Old Subject, New Question S&W 686 & Ahrends

[RobertFBurnett]

Hello All,

So my new Ahrends Retro Target RD-SQ Cocobolo grips came in today, and I slapped em on my 686 and LOVE them! Beautiful wood color, no finger grooves are awesome!

Now heres the tricky part...how do I get em back off, they are ON there? My fingernails were bending trying to even get them to budge, and when they did it was only a hair, no wider than a thin screwdriver tip. I really don't want to resort to using metal tools without knowing what I am doing.

I was gonna call Ahrends themselves but they are closed till Monday.

RFB

 

[Blueduck]

If they do not fit too tight you can unscrew the grip screw a few turns then push it to give yourself a little gap.

Some fit so tight you can't do this then...I do it the wrong way

 

[RobertFBurnett]

Heya Duck,

No, when I do take out the screw its like its still in there, very tight.

rfb

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I know exactly what you are talking about. Ahrends grips fit so perfectly they are very tight without any spaces. This is great for grips but terrible if you want to take them off!! LOL

Here's what I did, I use a reed from a Clarinet. They are made of a stiff wood that looks like Bamboo but it's tapered to an almost see through thickness at one end. It worked like a roof shingle placed between a door jam. As I pushed it in it created a separation as the thicker part of the reed wedged between the grips and the frame. Any wood reed something similar will work. You can get reeds from your local music shop or just make something up from a similar wood.

 

[Majic]

Don't remove the screw. Just loosen it a few turns and rap the screw head. This will push the the opposite panel so you will be able to get something flat underneath it to pry it off.

 

[RobertFBurnett]

It has been too long since I had wood shop and I forgot about the properties of wood. The box arrived from Top Gun in Ohio, to my doorstep in a thunderstorm (Short one - its Sunny CA) in a wet cardboard box...you all see where I'm goin with this...put on my grips, had the above problem.

Fast forward to this morning, being tucked in a Bore-Store, in a warm room overnight they were, ever so slightly, a little more user friendly. It still took taking a small screwdriver and using the rear of the trigger guard as a wedge and just the side of the driver down into the grips to give me a nice push w/ no scratches.

Thank you everyone.

RFB

 

[jad0110]

In my experience, after you've removed/replaced them a few times, it gets a whole lot easier.