S&W N frame target grips

[C-grunt]

I'm wanting to get a set of target style grips for my model 28. I don't care if they are originals or have a different checkering design.

It seems like all I find are high dollar stocks costing 200+ dollars. Are there any that are say 100 bucks or less?

 

[J-Bar]

Thanks for posting this, I want some too! Eager to see responses.

 

[Ru4real]

Altamont has N frame grips for less than $100

https://www.altamontco.com/pistol-grips/smith-and-wesson/n-square/

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I like Badger Custom grips for my S&W revolvers. Even better, they are under $90 per set.

Give them a look-see.
https://badgercustomgrips.com/smith-wesson

I especially like the Rosewood and Birdseye Maple grips.
https://badgercustomgrips.com/smith-wesson/n-frame-round-full-grip

 

[AK103K]

Are you looking for "lookers" or "shooters"?

Ive tried a number of different wood grips on my 28's and 29's, etc, and have always been disappointed when it came to shooting with them. They were pretty looking, and pretty awful to shoot with.

The grips that have always been the best "functional" shooters for me have been the $25 +/- Houge rubber Mono grips. They look like hell, but they feel great in the hand, with a good grabby grip and texture, and work the best at locking the gun into my grip for shooting.

 

[bangswitch]

I'd ago with Altamont also, they make a very nice set of stocks for most any revolver.

If you are wanting factory stocks, you're gonna pay big to get them. they are a whole 'nuther class of collectible, with ever-increasing value.

I put a set of walnut Altamont stocks on my M28-2, and removed the perfect-condition magna's to keep them that way. The larger Altamont stocks aren't as thick in the middle as the factory target stocks, and have finger cutouts; they fit my hand perfectly (size 8 glove).




They make much fancier stocks than those, here's a set of rosewood stocks I have on my M19-3:



and another set of rosewoods on my M57:



I paid from $60 to $85 a set, which is less for all three than a single set of nice factory GA target stocks

 

[Risky buisness]

I like Ahrends personally, little longer and a different profile, somewhat like a ruger bisley.
I think I have 100$ or so in them for my N frame

 

[DR505]

I like Ahrends personally, little longer and a different profile, somewhat like a ruger bisley.
I think I have 100$ or so in them for my N frame

Unfortunately Kim Ahrends went out of business...bank took the company IIRC.

 

[nofendertom]

I too am a Kim Ahrends fan but he closed up shop. You might find them on ebay.

 

[Pat Riot]

If you do a search on EBay for “Ahrends N frame grips” you’ll see a variety of grips and not just Ahrends. They can be pricey.

 

[Risky buisness]

Dang it... sorry to hear they went out of business.
All my Smith's wear those grips.

 

[jdavis123]

Check EBay for seller Juawan from Thailand. He makes nice wooden grips for all frame sizes priced around $50.I have a set on a 629 that are well made and nice looking. Be sure you specify grips for square butt frame.

 

[AK103K]

I always thought the old S&W factory target, coke bottle, whatever you want to call them, grips looked the best, especailly when they had some figure in them.

Its just too bad they didnt shoot as good as they looked.

Ive used Magnas with a T Grip on a number of them, and they shoot much better, and still have the look. The Magnas arent all that cheap anymore either.




Most of my S&W's with wood, regardless of frame size, look like that these days.

 

[BobWright]

I have not checked lately, but Eagle grips used to sell some nice grips for Colt and S&W revolvers. And their rosewood was really rosewood, albeit Indian rosewood.

Bob Wright

 

[Bill M.]

I like Hogues I have on my 686. I like the rosewood smooth set better of the 2 sets I have for shooting. I have a checkered tulipwood wood set that looks nice but it is too sharp for my hands and I do not think the checkering adds anything really useful. Probably under $100 from midway. I have the original 686 grips. I just hate to shoot the gun with them,

 

[WVfishguy]

My favorite shooting rips are wood Hogue fingergrooved.

 

[CraigC]

Good luck, I've never been able to find very good grips at what most would consider an affordable price. I finally figured out it was more affordable to have fewer sets of grips that work, even if they cost a lot more, than it was to have a box full of cheap ones that didn't. Contrary to what a lot of folks seem to think, custom grips aren't about "pretty". They're about fit and function, first and foremost. The shape is FAR more important than the material they're made from. I can't get along with the Hogue monogrip at all. They're too narrow side to side, too long front to back and that ambidextrous palm swell is awful. It's taken me years to work through a flinch I developed while shooting an SRH .480 with Hogue monogrips. Same for 'most' Pachmayrs, although to a lesser extent. Materials aside, the shape is wrong. Only Pachmarys I'm able to use are those for the Dan Wesson and T/C Contender.

The off the shelf grips that come close are the Ahrends target stocks and the Altamont Roper/Coke bottle grips. Both have design flaws, in that the Ahrends is a bit too narrow at the backstrap and has that weird flat surface. The Altamont is just too narrow.

For me, what works is a Roper style grip about 1.2" wide at the middle. Those that I have that work well are either Herrett's, John Culina (Kurac), Zane Thompson (LSCG) or Keith Brown. Unfortunately, those range from just over $100 for Herrett's (gearing up to close its doors) to well over $500 for some of the KB's (also preparing for retirement).

LSCG's, also showing the shape from the rear. These grips make the .44Mag feel like a pop gun.





Another set he did in walnut for the GP.



Culina's on a 24-3.



Another set in ivory micarta to illustrate the shape.



Keith Browns on a Highway Patrolman.



On a K22.

 

[1KPerDay]

@CraigC I always enjoy your pics. Lovely collection. I also find many grips far too narrow at the rear, and make the magnums unshootable.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I second the cheap ugly Hogue rubber grips. They stick like Dunlop’s on a desert highway.

 

[firedawg60]

I second the cheap ugly Hogue rubber grips. They stick like Dunlop’s on a desert highway.

Look like it too.

 

[Rodfac]

Great looking grips, Craig, and thanks for the rear view showing the mid-ships swell....Hard to describe, but any shooter will know when they're "right". Rod

 

[hemiram]

I have Altamonts on my 6" 28-2: I have another pretty much identical set on one of my 4" 28-2's, and some unknown make on my other 4' 28-2.

I don't like the Magnas all 3 had on them at al. I tried to trade a friend's father in law, who is like 90 years old and long done with shooting (vision, heart, lung, and Parkinson's issues) a set of Magnas and some cash for some really nice looking birdseye maple target grips, but he just wanted an insane amount of money along with the Magnas, so they didn't come home with me. My friend's wife says if he still has them when he passes away, we will work out a deal for them. I hope he doesn't sell off his gun stuff and leaves it to his daughter. He's got a very nice S&W 27 that I was lusting after, but I can't swing the price he wanted right now. But a few months from now, I should have it available.

 

[Aim1]

I'd ago with Altamont also, they make a very nice set of stocks for most any revolver.

If you are wanting factory stocks, you're gonna pay big to get them. they are a whole 'nuther class of collectible, with ever-increasing value.

I put a set of walnut Altamont stocks on my M28-2, and removed the perfect-condition magna's to keep them that way. The larger Altamont stocks aren't as thick in the middle as the factory target stocks, and have finger cutouts; they fit my hand perfectly (size 8 glove).
View attachment 958740
View attachment 958741
View attachment 958744

They make much fancier stocks than those, here's a set of rosewood stocks I have on my M19-3:

View attachment 958745

and another set of rosewoods on my M57:

View attachment 958747

I paid from $60 to $85 a set, which is less for all three than a single set of nice factory GA target stocks

I think top and bottom set look great!

 

[Cocked & Locked]

More S&W Factory ones