I refinished the grips on my new-to-me M19-3. (Pic Heavy)

[Hillbilly77]

As I posted the other day, I just acquired my first P&R S&W, a 19-3.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1961-1980/354147-my-first-p-r-model-19-3-a.html


As was disclosed buy the last owner, the grips were a bit rough - good structural shape, but cosmetically in need of some TLC.

Well, never a real fan of the shape of factory Targets (and less a fan of Magnas), I decided to try my hand at re-shaping these into something I liked better.

Here are some "Before" pictures:

As shown, the finish was a little beat up and there were some small dings and chips in them.


Well, first came the belt sander to reshape them (I also removed the checkering).
I thinned them out in the bottom front to make a better fit for my pinky finger and also took a little off the back to even them out with the frame of the gun.
Then came the sanding block to smooth them by hand.

Testing for fit:

The color of the grain didn't match very well, so I stained them to try to get them a little closer:

I let the color set overnight, then sanded them to lighten them up a bit:

First coat of polyurethane:

(After sanding in between coats) The third coat of poly:

Finally, the finished product:

I'm pleased with the result, and more pleased with the way they fit my hand now.

(Hopefully I won't get thrown out of here for "ruining" my grips. )

 

[Warren Sear]

GET A ROPE!!!

 

[S&W45Colt]

Nice job! I like them, besides, it's your gun and your grips, YOUR opinion is the important one.

You can always buy another set on Ebay, if you ever change your mind.

Enjoy the gun!!

 

[Warren Sear]

Nice job! I like them, besides, it's your gun and your grips, YOUR opinion is the important one.

You can always buy another set on Ebay, if you ever change your mind.

Enjoy the gun!!

OK, once again, EVERYONE KNOW THEY WERE HIS GRIPS, ALREADY! (Slap forehead.) That was not the question.

 

[S&W45Colt]

OK, once again, EVERYONE KNOW THEY WERE HIS GRIPS, ALREADY! (Slap forehead.) That was not the question.

Miss your Midol today?

 

[Hillbilly77]

OK, once again, EVERYONE KNOW THEY WERE HIS GRIPS, ALREADY! (Slap forehead.) That was not the question.

Miss your Midol today?

Ok, guys. Let's not have a P'ing match here...

_____________________
For the record, S&W45Colt is the guy I got the gun from.
Here is an excerpt from some PM correspondence with him just a couple minutes ago:

I had told him that I hoped he didn't think my decision to refinish these grips was an indication that I was unhappy with the gun, and this was his response:

I'm glad to hear you are enjoying it. I didn't take anything out of it, other than you were making your gun, yours.

His response to this thread wasn't an antagonistic one.

After dealing with him on a gun trade, I learned that he is a gentleman, and a man of his word.

 

[budster]

NICE Job!!!

 

[Engine49guy]

The worker that matched those two panels at the factory was either hung over or mad he didnt get a raise because that right panel had some of the nicest grain i have seen in a Target GA,
The other panel not so much.

I probably would have tried to find a left panel to match up and refinish the heals to match but I have real long fingers so target grips fit my hand.

Unless the checkering is beyond repair sanding through it leaves that router outline, removing that outline makes them too thin

 

[jjbrewst1]

Now go Shoot Shoot Shoot...and then give us a Range Report.

I think your going to like this one!!!

 

[S&W45Colt]

Perhaps I was not clear when I said I liked the grips? I meant I like what he did with them. He did a nice job with what seems to be something you could easily mess up. I think Hillbilly77 made some neat grips that he feels best fits his hand.

 

[Hillbilly77]

The worker that matched those two panels at the factory was either hung over or mad he didnt get a raise because that right panel had some of the nicest grain i have seen in a Target GA,
The other panel not so much.

I probably would have tried to find a left panel to match up and refinish the heals to match but I have real long fingers so target grips fit my hand.

Unless the checkering is beyond repair sanding through it leaves that router outline, removing that outline makes them too thin

I do love the right side and I wish they matched.

I thought of removing the router groove, but I also thought it may make the grips too thin, plus I kinda like looks of the groove in them.

 

[Hillbilly77]

Now go Shoot Shoot Shoot...and then give us a Range Report.

I think your going to like this one!!!

I've already put a couple dozen rounds through it.
At 20 paces when I do my job, the gun does it's job.

And you're wrong....
I don't like this gun.

I love it.

 

[Jaymo]

I may have to do some work on my K targets I got from a member here.
They overhang the back of the grip a little, and are a bit big for my sausage fingers.
I've thought about reworking them (not the sides) to match the profile of the J targets.
That, or putting a pinky groove in the bottom, like the rubber grips on the Colt Commando Special from the mid 1980s.
Blasphemy, I know.
I like wood stocks better than rubbers.
I like wood stocks that fit my hand better than those that don't
Go figure.

To the OP: I will not presume to tell you what to do with your property, sir.
If they didn't fit your hands, they were of no use to you.
What the modification does to the value of your gun only matters
if you are trying to sell it.
I'm not trying to sell any of mine, unless I need to.

It would be sweet, if you could get the medallions replaced and the sides re-checkered.
I really wish Smith had made these to fit non-Bill Jordan hands.
Whoever designed the K and N targets stocks must have had Sasquatch hands.

On a related note, I think the Desert Eagle should have been named "Desert Sasquatch".

 

[XTrooper]

Excellent work! Congratulations!

 

[Wingmaster]

Nice job. I like the looks of the router groove without the checkering.

Wingmaster

 

[Engine49guy]

I do love the right side and I wish they matched.

I thought of removing the router groove, but I also thought it may make the grips too thin, plus I kinda like looks of the groove in them.

I have an old set of speed loader cut targets on my list of projects to make into FG combats like these on a 17-6

 

[simmitt]

finish

If you like them great. Next time try true oil, you will like the finish.

 

[Hillbilly77]

What the modification does to the value of your gun only matters
if you are trying to sell it.

This gun was one on my wish list, so selling isn't an option.
It took me too long to locate this one to ever let it go.

It would be sweet, if you could get the medallions replaced and the sides re-checkered.

I actually like them smooth, now that I see them that way.

If you like them great. Next time try true oil, you will like the finish.

I've read up on it, and I don't rule out stripping the polyurethane off and trying it someday.
I generally like the look of wood with a gloss finish, so that's what lead me to choose this finish. If I decide I don't like the gloss or it makes the grips too slippery in my hand, I'll be rethinking the finish.
Thanks for the tip on the Tru-oil.

I like the looks of the router groove without the checkering.

Me too.

 

[Weimar]

It is funny the difference in the two grains L & R
Functional is always good, especially if they were messed up

 

[Jaymo]

I'd like to see how they'd look stippled where they used to be checkered.
Maybe even stippled with a wood burning pen.
That would give a nice brown and black look.