Why Do 'Combat' Grips Add Cost?

[brokenprism]

If the 3" Lew Horton 624s, 657s and 629-1s came with finger groove combat grips new, why do I keep reading that some sellers 'add' $150 - $250 for the combat grips? Why isn't that part of the price of the used gun since they weren't sold in any other configuration? You could sell the grips separately and ruin the overall value of the gun, but why would you do that?

 

[BJoe]

A LOT of guys pull the grips and sell them separately. Example: the 617 SHOULD come with combat grips BUT I have never seen one sold wearing them.

 

[andyo5]

Combat is expensive, pilgrim. : ^)
Actually if you are talking about the now out-of-production S&W finger grooved combat grips it is probably just supply and demand. Many folks love those grips and are willing to pay $150 or so for them. So the sellers know they can get big bucks for them. It is just your basic capitalism.
Check it out on Gunbroker.com.

 

[MajorDude]

The round butt combats are the most comfortable factory grips for me. I have J, K and N versions that I was fortunate enough to pick up before prices went crazy. The J and Ks are too bulky for concealed carry for most uses though in my opinion. I think they are worth a premium, but $150, not so much. Years ago, the first thing a lot of people did was get rid of them.

 

[Dave T]

Calling something "Combat" adds to the value the same way calling something "Tactical" adds to the value...

How's that again?

Dave

 

[wproct]

They are just the best looking grips ever on a Smith & Wesson, to me that is. I traded off a 17-6 a few months ago, and I could have stripped off the combat grips and got more totally out of it, but it just didn't seem right to me to separate them! May have been naive on my part, but that's just the was it was.

 

[Kevin G]

Picked up a nice 6" mod 617 w/original finger grip combats last fall at LGS for $625. I was very pleased.

Kevin

 

[Dregg]

I'm going to post very soon about a gun I purchased recently. It had no business wearing a set of combats on it but someone decided to sell it wearing combats. I purchased the gun simply because of the stocks.

 

[rollin_hot]

They shouldn't carry a premium but I understand why they do.....


[/QUOTE]

 

[Dregg]

I have a 2 1/2" model 19 that is awaiting those Combat stocks !

 

[CWH44300]

Is this a trick question

 

[Snake Plissken]

Combats are very nice and I like em alot

 

[BAM-BAM]

They never fit my hand ......... wish I still had all the one's I've "let go" over the years............ to sell now! LOL

With wood grips; what fits one's hand is the key, for me that Spegel's Boot Grips, regular and extended.........

 

[dswancutt]

For me, the N frame round butt combats fit my hand perfectly. I love them on my 610. K frame square combats, not so much. It was night and day how my 16-4 felt in my hand after I replaced them with standard target grips.

 

[Nick B]

I'm going against the grain here by stating that they are the most piss poor designed grips S&W ever came up with . Yea they look big and bad and have a cool name and probably work great on a 617 but try using them on a .44 mag with full power loads and after about 30 or so rounds your hand will be stinging .
I've got a chipped pair off my 627 if someone wants them cheap .
My .02 cents .

 

[H Richard]

I have the ones I took off my 24-3, 44 Special. Most uncomfortable grips to shoot I ever owned. Replaced them within two weeks of getting the gun. They well lay in the box until I sell it someday in the future, so the originals will be with the gun.

 

[dlbx2]

They shouldn't carry a premium but I understand why they do.....

[/QUOTE]

You're the reason that they are so expensive, you've got them all!
DLB

 

[brokenprism]

That's gorgeous wood.

I couldn't get a reliable, predictable grip on the finger grooves when I went for my gun, and that's when I KNEW I'd be drawing, so I put Pach Compacs on. As someone said, wood for pics, Pachs for carry. They're not pretty, but they're perfect for a quick marriage of hand and gun.

I asked the question because it seems I spend a lot of time trying to get a complete 'pkg' together when I find a nice old Smith with no box or papers, and non-standard grips. It seems counter-intuitive to separate the grips from the gun they came on.

I'll bet that happens a lot. People part out their guns to maximize profit -- box and papers in one eBay sale, grips in another, the gun on Gunbroker -- and we spend time and money putting them back together.

 

[Shooting4life]

I like combat grips for 627's and my 610 and that is it. Everything that recoils more I need a larger grip. I actually find the flat sided combat grips to fit my hand better. I was lucky enough to convince Kurac to make me a custom set for less than the going rate of the80's grips, I refused to pay the going rate for poorly made combat grips from the 80's.

 

[shouldazagged]

No finger-grooved grip works for me, and combat stocks certainly wouldn't. Fingers are buggered up with arthritis and don't lie right. The Pachmayr Compacs on my 640 aren't glamorous, but they and the Presentations on my 10-5 sure feel good.

I expect there are a few people who would buy anything called "tactical" or "combat", or made of titanium; but those combat stocks really are pretty. Probably great for those whose hands they fit.