S&W I-frame grips

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Piper106

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Are there aftermarket grips (or 'stocks' in S&W speak) for I-frame revolvers that while bigger than factory are for folks with small hands??

Had a chance to hold a WWI vintage S&W Hand Ejector I-frame the other day. I always though that I had very small hands but... even my hand was bigger than the grips on that I-frame. My pinkie was off the end of the grip in thin air. I assume I would want something a little longer but not too much thicker than factory grips. If I find an I-frame in the proper caliber and barrel length would like to know before I plunk down money. Can anyone suggest such an item???
 
I have a Baby Chief which requires the I frame grips. I use a set of old one piece Pachmayr J frame round butt grips on it when shooting. Because they totally enclose the butt and slip on, they fit and work fine.

The Pachmayrs are bigger than the stock grips and give you a little more to hang on to, as well as cushioning recoil.
 
Standard wood grips for the J frame round butt (e.g., Model 36) should fit OK but they will be longer than the frame, requiring a piece of wood for a filler.

Jim
 
Jim K is correct. The difference between I and J frame stocks/grips is that the latter are about 1/8" longer at the bottom, and the pin is in a slightly different location in some cases.

Simply buy the J-frame stocks that fit your hand, and then follow Jim's suggestion.

While it probably doesn't matter, the same trick works on S&W's .38 top break / double action revolvers too.
 
The "I" frame had a stepped back strap, nothing else is going to fit. The later "Improved I" frame had a smooth contour back strap without the "step". I find it hard to believe that anything from a "J" frame is going to work on an "I" frame without the introduction of a lot of "duct tape"!!!!
 
The "I" frame had a stepped back strap, nothing else is going to fit. The later "Improved I" frame had a smooth contour back strap without the "step". I find it hard to believe that anything from a "J" frame is going to work on an "I" frame without the introduction of a lot of "duct tape"!!!!
Click to expand...

This comes as a surprise to me... :confused:

The I-frame, as it was introduced in 1903, did not have a notch in the back strap. The notch originated in or about 1917 when the company brought out a variant they called the Regulation Police Model. It differed from the regular 1903 Hand Ejector revolvers in that it had longer, square bottom stocks that were made to fit the modified round butt frame, with wood extending below the frame's butt.

Only the relatively few frames used to make pre-war Regulation Police revolvers have the aforementioned notch.

The so-called "improved" I-frame differed from the above mentioned configurations only in that it used a coil rather then leaf mainspring, with the coil spring design being carried over to the later J-frame.

So, everyone can put their duct tape away. ;)
 
OK! My mid 20's RP 38 has the "stepped back strap". and is named on the barrel as "Regulation Police" and Identified as "I" frame in several S&W source books. My 1953 Improved "I" frame is named Regulation Police in the same sources but does not have the name on the barrel. Laid side by side with the stocks removed and calipers to hand the differences are obvious to a casual observer. The step being the most obvious.
Does this mean that the RP is not a true "I" frame or that the late model is an improvement over the "I" frame 32's?
As with most of these esoteric minor differences there probably isn't a definitive answer to every question; at this late date.
 
So far as I know all of the pre-World War Two, Regulation Police revolvers were built on I-frames that had the additional notch milled in the back strap. S&W went so far as to patent the feature in 1917, and thereafter used it primarily on the Regulation Police and a handful of others where they wanted to convert a round-butt frame to a square-butt configuration. By adding one milling operation they saved themselves the expense of making a whole new square-butt frame.

After World War Two they dropped the notched frame, and instead added a true square-butt frame to the last of the "improved" I-frames when a square butt/J-frame was tooled up and introduced in 1952.

The point of this is that one can fit most round-butt J-frame stocks on I-frame and Improved I-frame, round-butt revolvers that were not made as Regulation Police or similar models. The notched back strap is an exception, but not the rule. Also post-war guns made after 1952 are a whole different story.
 
The stepped back on the Regulation Police was the equivalent of the square butt version of the I frame, with non stepped being the round butt. Both are I frames. The stepped back was also used on some of the I frame target guns, the .22/32 Heavy Frame Target.

The improved I frame refers to the deletion of the strain screw and replacement of the main spring with a coil spring. The improved I frame was manufactured in round butt and a true square butt.
 
I have done some research but never found a really good reason for that notch. The only thing that seemed to make sense was that it was used on the Regulation Police because it provided support for the grips, preventing them from breaking when a cop used the butt of his gun to explain to a law-breaker the error of his ways.

Jim
 
I have done some research but never found a really good reason for that notch
Click to expand...
.

The thinking behind the notch was that without one the wood on the back strap would thin and be subject to cracking. The notch allowed the wood (or whatever) to be thicker and better supported. If you have one of these revolvers and remove the stocks to examine them some light bulbs should go on.
 
Another notation/question. The RP with the stepped back strap also has stocks serialed to the gun, matches the SN on the front strap; but no medallion in the stocks. The later gun has the S&W medallion. I was told that S&W dropped the medallion in the stocks during the 1920's. Yay or nay?
 
I was told that S&W dropped the medallion in the stocks during the 1920's. Yay or nay?
Click to expand...

True... at least sometimes. :confused:

The trademark medallions were dropped following World War One, but it was a popular feature so they were restored in a slightly different style in or around 1929.

However they didn't scrap older style stocks that they still had on hand, so occasionally you find an exception to the rule. Therefore it's always a good idea to check the inside of each panel to see if a matching serial number is (or isn't) there.
 
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