Square butt => Round Butt

ljmvaw124

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I converted my 4" Model 19 SB to a RB over 25 years ago - has anyone else out there done the same ? I did it to be able to fit a more comfortable - and concealable grip. Looking to do the same on a 586, only this time I'll have the advantage of being able to use a die grinder to remove metal. Any thoughts on this ?
 
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Some folks fuss about Smith having switched to all round butts on their later model frames, but I am a big fan. You can always get grips to make the RB bigger, but not the other way around. I say, go for it!
 
I converted a Model 10 SB to RB many years ago. I didn't do enough to the front to be a true K RB, but I did do kind of a Fuzzy-Farrant cutoff. Then I put K RB Magnas and a Tyler on it. Worked great for my hand, much better than SB. I still have it, and consider it a slightly better gun than my SB, simply because it fits so much better, and I can get it into use much quicker.

I have also round-butted several N frames.
 
I am on the other side of the fence on this topic. I don't mind the round butt configuration on a J, K, or L frame, but I much prefer the square butt on N-frames. I like magnas, or some other grip that follows the grip frame while leaving the front and back strap exposed. On the smaller guns, the round butt feels okay because with larger hands the whole thing is fairly small so concessions need to be made. With an N-frame, the round butt feels like it is shortening my grip so much that my knuckles are rammed into the rear of the trigger guard. With the square butt configuration, my knuckles touch, but are not jammed into, the trigger guard.

I love an L-frame with hogue bantam grips on it, but not stock magna-style grips. I tried larger, combat-style wood grips that completely envelop the grip frame, but they add a lot of thickness to the grip which makes concealed carry more challenging.

I'd love to see S&W offer the N-frames in square-butt, and the others in round (although a K-22, or 34-1 feels right to me with square butt).

That brings up a question. Does anyone make a magna-style square-butt grip that fits on a round butt (with the grip material filling in the area that should be square-butt but isn't. I'd buy one right away for my 45colt mountain gun. I like the stock Ahrends, but prefer the classic look of an N-frame with a square butt and magnas. By the way, I don't know enough about grip nomenclature to know if magna is the right term, so please forgive my ignorance, and I would appreciate some enlightenment from the sage members of this forum.

Thanks
 
I generally prefer square butt revolvers on anything larger than a 3" gun because I deem those as "target shooting" guns. My carry guns all have round butts for better concealment and a smaller and lighter carry package. The only advise I can offer from my experience is that sometimes it's better to purchase a new gun rather that cut the old one unless you are absolutely 100% sure you won't want the original configuration back. Yes I know that you can convert the grip itself from RB to SB. but I guess I am a "dinosaur" and have always liked the dedicated grip frame. Just my .02 cents.

chief38
 
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I've never done it to any because I hate round butts, on guns anyway. I've known several people who have done it which I understand because everyone is different and will have different likes and dislikes.

I'm one of those people that don't like the "nothing but round butt" concept, but then I'm not in the market for any new S&Ws because of their other "improvements". Although I do wish too that all my 3" N-frames had square butts, but what can I say?

Back to your question of any thoughts...There is nothing I hate more than a handgun that doesn't fit my hand. Do whatever you need to do to make it right for you. The only time I have a problem with gun alterations is if it's based on "idol worship".
 

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