Stainz
Member
Nearly a year ago, I bought my dealer's new 696 & 296 - my first .44 Specials. The former for fun and as a house gun; the latter, for a CCW. The boot grips on the 296 left the backstrap - and hammer hump - uncovered. The rapid recoil with the 200gr Blazer GDjHP (~800fps from the 296.) in that 296 really whacks your hand's web, so I swapped the grips. What a difference! The 296 was then comfortable to shoot - and hit repeatedly better. Of course, the grip is longer, too, making CC of that big lite weight a bigger problem. I ordered the squared bottom version of the same UM's Combat grips for the 696 - it is happy now.
Interestingly, the 6" 66-6 I bought new in September came with those squared UM's grips while the 2" 10-11 I bought then as well came with the curved ones, a la the 696. They are great feeling grips.... make shooting 'fun'. But... I like the look of wood - so off those new UM's came. The 66 now sports smooth/finger grooved gonzalo alves Hogue monogrips while the 10 wears some service-style S&W Accessories wood boot-sized. They are both super with .38 Specials - my 158gr LSWC over 3.5gr T-teGroup works great. The 66 was equipped smooth so my wife would shoot .38's from it rather than grab my favorite plate gun, a 4" 625, also sporting smooth Hogue wood. The 10 makes a great house/truck/CCW with those 'proper' grips.
I also changed the stock Hogue rubber grips on my new 625 & 629 Mountain Guns out for the S&W Accessories #21991 square-conversion wood grips, feeling similar to my 20 yr old 24's grips. I don't shoot anything but normal .45 Colt or .44 Specials from those MG's... or I'd have to put rubber back on! For 'emphasis', I have a Ruger SRH in .454 with those excellent stock rubber/wood insert grips - superior ergonomics make it a joy to shoot hot .45 Colts or most .454's in - certainly much nicer even with the most stout .454's I have shot than a friend's 29 over 26 yr ago with the then stock wood grips - ouch... I still remember the blister & split web after three rounds.
I was diagnosed with 'repetitive motion syndrome', a k a 'carpal tunnel syndrome', some years ago after making thousands of pens, vases, and bowls by hand on a wood lathe... my chosen avocation upon retiring from college teaching. That ended that... I refused the surgical 'patch' and opted on diet modification, simple anti-inflammatories (aspirin & naproxin-sodium work for me), braces, and periodically changing what I used my hands for. Shooting, reloading ammo, cleaning - are all different enough to do that I have few RMS/CTS episodes now - even though I did not add them to my hobbies until after I developed the problem. The big problem is that the nerve damage is permenant... resulting in lowered hand strength and loss of feeling (... and, that throbbing!). Proper grips on those 'kickers' - like my SRH - are a requirement now. A lifetime of building models, model trains, working on electronics, woodworking, computer entry, etc - abraded the nerve bundle's sheath as it rubbed on the Carpal Tunnel's inside; a proper diet would have aided that sheath's toughness, but that is another story.
In summation... get backstrap-enclosing rubber grips - like those UM's Combats... or switch to .38's!
Merry Christmas to all!
Stainz
Interestingly, the 6" 66-6 I bought new in September came with those squared UM's grips while the 2" 10-11 I bought then as well came with the curved ones, a la the 696. They are great feeling grips.... make shooting 'fun'. But... I like the look of wood - so off those new UM's came. The 66 now sports smooth/finger grooved gonzalo alves Hogue monogrips while the 10 wears some service-style S&W Accessories wood boot-sized. They are both super with .38 Specials - my 158gr LSWC over 3.5gr T-teGroup works great. The 66 was equipped smooth so my wife would shoot .38's from it rather than grab my favorite plate gun, a 4" 625, also sporting smooth Hogue wood. The 10 makes a great house/truck/CCW with those 'proper' grips.
I also changed the stock Hogue rubber grips on my new 625 & 629 Mountain Guns out for the S&W Accessories #21991 square-conversion wood grips, feeling similar to my 20 yr old 24's grips. I don't shoot anything but normal .45 Colt or .44 Specials from those MG's... or I'd have to put rubber back on! For 'emphasis', I have a Ruger SRH in .454 with those excellent stock rubber/wood insert grips - superior ergonomics make it a joy to shoot hot .45 Colts or most .454's in - certainly much nicer even with the most stout .454's I have shot than a friend's 29 over 26 yr ago with the then stock wood grips - ouch... I still remember the blister & split web after three rounds.
I was diagnosed with 'repetitive motion syndrome', a k a 'carpal tunnel syndrome', some years ago after making thousands of pens, vases, and bowls by hand on a wood lathe... my chosen avocation upon retiring from college teaching. That ended that... I refused the surgical 'patch' and opted on diet modification, simple anti-inflammatories (aspirin & naproxin-sodium work for me), braces, and periodically changing what I used my hands for. Shooting, reloading ammo, cleaning - are all different enough to do that I have few RMS/CTS episodes now - even though I did not add them to my hobbies until after I developed the problem. The big problem is that the nerve damage is permenant... resulting in lowered hand strength and loss of feeling (... and, that throbbing!). Proper grips on those 'kickers' - like my SRH - are a requirement now. A lifetime of building models, model trains, working on electronics, woodworking, computer entry, etc - abraded the nerve bundle's sheath as it rubbed on the Carpal Tunnel's inside; a proper diet would have aided that sheath's toughness, but that is another story.
In summation... get backstrap-enclosing rubber grips - like those UM's Combats... or switch to .38's!
Merry Christmas to all!
Stainz
