Wyatt Earp
Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2007
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Hi all.
A couple of days ago I received a two pairs of new Ahrends grips. One is a set of retro boot grips for a round butt K frame in cocobolo and the other is a set of retro bananas for a round butt N frame in moradillo wood. These are new designs from Kim. These grips also have a new oil finish, which gives them a totally matte finish and a superb grip on the skin without the need for checkering. Kim's tactical stocks have a semi-matte polyurethane finish that requires no maintenance. I am used to doing my own stock finishing and have owned oiled stocks before on shotguns so a little wood maintenance is not a concern.
Let's start with the bananas. The pistol I put them on used to wear Kim's tactical RB grooved stocks. The bananas feel a little smaller in circumference, which makes them fit my smallish (glove size 7/8) hands a bit better. They definitely make the big N frame a more natural pointer for me. The speedloader cutout is more traditional with a raised edge the whole length. This may or may not be an issue under recoil, but so far I have not had time to go shoot. Maybe it will be OK. Doing holster drills, this grip design feels superb! I really, really like the groove-less design as it makes it much easier and faster to acquire a proper grip from the holster. Not having grooves also makes it much easier to get a very high grip on the gun. Now I understand why Jerry Miculek's grips don't have grooves.
These stocks protrude past the bottom of the grip frame about the same amount as Kim's RB tacticals for an N frame, which is to say that no one will make you unless you bend over all the way down.
Without further delay, here are the RB retro moradillo bananas on a Lew Horton 29-3:
Close ups:
Firing hand grip. Notice how high I can get on the gun:
The backstrap showing depth at the heel and toe:
The second grip is the one I fell in love with the moment I gripped the gun. It's a retro-styled smooth boot grip for round butt K frames. The 65-8 that these are on now used to wear Kim's RB grooved tactical stocks. I avoided boot grips in the past for anything other than J frames because of my fear of not having a place for my pinky on a .357 Magnum K frame. Well, Kim's boot grip fixes that easily, at least if your hands are like mine. If you have huge mitts, these grips may not have enough depth for your pinky, in which case the tactical grips will. This one also has the raised edge all along the speeloader cutout, but because this is a smaller gun, my thumb seems to lie on the cut out instead of over the raised edge like it does on the 29. We'll see how it goes after I run a couple of cylinders of 125 grain Remington .357s.
Those of you who struggle concealing round butt K or L frames really NEED to get one of these. They make the gun invisible no matter how far you squat, bend over, twist, etc. These boot grips are full of win, guys.
Kim's new RB oil finished cocobolo boot grips on a 65-8:
Close ups of both sides:
Firing hand grip:
The back view:
A couple of days ago I received a two pairs of new Ahrends grips. One is a set of retro boot grips for a round butt K frame in cocobolo and the other is a set of retro bananas for a round butt N frame in moradillo wood. These are new designs from Kim. These grips also have a new oil finish, which gives them a totally matte finish and a superb grip on the skin without the need for checkering. Kim's tactical stocks have a semi-matte polyurethane finish that requires no maintenance. I am used to doing my own stock finishing and have owned oiled stocks before on shotguns so a little wood maintenance is not a concern.
Let's start with the bananas. The pistol I put them on used to wear Kim's tactical RB grooved stocks. The bananas feel a little smaller in circumference, which makes them fit my smallish (glove size 7/8) hands a bit better. They definitely make the big N frame a more natural pointer for me. The speedloader cutout is more traditional with a raised edge the whole length. This may or may not be an issue under recoil, but so far I have not had time to go shoot. Maybe it will be OK. Doing holster drills, this grip design feels superb! I really, really like the groove-less design as it makes it much easier and faster to acquire a proper grip from the holster. Not having grooves also makes it much easier to get a very high grip on the gun. Now I understand why Jerry Miculek's grips don't have grooves.
These stocks protrude past the bottom of the grip frame about the same amount as Kim's RB tacticals for an N frame, which is to say that no one will make you unless you bend over all the way down.
Without further delay, here are the RB retro moradillo bananas on a Lew Horton 29-3:
Close ups:
Firing hand grip. Notice how high I can get on the gun:
The backstrap showing depth at the heel and toe:
The second grip is the one I fell in love with the moment I gripped the gun. It's a retro-styled smooth boot grip for round butt K frames. The 65-8 that these are on now used to wear Kim's RB grooved tactical stocks. I avoided boot grips in the past for anything other than J frames because of my fear of not having a place for my pinky on a .357 Magnum K frame. Well, Kim's boot grip fixes that easily, at least if your hands are like mine. If you have huge mitts, these grips may not have enough depth for your pinky, in which case the tactical grips will. This one also has the raised edge all along the speeloader cutout, but because this is a smaller gun, my thumb seems to lie on the cut out instead of over the raised edge like it does on the 29. We'll see how it goes after I run a couple of cylinders of 125 grain Remington .357s.
Those of you who struggle concealing round butt K or L frames really NEED to get one of these. They make the gun invisible no matter how far you squat, bend over, twist, etc. These boot grips are full of win, guys.
Kim's new RB oil finished cocobolo boot grips on a 65-8:
Close ups of both sides:
Firing hand grip:
The back view:
