Shooting large bore revolvers: Rubber or wood?

CDR_Glock

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I want to be able to control my revolver without feeling it smack me in the palm. I thought I could handle hunting loads in my 629 3" Deluxe but wood grips gave me a beat down. After two cylinders of 240 grains I had to take a break. I also want to be able to use hot Buffalo Bore 44 Magnum cartridges. This wood has to go.

I had to switch to Hogue Rubber grips.[emoji23]

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How many of you prefer rubber over wood in your large bore revolvers?

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Wood that fits my hand is preferable to rubber.

Rubber is preferable to wood that does not fit me.

Fortunately the old Factory Combat stocks are just right for me.

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Unfortunately they are getting harder to find and much more expensive as the years progress.

Fortunately (again) if I order Hogues with no finger grooves they also fit me just right.

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I often order the contrasting butt cap and white line spacer, but that is mostly for the looks.

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I use the Hogue's on my N-frames, really help with comfort, and control factors. Not the greatest pic, but here are two my big bores. Just make sure you take them off during a regular cleaning, as dirt and contaminants will collect underneath these.

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grips

I consider myself fortunate....while most rubber grips with the finger groves do not fit many....they do fit me like they were molded to my hand. With that said....I sure do have a preference to beautiful wood.
So....my deep blue M19...M17...and M29...wear wood....

leaving my M686...M617...M629....wearing houge rubber...

best balance I can get...:)
 
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For me, the wood ones are fine if they have some width at the top where the frame is nearly vertical. This spreads out the recoil and makes a wide rounded area for the web of the hand.
The ones that are fairly thin at the top or don't match the frame well have a thinner and sharper corner profile which translates into a more painful recoil impulse.
 
I love the look of wood, but not the feel when shooting .44 magnums. My 3" TALO 629 wears Pachmayr Diamond Pros now.

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The human hand comes in a multitude of configurations. The way that hand holds the revolver is also unique. Handgun grips are extremely personal and will only fit your hand optimally thru trial and error (particulary with DA revolvers). What works for one person may or may not work for you.

I can't remember all the different grips I've tried over the last 50 plus years. In addition to all of the various rubber pachmayr and hogue models, I've had custom Herrett Jordan troupers made to a drawing from my hand, and grips that I meticulously hand shaped/reshaped. For handguns with minimal or moderate recoil, you may not notice the difference (this includes some intrepid souls whose recoil tolerance is not human).

For heavy recoiling revolvers grip selection will make the difference between reasonable comfort or outright pain.

Personally, I can't do wood or any grip with an open backstrap – they just hammer the bone at the base of my thumb.

For the last decade plus, I've found the Hogue S&W 500 X Frame grip (the one with the covered backstrap) provides comfort with heavy loads. Most recently I've comfortably shot over 800 rnd thru the new 2 ¾" S&W M69 (mostly 240/265gr over 23.0gr H110).

Just my personal experience of course.

Bottom line is that it may take some trial and error to find grips that work for you. Of course, you'll probably end up with a box full of grips to go along with that box full of holsters that didn't quite work.

FWIW,

Paul
 
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The human hand comes in a multitude of configurations. The way that hand holds the revolver is also unique. Handgun grips are extremely personal and will only fit your hand optimally thru trial and error (particulary with DA revolvers). What works for one person may or may not work for you.

I can't remember all the different grips I've tried over the last 50 plus years. In addition to all of the various rubber pachmayr and hogue models, I've had custom Herrett Jordan troupers made to a drawing from my hand, and grips that I meticulously hand shaped/reshaped. For handguns with minimal or moderate recoil, you may not notice the difference (this includes some intrepid souls whose recoil tolerance is not human).

For heavy recoiling revolvers grip selection will make the difference between reasonable comfort or outright pain.

Personally, I can't do wood or any grip with an open backstrap – they just hammer the bone at the base of my thumb.

For the last decade plus, I've found the Hogue S&W 500 X Frame grip (the one with the covered backstrap) provides comfort with heavy loads. Most recently I've comfortably shot over 800 rnd thru the new 2 ¾" S&W M69 (mostly 240/265gr over 23.0gr H110).

Just my personal experience of course.

Bottom line is that it may take some trial and error to find grips that work for you. Of course, you'll probably end up with a box full of grips to go along with that box full of holsters that didn't quite work.

FWIW,

Paul



Thanks, Paul.

My other revolvers have the same grip.

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If I am going to look at it, wood is very pleasing, if I am going to shoot it my wrist/hands prefer rubber. A bit of arthritis is creeping into these "mature " hands/wrist, making rubber grips far.more practical.
 
On my carry guns it's the pachmayer rubber presentation grips.(revolvers) I can grip them so tight I sink my fingers into the rubber.

On my carry 1911 I prefer the rubber full wraparound grips.

I did have Herret grips made to my hand for my snubbie police service six. They fit my hand perfect.

Everything else has good looking wood grips on it. The s&w combat grips fit nice too.
 
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Rubber grips make managing heavy recoil mush easier. I've tried Hogue which are nice but still sting in .357 and in .44.

I switched to Pachmeyer Signature Grips and the sting is gone.
 

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