Knuckle Damage

The place to start, as you suggest, is better grips, ones that fill the gap between frontstrap and triggerguard. From Hogue to Herrett's.

And, yes, you're right: alloy snubbies are not designed with comfort (or accuracy!) as first priority.

I don't think the grip fillers (like the old Tyler's T-Grip would work with factory stocks)

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Those small Colt & S&W wood grips with no filler behind the guard were exactly what the T-Grip type grip adapters were made for.
They were first made by S&W way back when the .357 Registered Magnum came out in the 1930's.
Later by Pachmayr, and later still by Tyler.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...eNKITtW1BYO5tgeRg7FQ&ved=0CB4Q9QEwAA&dur=3528

They fill in behind the trigger guard just enough to deflect your finger bone away from getting whacked.

They also prevent the gun from squirming around in your grip every shot.

I think you would find one most beneficial.

The other option is oversize rubber or wood filler grips.
But if you aren't careful, your lightweight little gun isn't so light or little anymore.

rc

rcmodel has nailed it. Let me add, please, the right stocks or a filler such as Tyler T Grips can immediately make a noticeable difference to both comfort and accuracy. I thought they were silly until I tried them.

Try a set pf Pachmayer grips on it.

Rubber grips on a Classic Colt? Heresy! Factory stocks and the T-Grip are the way to go!

The idea is to move your middle-to-small fingers down some on the grip to prevent the revolver from banging your middle finger.

Something as simple as a Tyler T Grip would help, as would a set of Pachmayr or Hogue grips. They move the hand down from the trigger guard.

I have a 1967 Colt Cobra with the factory stocks and Tyler T grip adapter and the same finger now gets jammed so they don't work well for me...Pachmayr may be the answer but on a classic Colt???...course if you bought it for self defense instead of a safe queen...get what works for you...

Bill

I don't think the grip fillers (like the old Tyler's T-Grip) would work with factory stocks-

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I have factory stocks and a Tyler T-Grip on my Colt Detectice Special. It solves the knuckle-rapping problem nicely.

thats a nice pen you got propping up that colt

Fat Boy said:

I was able to make this less of an issue by effectively squeezing the gun so hard it didn't "bounce" back in my hand, but I was then concentrating so hard on the grip issue that I wasn't focused very well on sighting, etc.

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It seems to me that one way or another, the gun should not be bouncing back or otherwise moving significantly in your hand. Don't get me wrong--if modifying the grip in some way, as others have suggested, makes it easier and more comfortable for you to get a firm handle on the gun, then by all means do that. I'm just saying that you (and everybody) ultimately should grip the gun firmly enough so that it doesn't move in your hand, especially if the gun and your practice are intended for defensive purposes (you're probably going to have a "death grip" on the gun in a real defensive situation anyway--might as well practice it ).

the gun should not be bouncing back or otherwise moving significantly in your hand.

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Ever shot a small airweight revolver with reasonably hot loads?

Your whole hand & arm will move back fast & far enough to leave your middle finger behind for the trigger guard to work over.
I don't care how hard you grip it.

rc

rcmodel said:

Ever shot a small airweight revolver with reasonably hot loads?

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Not a lot, but I've shot some .38 Special+P out of a S&W Airweight revolver and even some .357 Magnum rounds out of a S&W Airlite revolver (not what I'd call pleasant, but I'll try almost anything once as long as it's not excessively dangerous ). Now, these revolvers have different grips than the classic ones on the Colt Cobra, so maybe that helped some, but the issue that I brought up was, all things considered, whether one can get a firm-enough grip on the gun, as well as what that means. To me it means that the gun should not move noticeably in your hand while shooting (your arm might get thrown back some, but that's different).

Is this too high a standard? That's not rhetorical--I'm asking in earnest. Maybe I'm showing my ignorance here, but honestly it just never occurred to me that anybody should be willing to tolerate a gun moving around in their hand (in an uncontrolled manner).

rcmodel said:

Your whole hand & arm will move back fast & far enough to leave your middle finger behind for the trigger guard to work over.
I don't care how hard you grip it.

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If this happened, then it wasn't enough for me to notice. Conversely, if it were enough for me to notice, then I would say that it's too much and either do something to fix the issue or, failing that, I would refrain from using the weapon and/or ammo (at least for defensive purposes).

But that's just me, I guess. I grip my handguns hard, and if they still move around in my hand, then something has to change (grip, caliber, gun, technique--whatever it takes). Color me surprised to learn that anything less could be considered acceptable (under ideal conditions, that is).

hand condition(ing)--that's the issue.

A few years ago, when I started carrying a lightweight (j-frame) firearm daily, I was woefully out of shape. Five shots from an M&P 340 of standard-pressure 38 Special PD loads left my hand stinging and numb.

I did two things: first, I started conditioning my hand / fingers with an exercisor, and then I started earnestly working on shooting by starting with lighter-weight reloads in a 640. Eventually--about 10,000 rounds later--I was able to shoot some reloads I built for "maximum" snub usage: 158-gr. LSWC-HP bullets in a 357 case that averaged about 915 fps from the 2"-barrel guns.

The organizing concept is that of "successive approximations"--start lighter, or with lower expectations for time / accuracy / whatever, and work your way up. It can be done--and now I have a "death-grip" on my j-frame that doesn't usually wobble unnecessarily.

Jim H.