What after market grips are you using on your 642?

[f2]

with 1 being the most comfortable to shoot, and 10 like having a baseball bat hit your barrel when pulling the trigger:

01 hogue bantam grips, midwayusa.com/

03 stock s&w boot

09 any wood grips

but seriously, if you shop based on looks you'll suffer at the range. the hogue bantams slip right on with no screws to rust during 12 plus hours of carry. i can shoot all day with them. comfortable to shoot +P speer gold dot 135 gr .38 spl and 148 gr full wadcutters.

 

[Moondancer]

Taurus rubber boot grips. You either have to drill them for the cross-pin or take the pin out to use them. Around $14 shipped.
They are rubber, two fingers (so they pocket carry well), and cover the back strap. So far, they are the only grips that make shooting DoubleTap 158 grain SWC hardcast +P remotely comfortable for me.
No picture but there's one on a previous thread for j-frame grips somewhere.

 

[Old cop]

My stock [small] wood grips w/Tyler T's work great with speed loaders as well as speed strips. Almost nothing else does absent some degree of customizing (e.g.; removal of wood or plastic material on the left grip panel).

I also practice with the small grips (w/an occasional change to the oversized combat wood grip for comfort) at the range. This gives me the ability to know how the gun will handle under stress.

 

[everReady Rob]

I tried several aftermarket, the one liked best was a Hogue that was only like .5-.75" longer but let my little finger grip gun, it improved my shooting. Then put CT grips on and that is the end of my grip looking. The worst part of the laser is you better like (or learn to like) the grip cause you only have one choice. But the laser is so much fun to shoot it doesn't bother me.

 

[HiCap]

I like the Pachmayr Compac Pro. Good grip, not too sticky, and I'm able to get a good grip. And the grip conceals well. I've never tried the Hogue Bantams; that grip looks good as well. A real pro recommended the Pachmayrs to me. The banana grips that came from Smith on my 60-15 and 60 Pro are very comfortable as well, but are harder to conceal and with the covered back strap cause the revolvers to naturally point down.

HiCap

 

[Harrison]

I carry mine in a pants pocket and pocket holster. For that, the factory grips are perfect. They conceal well, don't hurt my hand, and I can keep 10 rounds inside of 6" at ten yards. That is good enough for social work. My 642 isn't something I go out and plink with. I have other pistols for that. I put 10-15 rounds through the 642 once a month. The rest of the time it stays in its holster in my pocket.

If I want to shoot a stubby very much, I have a Ruger 101, or my all steel 2.5" model 60, or a 2.5" model 66 that are better for plinking and target shooting than is a 642.

 

[Cooter Brown]

I've got Eagle Secret Service grips on mine--I think rosewood, not checkered. Very similar to the "Boot" grip.

Nice and comfortable, and draw out of the pocket easily.

At some point I'll probably get a set of Magnas and a T grip or BK--I have that setup on a model 36 and like it a lot.

 

[Big Dog Dad]

Crimson Trace

Here's another vote for Crimson Trace. I have the LG-405 and they do give you a sense of confidence.

-=BDD=-

 

[Bud11]

with 1 being the most comfortable to shoot, and 10 like having a baseball bat hit your barrel when pulling the trigger:

01 hogue bantam grips, midwayusa.com/

03 stock s&w boot

09 any wood grips

but seriously, if you shop based on looks you'll suffer at the range. the hogue bantams slip right on with no screws to rust during 12 plus hours of carry. i can shoot all day with them. comfortable to shoot +P speer gold dot 135 gr .38 spl and 148 gr full wadcutters.

Got my Hogue Bantam grips today and looking forward to trying them out. (Snap caps in the gun, not cartridges) Bud

 

[DRYHEAT]

Another vote for the CT-405 grips:

CC in a Galco inside the pocket holster:

and sometimes a SERPA paddle OWB:

 

[corpulent]

Were the factory wood/magna-style grips ever made in black?

I'm imagining a set of those with a flat black T grip on my 442. . .

 

[Tyrod]

Then put CT grips on and that is the end of my grip looking. The worst part of the laser is you better like (or learn to like) the grip cause you only have one choice. But the laser is so much fun to shoot it doesn't bother me.

Actually, CT makes 3 versions for the J frame.

 

[cjtraining]

I also tried many grips and the best for me was standard stocks w/ a Tyler T Grip.

 

[TX357]

So you've been flooded with personal preferences but not that much objective info. Here is the skinny:

1. Size of grip--the smaller the grip, the more concealable it is. Conversely, the smaller the grip, the more it beats up your hand. And the harder it is to shoot accurately. That is why a lot of the guys here have basically full-size grips, same size as on a K-frame or L-frame, on their J-frames. Because they are a hell of a lot easier to shoot well and a hell of a lot more comfortable to shoot on top of that.

But--if you are carrying--that's another story.

2. Grip material--softer and more grippy is more comfortable/less punishing to shoot. But, it's much harder to conceal if you are actually walking around in public. Rubber grips grab clothing, hike it up in odd ways, make very noticeable prints. Wood grips don't, obviously, because they are smooth and fabric rides over them very naturally.

So you will have to find a balance depending on your use. Mostly a range gun, maybe it lives in your glove box or center console or maybe an answer-the-door-gun once in a while? A full-size rubber grip might be perfect.

But if you are going to carry this thing in public? That changes everything.

The best compromise I've found for concealed carry is a larger wooden grip. Something that allows you to get all three fingers on (rather than leaving your pinky with nothing to grab on) but that is wood so it doesn't grab your clothes.

I've gone with the badgers grips, 3 fingers, which fit this bill pretty well. The design is not perfect, the screw comes loose every couple hundred rounds, but they conceal well and they shoot well.

Spegel makes a slightly extended (3 finger) J-frame grip as well. He's sort of looked at as being the bees knees. If you order direct from him, you wait a while but it's half the price. If you buy his grips from someone else, you get them quick but you pay 2x as much.

Good luck. In my experience, it usually takes a bit of messing around and actually owning various grips before you find your favorite, esp on a compact gun where you are balancing two completely different goals against each other--shootability vs conceability.