'm going to think of it that way and look at the "modification" as a battle scar that saved 3" of hip hide and bone.
I love the "lemonade" made from the "lemons". Great before and after.
I too had a set of Bubba-ed Cokes - someone wanted some finger grooves and took a file to get-er-done.
They actually felt pretty good, but I had a hard time thinking what they were and what they might have been if care was taken. They went off to a a well known grip wizard, with the request - Do what you can, but if they're a lost cause just send them back. He worked his magic and this is what came back:
and on a gun...
I like to call them my "Diet Cokes"...
Now the question is, what the heck do I do with them?
At best, I would "tell the story" that the prior owner was a motorcycle cop who carried a vintage 4" .44 Mag in a hip holster. In a high speed bank robbery pursuit, he took a right turn too quickly and his bike slid out from under him. He skidded for about 30 yards on his side and the only thing that saved him was the grips on the .44 Mag that took the majority of the road rash, grinding them down on the right butt side as he slid along the asphalt...
That's probably not what happened, but I'm going to think of it that way and look at the "modification" as a battle scar that saved 3" of hip hide and bone. ...These chopped cokes fit my medium size hand perfectly and only look good on a short N frame. They look too stubby even on a four incher but perfect here on this 3 1/2" 27-2.
I love the "lemonade" made from the "lemons". Great before and after.
I too had a set of Bubba-ed Cokes - someone wanted some finger grooves and took a file to get-er-done.
They actually felt pretty good, but I had a hard time thinking what they were and what they might have been if care was taken. They went off to a a well known grip wizard, with the request - Do what you can, but if they're a lost cause just send them back. He worked his magic and this is what came back:
and on a gun...
I like to call them my "Diet Cokes"...
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