Grip Adapter

[Gearhead Jim]

I have a pair of K-frames, one square butt and one round butt, I've been trying to get a S&W or Pachmayr grip adapter for each of them.

Last year I found a S&W version, the box was marked "Medium" which I believe refers to how much of the void the adapter fills, not what frame size it's made for. The other end flap was missing, that's probably the part which designates the frame size.

When I installed this adapter on each of my K guns (round and square), it fit properly at the top in the big void but the lower end, near the bottom of the frontstrap, sits 1/8"-1/4" away from the frame, so it doesn't really work.

Searching the web, I find a few Tyler versions with the bump I don't like, but no S&W/Pachmayr anywhere.

Has anyone found a source for these?
Thanks!

 

[StrawHat]

The Pachmyer, S&W and Mershon grip adapters I have purchased are usually found in LGS or online. Non of them have been made in decades so it is all aftermarket. Perhaps an ad in our Want to Buy section would help you?

The “bump” you reference, is that the finger grip?

Kevin

 

[Gearhead Jim]

^^^
Yes, the "bump" is that finger groove thingy. Some folks like them, but I don't.
If I don't find something soon, I try the Want to Buy section, silly that I didn't think of that.
Thanks.

 

[JP@AK]

FYI. Any Mershon you find will be older. Pachmayr bought them out in the late 1950s. If you end up with a Mershon, I'd be interested in knowing what address is on it. I've been trying to track the address changes on those, from the different locations in S. Cal. The early ones had an L.A. zone number on them. Some of us are old enough to remember "Zones."

 

[Absalom]

The Pachmyer, S&W and Mershon grip adapters I have purchased are usually found in LGS or online. None of them have been made in decades so it is all aftermarket.

Indeed, the Mershons were produced only into the 1960s, the Pachmayrs largely disappeared as new production by the end of the 1980s or so, and the S&W branded ones, also made by Pachmayr as a contract job, were a relatively short-timed 1960s/70s thing. But since heaps of them were produced, you could find them relatively easily in gun show bins. That‘s been drying up over last decade.

 

[Absalom]

.... I've been trying to track the address changes on those, from the different locations in S. Cal. The early ones had an L.A. zone number on them. Some of us are old enough to remember "Zones."

Jack:

Have you figured out whether the L.A. or the Glendale address is the earlier one? And where the “Fray-Mershon” labeled ones fit in?

My oldest one, on a 1942 Colt, has Glendale. Of course there is no proof that its origin is contemporaneous with the gun, but it looks like it

 

[JP@AK]

I've always thought Glendale came later. But I don't have proof of that. Your first two are interesting. The one that just says Los Angeles is, I believe, older than the one with the Zone 15 on it (LA 15).

I think that the order of your three is:
LA
LA 15
Glendale

There are actually a couple other variations too.

I think they moved the plant to Glendale sometime in the early 1950s. I have one that came to me on a non-model-marked K-22 that was a gift from my uncle. He bought it in 1958 and put the adapter on it at that time. It says Glendale. That revolver shipped from Springfield on January 17, 1958. I have the box with an original price sticker on it - $72.00. My uncle lived in Van Nuys at the time.

 

[Absalom]

The problem is indeed that the gun doesn‘t necessarily tie the adapter to a date.

The 1942 Colt has Glendale on the left side. Both my S-prefix M&P‘s, 1946 and 1947, came with Glendale adapters stamped on the right side. The only gun I bought that had an L.A. 15 adapter installed was a 1968-shipped NYPD 10-6.

 

[weatherby]

I couple more for Jack.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

I have a pair of K-frames, one square butt and one round butt, I've been trying to get a S&W or Pachmayr grip adapter for each of them.

Last year I found a S&W version, the box was marked "Medium" which I believe refers to how much of the void the adapter fills, not what frame size it's made for. The other end flap was missing, that's probably the part which designates the frame size.

Gearhead Jim
The size on the box "Medium" is the size frame designation. It has nothing to do with any void in the fit. As you can see in the pictures, I have all three frame sizes, including one marked J38.

 

[majick47]

Re the S&W grip adapters my understanding from reading posts/threads on this forum that the S&W large adapter fits the K medium frame revolvers. I have a couple of large S&W adapters for my K frames but presently using Tyler T adapters. As mentioned check LGS, gun shows and Ebay, surprisingly the Mershon, Pachmayer and S&W adapters are fairly reasonably priced nothing like the current high prices for the Tylers.

 

[majick47]

Club Gun Fan nice collection of S&W grip adapters/boxes in excellent shape, never seen a J38 before, for a square butt J frame? I have what I assume is a small, didn't come with a S&W box, on a round butt J frame and it fits perfectly. I'v seen the measurements for the large S&W adapter, might of been 65mm, if the forum had the measurements of the the medium and small S&W adapters that would help identify which size they are since other than the S&W logo there is no size stamped on the S&W adapters. Mershon and Pachmayer have numbers/letters stamped on their adapters, also members have posted fit charts for both.

 

[JP@AK]

The problem is indeed that the gun doesn‘t necessarily tie the adapter to a date.

Oh, I completely agree. My only point with the K-22 is that I'm sure when the gun was bought. I seriously doubt my Uncle Dick bought the adapter before he bought the gun. He wasn't any sort of collector. But, of course, he could have bought it second hand . . .

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I have a pair of K-frames, one square butt and one round butt, I've been trying to get a S&W or Pachmayr grip adapter for each of them.

Last year I found a S&W version, the box was marked "Medium" which I believe refers to how much of the void the adapter fills, not what frame size it's made for. The other end flap was missing, that's probably the part which designates the frame size.

Gearhead Jim
The size on the box "Medium" is the size frame designation. It has nothing to do with any void in the fit. As you can see in the pictures, I have all three frame sizes, including one marked J38.

The S&W marked adapter I currently have came in that box marked "Medium" that is similar to yours and it doesn't fit any of my K-frames, round butt or square butt.
I recall seeing an old ad for the grip adapters, can't remember whether it was Pachmayr or S&W, and it mentioned how they came in three sizes to fill different amounts of the void for different hands.

Are the adapters marked in any way to designate what gun they should fit? Mine is branded as S&W but nothing more. I'd be willing to modify it if that's the normal solution but the 1/8"-1/4" gap at the bottom of the frontstrap seems like I'd need to do something pretty severe up in the thicker area.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

Pictures of my adapter.
As you can see, there is a really big amount of interference between the lower area of the adapter and the wood grips.
If the interference is eliminated, then the adapter fits pretty well. But that takes a lot of trimming on the adapter or on the grips, is that normal? What's the best way to do it so that the grips don't slide around after installation?
Thanks.

 

[Absalom]

That doesn't look right both in terms of length and curve angle.

I had one that came on a M&P which fit absolutely perfect. Unfortunately, this won't be any help here with the designation, because it didn't come with the box, and I sold the gun, so this picture is all I have.

It appears thicker than yours in the upper part (there is more space around the logo, presuming same size logo), but shorter.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

^^^
Your adapter looks considerable "thicker" than mine, which lends credence to the story that the adapters were available in different thickness to chose how much of the void would be filled. Or maybe an optical illusion?

Could you tell how your adapter was fitted to the gun- trimming the adapter or trimming the grips? Was the adapter secure in place or did it slide around?
It would be nice to find an old police armorer from the 50's-60's who would remember how to do a good job of fitting these, some of the ones I've seen look like the adapter was "fitted" with a chainsaw.
Thanks.

 

[ruger 22]

I recently saw some Pachmayr adapters on Numrich Arms' site.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

^^^
Thanks for the tip, I hadn't checked there. But none of theirs are for a K-frame.
I might be ok now, just won a fleabay auction for a Pachmayr with box marked for K-frame square butt. Some people have claimed that in K-frame size, the square butt and round butt adapters are identical, does anyone know?

 

[Absalom]

Could you tell how your adapter was fitted to the gun- trimming the adapter or trimming the grips? Was the adapter secure in place or did it slide around?
.

It fit snugly and showed no sign of being trimmed. Neither did the gun.

That‘s in contrast to the Mershon, far right pic in the triplet I posted above. Very well-fitted too, but you can see how that was accomplished by chipping away around the margins of the adapter.

I wonder how advanced they were with precision molding of plastic in the 1960s/70s. Maybe it was just luck of the draw whether you got one that happened to fit without whittling.

 

[majick47]

While doing a search of adapter fit charts ran into an advertisement, it might of been Mershon that mentioned trimming the adapter for better fit. No specific instructions included. One observation on my part is that the S&W branded adapters appear to be made of a softer material that might lend themselves better to trimming than the hard plastic adapters made by Pachmayer.

 

[majick47]

Curious I checked my large size S&W grip adapter with a round butt K frame, adapter protrudes outwards at base of K frame grip. Possible the large might fit a square butt K frame. Looks like a process of elimination.

 

[Absalom]

One observation on my part is that the S&W branded adapters appear to be made of a softer material that might lend themselves better to trimming than the hard plastic adapters made by Pachmayer.

The general assumption has always been that Pachmayr was the source of the S&W branded ones also; other labels have also occasionally been sighted, considered contract jobs. I've wondered whether Pachmayr themselves actually produced any, and didn't subcontract the manufacture out to some specialty plastic molding outfit, maybe more than one.

 

[StrawHat]

I have a variety of grip adapters, Pachmyer, Mershon, S&W, and Tyler. For me it has always been loosen the grips, install the addapter, rotate the adapter into the triggerguard and tighten down. If that did not do the trick, I grabbed another adapter. I only have a couple of K and I/J frames so my experience is mostly with N frames.

The real question could be “Did S&W make adapters to fit Colt’s revolvers?” because that gap at the base of the stocks suggests to me it is for a Colt.

Kevin

 

[majick47]

StrawHat S&W offered the least number of adapters, four in all, small/medium/large/J38 a new one on me. According to the fit charts Mershon, Pachmyer and Tyler had many more adapters for Colt, S&W and other brands. As I mentioned earlier the S&W scratch/dent easy and almost appear to be made of some type of softer material that would take to trimming and thus fit multiple revolver brands. Surprised their isn't more info re this accessory since just about anything else S&W sold has been covered in detail.

 

[majick47]

Checked Gearhead and Absalom photos again and my conclusion is that Absalom has a large size S&W adapter on the square butt M&P K frame and it appears to fit properly. As pictured with the S&W box stamped medium Gearheads medium adapter wont fit his square butt K frame properly. I'm guessing the medium adapter will fit the S&W square butt N frame revolvers. As for the small S&W adapter I have one and it fits my round butt J frame perfectly and might fit a round butt K frame also. As for the J38 S&W adapter I'm going to take a wild guess it was for a square butt J frame revolver. At some point after it's been confirmed what size S&W adapter fits what S&W revolver frame (square & round) it would be helpful to members to be able to refer to a fit chart for S&W grip adapters.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

Puzzle -grip adapters - Mershon, S&W, Pach

Here's a thread from 10 years ago with photos of the fit charts for Pachmayr and Mershon adapters.

It doesn't help me much because my S&W adapter has no markings on it.

Interesting that the #6 Pachmayr was available in small/medium/large that all fit K frames, so apparently you could get a choice in how much of the void was filled by your adapter. That goes along with a catalog page I found, which said that the Large size was best for people with small hands, the Small size was best for people with large hands.

My Pachmayr #6 Medium from fleabay should arrive next week for me to install.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

The fleabay Pachmayr grip adapter arrived yesterday and it's a perfect fit on my 18-3. Not exactly beautiful, but feels great in my hand.

The box is marked Pachmayr and the end flap says:

K22, K38 }
M&P (Square Butt) } 6M
Combat Masterpiece }

 

[Jimmyjones]

 

[Gearhead Jim]

^^^
Does the box indicate which guns the adapter will fit? Or is there a marking on the adapter itself?

For the Pachmayrs, the small-medium-large designation seems to describe how much of the void behind the trigger guard will be filled by the adapter, not what frame size the adapter is made for. The thread I linked in post #27 has a Pachmayr fit chart that shows the K frame adapters are available in Small-Medium-Large, but of course the K frame itself is just a Medium frame. Confusing.

And the S&W adapter I bought came in a box marked Medium, but it's way too big for my K-frames. One end flap was missing and that might have had more information. I'm told that the S&W adapters were actually made by Pachmayr.