What wood?

[mtncat]

Not a fan of rubber grips except when really needed. Carried Houges on my model 60, .357 for the past 13 or so years because there was really no other way to control it with full house magnums.
Recenty went back to a 19 as my 24/7 gun.
Had forgotten how hard my day to day activities can be on a set of stocks.
Currently it's wearing a set of custom made walnut stocks, but they already have a couple of dings in them.
Looking for something else to play with.
Some of the options I'm looking at are oak, mesquite, and rocky mountain maple.
Any ideas on a good hard wood that can take some "abuse"

 

[chief38]

My suggestion is to just accept that the set of stocks you have installed (the wood ones) are now going to be there for the long haul and as a carry gun they will develop dings, scratches, dents, wear, etc. ANYTHING that is carried every day will get worn, and your grips are no exception. My M 60-7 and my M65 both have wooden stocks with Tyler T's on them and I assure you they are NOT pristine anymore, but they serve the purpose and are much lighter than the rubber stocks. I hate the way the rubber sticks to your skin and clothing .

A gun that is carried every day will not look pristine in very short order either, and you just have to accept that. If you want a pristine gun and grips, leave it in the box. It is meant to protect you and your family, not as a showpiece and you can have the "Safe Queen Guns" to drool over at home.

Like a new car..........only the first dent hurts


Chief38

 

[dfariswheel]

One option might be the laminated wood grips made of a polymer injected wood.
This material is often sold under the brand names "Dymondwood" or "Pakkawood".

It's thin layers of wood with each layer injected with a dye, then injected with a resin and put under heat and high pressure to bond it into a solid mass.
It comes in almost unlimited colors, usually either a sold color like walnut or in 4 colors.
It's water proof, and very hard and durable.
S&W is selling various grips made of Dymondwood on their site.

For natural wood, any of the very hard tropical woods will do well. Using Google you can find the properties of various hard woods, from American Black Walnut to Lignum Vitae, which is the hardest of all woods.

 

[rrobertson]

I would take a look at the Hogue woods
Smith & Wesson : Hogue Inc., The Best Value In Handgun Grips, Rifle Stocks and Accessories - Bar None!
as I have found they can and have taken alot of abuse with very little dings and scratches. I like the checkered kingswood as long as its with dark color and deep grain. "HINT" If you call and "beg" they will help.

 

[ma deuce]

You might want to take a look at Ahrends. They offer a variety of stocks in a variety of woods, including laminates. And they offer a hand-rubbed oil finish that's less susceptable to dings and scratches, and can be touched up with more oil.

 

[2hawk]

I think cocobolo is going to be your best bet, for a wood that is used by many grip makers. I like maple myself for looks, but I would steer away from it if you're dinging walnut, since it's not much harder. If you don't mind laminates then the Dymondwood is pretty darn tough. If you're open to other materials, corian, micarta, and g-10 are all really tough.

 

[mtncat]

I don't mind the dings, dents, and scratches that come with daily wear and tear. But the gouges, cracks, and chunks of wood do bother me. Yes, I tend to work in areas that are rather rough on grips, belts, boots and me;-)
Been carrying S&W revolvers for 31 years on a daily basis and have learned long ago to live with usual wear and tear marks.
Until recently, and for the past number of years, I've been carrying a "J" frame with Houges. Not my favorite grips but with hot loads there was not much option for control.
Never carried anything but the "J" frame with rubber grips and have never used wood grips that were not custom fit to my hand. So with that in mind, has anyone ever done any sanding, grinding, cutting and checkering on the laminate type grips?
Looks like those might be worth looking into if they can be made to work.
Thanks

 

[2hawk]

You might let the guys at VZ know what you need, they are only doing J frame, but I've heard they are considering other frame sizes.
Smith and Wesson J-Frame
Arguably the toughest grips out there for a revolver.

Badger grips are all laminate: Smith & Wesson Pistol Grips

Or, maybe the best bet, let Kim Ahrends know what you need, he does work other than just what is shown on his website: Ahrends Grips : Home

 

[dfariswheel]

One of the better qualities of the wood micartas like "Dymondwood" is the ease of working them.
The more you shape and contour them, the more "grain" is exposed and the better they look.

You can work it with files and sandpaper, but be gentle when filing toward a sharp edge, as it can chip and splinter on the edge.
Once you have them shaped, sand with finer sand paper, then polish them with buffing compound, metal polish, etc.
The polymer the wood is injected with come up to whatever shine you want from a satin "egg shell" luster to a hard gloss, depending on how you polish and to what level.
Since the polymer is through the layers of wood, no surface finish is necessary or even really possible.

For a look at what Dymondwood looks like in person, look at knives. Many knives use laminated micarta for handles.

 

[radtuck]

African rosewood is Beautiful...I'd like a set on my 629.
John

 

[gwpercle]

My favorite is Brazillian rosewood, the dark red with black streaks in it . guitar fretboards were made of it. I don't know if anyone still has the stuff in stock .
A lot of woods called rosewood and cocobola don't seem to be the dense dark red and black wood I remember. But if you can find some , it makes beautiful grips.