Your preferred rubber and/or wood grips on S&W .357?

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DHart

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I've had rubber grips on my .357's for many years and have grown accustomed to them. But I was wondering about the smooth wood grips that are popping up here and there. The few I've felt in gunshops feel good when holding the pistol, but I haven't experienced them while actually firing. Those of you who have used both, which is more comfortable? Which do you prefer?

I have a pair of Pachmayr Compac grips on my 2 1/2" 66 and I love those grips. But I have had a pair of Pachmayr Professional Grippers on my 6" 686 for years and I hate them; they're hard and too skinny. So I recently ordered a three pair of different brand grips from Brownells:

Pachmayr Presentation Grips
Uncle Mikes Butler Creek Grips
David BD-L grips

... all of which are some form of rubber. So what do you guys think of these grips on a SMith .357 and have you any recommendations as to top rated smooth wood grips for the Smith .357's? Thanks in advance!
 
My .357 Model 60 wears Pachmayr Compacs. If I was going to put on wood grips, I'd start saving my cash for Nill grips. They're pricey but pretty.

Captain Bligh
 
My 686-4 came with the Hogue rubber grip, which was okay, but I prefer wood. I replaced it with Cherry Wood Laminate grips by Ajax (stock # WD 20TFG-CONV). The shape is like the upper right hand picture here.

My son and I both appreciated the imporvement the Ajax grips made, in appearance, and in shooting.
 
These were some shiny Ajax or Badger grips until I got some files and sandpaper to them and then a lite coat of boiled linseed oil. I can shoot 200 to 300 rounds in a range session and they do not cause any problems. I also have a 586 that I took some old beater targets and cut them down and sanded them to fit and I can shoot them all day.
my13-4threeinch.jpg
Lframegrip.jpg



Hate rubber, but I have it on my 940.
 
I have a set of Pachmayr Compacs on my S&W too. Love 'em for shooting, love 'em for carry. I recently bought these Altamonts because they were just to pretty to pass up. I like to look at them, they're decent for carry, but I don't like to shoot them cause my pinky finger hangs off the bottom. Feels weird to me. I'll stick with rubber shooting and carrying. Wood for show and tell.

70810222.gif
 
I prefer Pachmeyers for shooting. I replaced the Houges on my 686 with Pachmeyers Presentation grips. I like the feel and they seem to eat up the recoil better then the Houges. On the other hand I like Houges semi-auto grips.
 
Every gun I own that has removable/replacable grips has Hogues on it. I have wood and rubber for my K/L frames and both feel great.
 
I like sthe stock S&W checkered service grips with a Tyler T-grip. Nothing else feels as good or controls the gun better. I HATE rubber grips, and don't use them on anything I own.
 
I just received the rubber grips from Brownells... here's how they seem on my 6" 686:

Pachmayr Presentation... quite large and bulky, nice feel though. The downward length of the butt seems too long to me though. Overall very nice though.

Uncle Mike/Butler Creek... a little thin feeling side to side... not as cushy as Pachmayr Presentation or Pachmayr Compac. Not bad though.

Bill Davis... somehow these just don't feel all that nice to me...

I'm going to return these grips. None of these feel as good to me as the Pachmayr Compac grips feel on my round butt 66. But my 686 has a square butt and you can't get the Compac for a square butt. So my choice is to try some wood grips for the 686. I don't think I want to hack up the butt to change it from square to round.

Any suggestions on what wood grips might be among the best for the square butt 686?
 
I just put these on my 27. They fill up my hand better than the service stocks. These are Sile Stocks and were $8.00 delivered from ebay.

I have the hogue bantams on my j frame. When I can afford them I want wood. They don't stick to your clothes.
 
I'm in the mood for Badger grips lately. Nice colors & grains and lots of styles to choose from. Here's a set of boot grips on my 3" 66.

66badger.jpg


Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
Hello Mattz,
I just came over for a visit.
Looks pretty nice over here.

By the way, when are you gonna get out of that COLD state of gun control and move somewhere warm ?
I lived in Illinois for 30 some odd years before I made the move.
I'm not comin' back. LOL

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
It is definitely cold here, but all of my family is here (as well as my wife's family). I know the laws won't change here, so eventually I'll move, but I don't know where or when.
 
That's funny you say that about the family.
It's so true about people from Illinois.
I was the first to move away, well at least more than 20 minutes from home. They still think I'm just on vacation... Ha ha ha ha
I'm NOT coming back to the Cold/Rain/Mosquitoes/Gloomy skies/Snow/more gloomy skies.......


Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
 
A search turned up this link:

http://www.badgercustomgrips.com/

These look like nice grips. Since I'm not real happy with any of the rubber grips I've tried on my 6" 686 square butt, I think I may go with one of these... or convert the butt to a round butt and go with my favorite rubber grip: Pachmayr Compac SK/C. Funny thing, Brownells carries about every Pachmayr there is BUT the SK/C... go figure... I think it's the nicest feeling grip Pachmayr makes.
 
GUNKWAZY said:
That's funny you say that about the family.
It's so true about people from Illinois.
I was the first to move away, well at least more than 20 minutes from home. They still think I'm just on vacation... Ha ha ha ha
I'm NOT coming back to the Cold/Rain/Mosquitoes/Gloomy skies/Snow/more gloomy skies.......


Jeff (GUNKWAZY)
Click to expand...

Thats funny, I've lived in the sunny desert SW all my life (save for a year in South Florida) and I've always been curious about colder, weather. I've never lived in snow or had 4 distinct seasons.

On-topic though. I like the original wood S&W grips on my 19-3. My grandfather has a set of custom carved wood grips on his 2" Colt Marshall.
My Dad, however keeps the original plastic (bakelite?) grips on his Colt DA-38. Yes, thats a .38 Long Colt if you were wondering. The DA trigger pull is heavy as all get out, but its a fun gun to shoot.
 
I like the Hogue finger groove grips in both wood and rubber. My Ruger RH and SRH wear the Houge rubber, will never change them!

My 4" Model 13 sports the Hogue finger grooves.

19302L.jpg


19303L.jpg




I put Pachmayr's Compact Pro's on my Model 60 357. They're 10% smaller than Compacts and harder rubber than Hogue's which helps them not get hung on my clothing.

skcp.jpg



BTW, Smith and Wesson has some very nice looking wood grip options with the S&W Medalian on them. S&W Grips

Also check Eagle Grips, they have some very nice offerings! I like their Heritage Grips and would like to try a pair of Secret Service grips some day. Eagle Grips

*EDIT The Hogue rubbers on the Rugers are for Hunting only, it's the only action the guns see, except for the occasional sight in check.
 
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