MODEL 66 with ROY FISHPAW Custom grips

[Youngfd]

I purchased my first SW in about 1986. A Model 66 stainless with a 4 inch barrel. In 1988 I contacted Roy Fishpaw to make me a set of custom grips for it. I had piece of burly maple from my grandparents property that I hoped to use. It was quite a process to get the grips made. BUT a great experience. First I needed to send Roy the maple to see if it was a good candidate for the project. Then I get a typed letter stating wood is good, I will put you on the list and contact you when I can start on the project, about 3 months out. Then I received letter stating he was ready to go and how to ship the firearm to him. The results were amazing! All for $105 including shipping. I sold the Model 66 to my buddy in 2004. Shortly after the sale I found the grips and gave them to him. Fast forward to 2024, I try to buy the Model 66 back, but my buddy is in love with it. So I purchased another Model 66 and then tried to buy the grips back. Finally I upped my offer to $200 and got them back. The other maple burl pictured was my grandmothers but now has a spot on display in my sisters house who still lives on my grandparents property. Has anyone else had the great experience of having Roy Fishpaw a set of custom grips for them?

 

[Youngfd]

Here is some of the paperwork back and forth with Roy.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I'm a little surprised they fit. I once gave away a model 18, but kept the Fishpaw grips. I tried them on almost a dozen square butt K-frames from three different decades, but they didn't quite fit any of them. I sent them back to Mr. Fishpaw with a different gun, and he re-fitted them. In his own very polite way he recommended that I not do that again.

 

[Youngfd]

That was one of my main concerns when I was able to get them back, was I needed to try them before we sealed the deal. Yes, Roy made it very clear that these were CUSTOM fit to one certain gun. They fit perfectly.

 

[Kansasgunner]

I never had the chance to speak to Roy Fishpaw, but I do have two pair of his grips. The sheephorn grips were made for and numbered to the 38/44 Heavy Duty converted to.44 Special by Alpha Precision, Jim Stroh.
I bought the Amboyna burl set from Doc44 and with just a little work they fit my Hamilton Bowen Model 58 converted to 44 Magnum.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Yes. I decided to spring for some Fishpaws for a round-butted 520 (did that myself to a gun that was not cherry anyway), and my wife and I drove down to Lynchburg to deliver the gun and discuss the grips. I was basically looking for a copy of modified (to fit N frame) Pachmayr Compac Pros, only in French Walnut with S&W medallions. This was after extensive effort on my part to find the best grips for my gun and my hand. My wife visited with the womenfolk upstairs while Roy and I discussed what I was looking for.

Some time later, he informed me that the grips were ready. As I recall, there were certain difficulties with the production, and I do not recall exactly what was said, but it seemed obvious to me that the problem was that what Pachmayr was able to achieve with rubber and metal was simply impossible with wood. I ended up with grips slightly thicker than Compacs. The checkering was beautiful, as were the grips.

I was not really happy with the slightly increased thickness, at least not on my 520, and at some point I tried them on my PC 629 3" double Magnaport, which was a factory RB. They fit almost perfectly (I had used factory K-frame RB grips as a guide when round-butting the 520), and only the slightest alteration was required to make them fit perfectly.

When I went shooting with the 629, I found that the slightly increased thickness of the grips worked out perfectly for the heavier recoil of the .44 Magnum. What was a little thick for a .357 was just right for a .44, and I still have those grips on the 629.

My wife also enjoyed the second visit with Mrs. Fishpaw.