[W Turner]

I recently had the good fortune of having a Ruger GP 100 4" blued given to me by my mother (GO MOM!). I have always heard good things about the Jordan style grips made by Herretts, especially for those of us that have very large hands (I am 6'8" and have been able to palm a basketball since age 12). I also have always loved the clunky look of those grips and feel a little nostalgic about things developed by the old-time gunmen like Bill Jordan.

So, other than the blashpemy that would come from putting these grips on a non S&W revolver, can ya'll think of any reason not to get these?
I guess I get a little queasy at the thought of laying out $85 for a set of grips that I can't even see before I pay for them. O'course the fact that they will be custom made to my hands make this a little easier.

Just looking for thought, experiences, opinions, etc.......

Thanks,
Mino

[GooseGestapo]

You answered your own question.

1. Too big for my hands! Designed for a 6'6" Texan with hands that matched his tall, lanky figure. Met him once and shook his hand!
2. Too expensive! Back in '70's when they were the rage, Herretts could be had for $17-25.00.

The "Shooting Star" actually fit my hand much better and I had some I carried on an M-19 '79-82 as a City Police Officer. By then however, I had gravitated to the Pachmyer rubber grips as they took some of the 'sting' out of shooting the magnums we carried and qualified with in M-65 I was issued by state agency I was employed by, and still work for.

Sadly though, we turned in our M-686's in for Glock M22's in 1995.

[W Turner]

Goose-Part of the appeal for me was that they are made FOR people with large hands like mine (remeber I am a 6'8" Alabamian with hands to match).
The cost is not neccesarily prohibitive partly because of the fact that they are made to order, I just want some other opinions before I order these.

Anyone else that have used these with some input?

[Old Fuff]

Old time gunmen ……….. Think the Old Fuff is in trouble. Bill Jordan was a friend of mine ……..

Anyway, I handled some of his revolvers, and not all of them were Smith & Wesson’s by the way. While his grips were large (because he had large hands) he showed me that they could be adapted by making them slimmer (from side-to-side) for smaller hands. You did however, want to retain the palm swell.

If you haven’t got one, see if you can find a copy of his book, “No Second Place Winner” which explains a lot of things you might find interesting.

Last but not least, because of the way it’s designed it is not too hard to make a set of grips for a Ruger - much easier then most other revolvers.

[Bullet Bob]

Love the Herrett Jordan's - feel great! Spend the extra money and get the extra fancy walnut - stunningly beautiful. If you're planning to keep the gun, the additional cost will be long forgotten while the joy of holding and looking at them never goes away.

Of course, they REALLY should be on an S&W!

I don't have any pictures of my Jordan grips, but here's some "regular" Troopers with the finer quality wood:
http://www.fototime.com/5F3CB629DD490A9/standard.jpg

[Archie]

They are outstanding grips. I like them, but they (at the smallest) just fit my hands. They handle well (forgive the pun) and even ease recoil by fitting the hand properly.

On more than one occasion, the late river rider Jordan expressed his approval and admiration for Ruger revolvers. He preferred Smiths, but by no means distained Rugers.

There's no better tribute than to learn from he learned.

[Standing Wolf]

Spend the extra money and get the extra fancy walnut - stunningly beautiful.

The last time I paid extra for fancy grade walnut, it was a little fancier than plain, but not a lot.

[Josey]

Skeeter Skelton was a great guy also. He developed a great set of palmswell grips. Eagle is making the old "coke" bottle flare grips for S&W N and K frames. They have Skeeters' grips also.

[knzn]

Didn't Pachmayr used to make a hard plastic version? Seems like I have a pair somewhere but don't have time to look before work. They could be a cheaper way of finding out if you like them if they still make them, or if you could find a pair at a gun show or somewhere.~~~~~~~ok, work can wait as my curiosity was peeked so I went out and found mine. I too have large hands and had them on my mod 27 back when pin shooting was hot around here. They are hard plastic as opposed to the rubber that pachmayr made famous. I took a quick peek at the Pachmayr web site and didn't see them though. Maybe a pair would turn up on ebay? Anyway, good luck.

[Old Fuff]

Knzn is right - Pachmayr did make a plastic version of the Jordan grip. Unfortunately I think they have been discontinued, probably because of law enforcement's switch to automatics. I know they were made for S&W K, L and N frames, but I'm not sure about the Ruger GP-100. It may have come along too late.

[Dave T]

Bullet Bob,

Those may well be Herretts' grips, but they are not "Jordan" grips. One of the characteristics of the Jordan design is the covered back strap that fills in the "recoil shoulder" on most DA revolver designs. Rather than a compound radius, the Jordan design is one outward, hand filling curve from the top to the bottom.

Minotaur,

I had a set (from Herretts) on a Ruger Security Six. They were well made and looked good, but I sold them with the gun. I also had a set of the Pachmyer rubber Jordan stocks on a Ruger SP101. They were excellent on that application. As aluded to, the Jordan design is more suited for large hands. Sounds like they would be perfect for you.

[Lone Star]

First, Bill Jordan was from LA, not TX. (Lived in Shreveport.)

Second, I handled his guns, and could use them well, but if I had ordered the Jordan grips, they'd have been made smaller, and would have fit my fairly large hands even better.

Third, a pal used to own a S&W .44 Magnum with Jordans on it. Even with full loads, it kicked relatively little, and with SWC lead bullet handloads at some 950 feet per second, recoil was actually quite mild. These grips do handle recoil very well.

Lone Star

[Traveler]

I have a set of the Herrett's on a New Service that I use for target practice. I bought them unfinished and then modified them to fit my hands. After finishing they work great.

Pachmayr did make a grip this pattern in 2 sizes. They were for S&W revolvers only (if memory serves). Both were fairly large. The problem was that they were hard, not rubber, and too slick for most people to use.

Break down and buy the Wood from Herrett's. It's better to have what you want than to settle for something not as good.

[Bullet Bob]

Dave T - that's why my post has the line "I DON'T have any pictures of my Jordan grips, but here are some Troopers"; just trying to give some idea of Herrett quality and work,
Bob

[Dave T]

Bob,

My apologies. I didn't see your last paragraph.

[Gandalf]

Here's a pic of some Bill Jordan grips on my S&W M-66. They are a great set of grips!

http://www.hunt101.com/img/065711.JPG