Hogue wood grips on the 3rd gens, especially the 4516?

[Doogy]

I noticed that Hogue makes some nice looking smooth wood grips for the 3rd gen Smiths. I was looking at doing some on my 4516, but wanted to hear comments first. Is the wood thick, and fatten up the grip area? Are they too slippery in general, and how is the fit to the frame? thanks for any input guys!

Doug

 

[Doogy]

I noticed that Hogue makes some nice looking smooth wood grips for the 3rd gen Smiths. I was looking at doing some on my 4516, but wanted to hear comments first. Is the wood thick, and fatten up the grip area? Are they too slippery in general, and how is the fit to the frame? thanks for any input guys!

Doug

 

[Beauetienne]

The rubber grips are comfortable and provide a good hold. I shot a M4006 that had been fitted with them and while not too big to be comfortable, they are a little bigger than I prefer.
Reminds me of a Beretta 92 grip size, kinda.
I have held but, not shot, a 3rd Gen with the wood grips and they are about the same as the rubber ones to me.
I wear a medium in most gloves sizes but, a small in some brands.
Bigger hands may find these grips just right.

 

[John325]

The wood grips are really nice, but they make the grip noticeably larger and affect finger reach. I think the wood grips may even be slightly thicker than the rubber. If you have large hands you will be O.K. One thing you can do is have them checkered. That bit of wood thay take off in the process makes a bit of difference. That's what I did to my Shorty .45 (same as 4513).

 

[KurtC]

The wood grips of a decade ago were just about perfect, but they were prone to cracking. The current ones are a bit thicker, but still very comfortable. Always get them with checkering if you plan on carrying the gun. The smooth ones are pretty slick.

 

[wproct]

Originally posted by John325:
The wood grips are really nice, but they make the grip noticeably larger and affect finger reach. I think the wood grips may even be slightly thicker than the rubber. If you have large hands you will be O.K. One thing you can do is have them checkered. That bit of wood thay take off in the process makes a bit of difference. That's what I did to my Shorty .45 (same as 4513).

This is my opinion also. I had a set of Hogue woods smooth grips on my 5906. It fit the pistol perfectly, but they were too thick for my taste, and I have fairly large hands. I ultimately went back to the stock S&W grips. Maybe checkered Hogue wood grips would have been better.

 

[jmikeb653]

+1 i got the smooth grips for my 5906 and 4014... they are off the 5906 because they make the double-stack too thick for me..back to the rubber Hogue grip.. but i like them on the single stack

 

[Hill2]

+ 1 with the above posts. As soon as I bought the pistol - I bought the neat looking wood grips for it. Much too wide and slick. Maybe nice X-MAS tree decorations? Hill2

 

[Dot_mdb]

I think that on a carry gun the stock factory grips are hard to beat. They are a good design. The Hogues are all about "pretty" but the factory grips are all serious business and the price is right for a replacement if you need it.

Bill