To Finger Grooves or no?

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NOLAEMT

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So I am looking for a new set of grips for my smith 686+. It came from the factory with the hogue mono-grip, but I have never liked the way they fit. the finger grooves are in the wrong place and the way the grip tapers feels weird.

I was looking at a set of Ahrends grips, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them? I was thinking a set of their "tactical" smooth grips in the black and silver dymondwood.

So basically I am wondering if anyone has any input on smooth vs finger groove grips, or ahrends grips?

thanks!
 
I have a pair of Ahrends grips on my K22 and Model 25-2 and I'm very fond of them and would definiltly recommend them. Only problem is that they are on the expensive side compared to the mass produced grips.
 
are yours with or without finger grooves?

I'm just trying to get a consensus that I'm doing the right thing by going without the grooves.
 
the finger grooves are in the wrong place

I've long wondered what Hogue is thinking. They seem determined to put finger groves on every gun. How does Houge think it's possible to make finger groves that will fit all, or even most, hands when there is such a huge variance between users?

My hands are XL and their grips allegedly will fit me as well as the small hands of a petite woman and the truly gigantic hands of an NBA player who can palm a basketball. Yeah, right.
 
I had one of those pistols and shot it a LOT.
I installed the Pachmayr Presentation Grip on it (no finger grooves) and that absorbed a lot of the recoil and made it comfortable to shoot.

I have one pistol that came with a Hogue grip with finger grooves and the only reason I keep that particular grip on that gun is that it just fits my hands perfectly when I shoot it! If it didn't fit me just so, I would not hesitate to put a non-finger groove grip on it!
 
Finger grooves are the only way for me. They locate my hand proper for a quick presentation. I absolutely LOVE all the Hogues I've used and have them on my M10 and a 3" Taurus 66 I carry a lot. They were awesome on a SP101 I had for a while, best grips out there for the SP101. They are a little big for concealment on a square butt, my only complaint, but I'm not sure there is a grip for a square butt that isn't largish that I'd wanna shoot the gun with.

To each his own, but put me down in favor of finger grooves. The Pachmayrs are okay, but Hogues are wonderful.
 
hey were awesome on a SP101 I had for a while, best grips out there for the SP101.
Click to expand...

Epic +1 to this.

I love Hogue's finger grooves. They fit my hand 100% perfectly as though they were made for me.
 
If they fit your hand, they work fine. I wish they sold an un-grooved, un-finished grip, so you could rasp and file your own finger grooves and finish them yourself.

Failing that, I make my own grips.
 
+2 on the finger-grooved Mono-Grip. Put one on my wife's S&W 13 because the foactory "Magna" grips were waaaay too small for my thin palms and long-fingers to have any real semblence of control. The Monogrip fits my wife's petite hands very well, and she fell in love with the pistol after that.

Not happy with the factory super-glossed and slippery "target grips" that came on the 629 I later bought (my wife REALLY loves the 13, so I "lost it" to her); I bought another Monogrip for the N-frame. Best thing I ever did for the hand-cannon!

Note: both of these grips are WOOD, not the rubber ones! I tried a rubber monogrip on the 629; not good. Too much "give" in the rubber; the grooves on the backstrap would "etch" the heel of my hand - shooting .44Spcl! I kept it on the there for 3 shooting sessions at the most. The 13, with it's nickle-plate finish (the one thing I really DISLIKE about it) wears cocobolo; goncalo alves for the 629.
 
Just to state the obvious, but the grooves aren't immutable - they can be re-shaped or even removed.

I use Uncle Mikes and Hogues on my match guns, and in both cases, the upper groove works well, but the lower doesn't, so the lower gets trimmed off with a razor. Voilá! Custom, well-fitting grips :D
 
I don't like the grooves AND they make the gun sit too high in the hand. Raises line of bore 1/2" to 3/4". Brother got aggitated over finger grooves on a glock 23, so he took them off. You can't tell they were ever there. And it does feel a lot better.
 
Unless the stocks were carved to fit your particular hand, or you get a one-size-fits-all pair that happens to work out, finger grooves are a good thing not to have, because they tend to force your grip into an unnatural position.

Bill Jordan also pointed out that if one's grip while drawing a revolver was slightly off, one could quickly relax then squeeze the hand again and the gun would "settle in to place," as he put it.

Then there is a question of what happens if you have to use the gun in your weak hand, and the grooves were made to work with the strong one.

To some degree, finger grooves are popular today because they "look cool." Cool is something that should always be avoided - unless it unexpectedly happens to work.
 
I actually purchased the Ruger LCR in .38 vs others for the grip. I find the LCR grip and grooves to fit me very nicely and makes it more enjoyable to shoot at length. I shoot +p jhp - 100 rounds minimum a range visit and can say that if not for the finger grooves I would not enjoy it as much.
 
The Hogues can be ordered with only one finger groove or NO finger grooves and I have had them on a couple of revolvers. I am not a fan of the palm swell where it hits my hand so have taken sandpaper to them to reshape to fit my hand better. I have had Ahrends on a S&W and the grooves are better fit for my hand than the Hogues but had a set without the grooves on another former gun which I liked better. Another to consider is Herretts various models which are made to fit one's hand.
 
Finger grooves are generally in the wrong place for me, especially the rubber Hogues. But the Uncle Mikes boot grips on my J Frame and my Tyler Ts do work for my hands.

So I am looking for a new set of grips for my smith 686+. It came from the factory with the hogue mono-grip, but I have never liked the way they fit. the finger grooves are in the wrong place and the way the grip tapers feels weird.

I was looking at a set of Ahrends grips, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them? I was thinking a set of their "tactical" smooth grips in the black and silver dymondwood.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you are talking about. I put a set of smooth Ahrends stocks on my 686 and love them. I ordered mine unfinished and stained them myself with an oil-based stain (Golden Pecan, IIRC), then followed up with an oil based polyu. coating.

My bedside gun:


IMG_1587.jpg


IMG_1618.jpg


IMG_1559.jpg
 
I like grooves. BUT a old shooter when I was very young taught me that the human hand is the most flexible machine on earth. It can do anything when asked if not impeded by injury or decisions. I blew this old gent off because I was having issues with plow handles at the time,,, as a kid.

I now understand what he was teaching me. In the past I hated plow grip SA's and Glocks were even worse. Thought I had to have a .22 match pistol grip in my hand to shoot well. As a wood worker I spent countless hours making stocks. Modding this and screwing with that. All most all hours spent on such projects were stupid looking back. With author knee deep in my body. Past broken fingers and finger jionts that have had the tops sheared off if not near blown apart. I've found the hand can adapt to anything.

IMHO it's easier to work with the hand than the gun. The old man was 100% right,, at least for me. And I look forward to mastering my up and coming purchase of a G20. Yep Glock and all.
 
I've got the Ahrends grips in cocobolo w/ finger grooves for my 686 plus. If you have hands that are not exceptionally large or exceptionally small they are the way to go. I wear men's size XL gloves, my wife has small hands (5'2", petite) we both can comfortably handle these grips. The Ahrends grips are not right or left handed, they will work equally well for either.

These grips are a nice improvement in looks and handling over the factory supplied rubber grips. The smooth lines make carry much more comfortable. Very nice!


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HTH

David
 
Finger grooves are definitely a personal preference issue.

Me? I HATE them!
I have short fingers & all they do is add thickness to the grip.
I have a hard enough time properly handling a firearm w/o adding even more thickness to the grips.

Of course, as always, YMMV
 
I love the subtle lil grooves on my Crimson Trace overmoulds on my sp101. I didn't like the Houges on my 2.5in 686, they didn't feel right. Pach. presentation was better suited for me on the bigger snubbie.
 
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