quote:

how do you get them custom made for your hand?

Went to the Hogue factory in Paso Robles. This was back when I was learning competitive revolver shooting with Randy Lee of Apex; we shot at the Hogue Range in San Luis Obispo.

Well, then there's Keith Brown...

Just saying, these are available thru Hogue also, they will fit BOTH K&L Round butt frames as well as N Round butt frames

Hard to beat the currently supplied grips on new S&W's in my use. The biggest factor for me, is adequate control for DA shooting, and good protection for the 2nd finger/rear of the trigger guard, knuckle rap.

Many revolver shooters also like the old Pachmayr Presentations...my #2 son has them on his M-66 & M-29 Smiths. They work equally well for me, but like the current factory supplied ones....they're God awful ugly....(last pic)

Here are a few pics, Altamont's Ropers on my 629 in the first pic, and a pair of Jerry Mikulek's DA's on my 686 in the 2nd. The Altamonts are OK up to about 1000 fps with 240 gr loads but offer little protection for the 2nd finger/knuckle rap with anything faster. The Mikuleks, however, third one down in the 2nd pic, are just all-around good: offering positive control, with the undeniable beauty of wood. That's my son in the 3rd pic with his M-66 stocked with the Pachmayr's.

Best Regards, Rod

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rodfac,

I only have one N-Frame, a 329PD, and had a heck of a time finding a suitable grip for my purposes. It's a woods carry gun, and I wanted it as short as possible to fit in my HPG kit bag, but it also needed to be wide enough to fill my hand and provide some backstrap cushioning otherwise that lightweight hand cannon is completely unshootable. I tried several varieties of wood grips on this gun, and it actually drew blood.

What I really want is something that is flush with the bottom of the frame, but the factory grips extend well past it, as do the Hogues (which are even worse because they attach at the bottom so there's no chance of even modifying them). Also everybody puts finger grooves on everything these days, which is stupid unless you're that one guy in a thousand that they actually fit.

What I ended up with was a set of Pachmayr Diamond Pros that I cut the finger grooves off of and sanded the butt down. They're still longer than I'd like but there was no way to remove anymore material without compromising their structural integrity at the butt. They're also ugly as heck, and I hate the way they attach (you have to knock the positioning pin out of the frame and run a screw through from the outside of the grips), but they make the gun tolerable to shoot and it still fits in my bag. I carried it a ton in WY this past week, and actually had to draw it once, and it came right out without any drama.

If anybody at Hogue is paying attention to this thread, a set of round-butt boot-length rubber grips with a padded backstrap and no finger-grooves would be an awesome addition to your N-Frame lineup. I'd much prefer a quality factory option to my hacked up solution.