Altamont Roper Style Grips

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Dudemeister

Dudemeister

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Ever since I got my Model 57 I've been looking at various grips, first for the M57, then for some of my other guns.

I'm not a big fan of wood grips with finger grooves, so I prefer a grip similar to the old Pacmayr Presentation grips in shape.

I already have a set of original S&W target grips from my K38, but I never liked the thickness. The same thing applies to the original grips from Dan Wesson. On the Dan Wesson I ended up putting the PacMayr presentation grips, and they fit perfect, primarily because they are a single piece. I bought a set for the M57, but they just don't fit right, they feel squishy on the inside grip. I ended up with a set of Altamont Target grips on the M57. They're OK, but like the original Target grips, they're just too thick and bulky.

So when it came time to get a set for my L frame 686+, I went for the Altamont Roper style grips in Olive wood. They came in the mail today, and let's just say that I finally found what I had been looking for all along. I love these things. They fit the hand just right, they have a nice taper, and are nowhere near the thickness of the target grips.

If you're like me and like a thinner grips with a natural taper, you should give these a closer look.

upload_2020-8-26_21-22-35.png
upload_2020-8-27_11-10-48.png
 
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Dudemeister said:
Ever since I got my Model 57 I've been looking at various grips, first for the M57, then for some of my other guns.

I'm not a big fan of wood grips with finger grooves, so I prefer a grip similar to the old Pacmayr Presentation grips in shape.

I already have a set of original S&W target grips from my K38, but I never liked the thickness. The same thing applies to the original grips from Dan Wesson. On the Dan Wesson I ended up putting the PacMayr presentation grips, and they fit perfect, primarily because they are a single piece. I bought a set for the M57, but they just don't fit right, they feel squishy on the inside grip. I ended up with a set of Altamont Target grips on the M57. They're OK, but like the original Target grips, they're just too thick and bulky.

So when it came time to get a set for my L frame 686+, I went for the Altamont Roper style grips in Olive wood. They came in the mail today, and let's just say that I finally found what I had been looking for all along. I love these things. They fit the hand just right, they have a nice taper, and are nowhere near the thickness of the target grips.

If you're like me and like a thinner grips with a natural taper, you should give these a closer look.

View attachment 938352
View attachment 938452
Click to expand...
A quick question,
With magnum loads, how do those slightly narrower grips feel on the palm? (They look amazing to the eye!)

I have a Model 66 with Pachmayr Presentation grips and I would like to get something more appealing to the eye without beating up my hand... or wallet.

Stay safe.
 
These are very good looking grips indeed. I have a set for an L-frame and in my eye, they are the best-looking mass-produced grips I've seen (and that's all I own). I will be critical of them however on a number of points. First, the high left-side panel isn't relieved to eject brass out of the cylinder. Even loose rounds will hit the panel on mine and foul the ejection. It also affects the use of speedloaders and moonclips. I simply relieved mine with a dremel and carefully finished the shape with a file and sandpaper. Second, the screw hole is off center of the diamond. The two examples pictured in this thread aren't bad at all, but on mine the hole is far enough off-center that it breaks the edge of the diamond. Third, as much as I wanted to use these grips, I found they don't give me a good natural point of aim. The very narrow tops of the grips and the long (front to back) base of the grips were making me point high and left. I was not shooting high and left, but if I just pointed the gun I would have to move the muzzle down and right to get the sights lined up on the target. I tried to retrain my grip with more thumb pressure and break my wrist farther over, but I had another grip (Hogue conversion) that always came up on the target every time from the first time. I don't like to shoot the Hogue one-handed because they're so fat at the top, where these narrow-at-the-top Altamont are so easy to get one hand around firmly. I like the look of the Altamont better, but I shoot the Hogue best.
 
I have a couple of model 19s that wear these grips. Both of mine are the Santos Rosewood, but I think my next pair will be the Olive wood, I'm really starting to like the lighter colored wood. I love the feel of them and they fit my grandkids hands as well.
 
Riomouse911 said:
A quick question,
With magnum loads, how do those slightly narrower grips feel on the palm? (They look amazing to the eye!)

I have a Model 66 with Pachmayr Presentation grips and I would like to get something more appealing to the eye without beating up my hand... or wallet.

Stay safe.
Click to expand...
To be determined. I haven't yet shot this gun since putting the new grips on it, but for me, properly fitting wood grips don't seem to be any worse than rubber ones when shooting mostly .38 SPL and the occasional .357 mag.

Large wood grips, like the target type, don't fit my hand well, and do indeed beat up my hand and wrist. I have a Dan Wesson 15-2 that came with the original target grips and shooting it with those was not pleasant, so I quickly put a set of Pacmayr Presentation grips on it, and never looked back. I also had target grips on my K38 Masterpiece, and even though it was just a .38spl, extended shooting sessions would tire my hand more than other guns, so on that, I ended up putting the classic panels from Altamont, and would you know it, it's a much better experience.
 
While I love the look of revolvers with wooden target grips, I fully agree that those DW “target” grips are HUGE around the butt-end. They, too hurt my hand when shooting with them on. Other than the goofy DW “combat” grip, which feel OK but look to me to be an unfinished lump of play-doh, the feel of the target grips (when I’m shooting) are by far my least favorite ones DW made for that revolver.

I put a Hogue wooden grip on one of my 15-2’s and like it a lot more. There isn’t any checkering so they’re a tad slippery, but my hands don’t hurt after a shooting session so they’ll stay. My other 15-2 has the rubber Hogue grip.

7A5A2621-F132-4782-B54A-D40A90CC98D4.jpeg

The shrouds are an 8” VH out of the DW pistol pac and a 3” VH from EWK.

Stay safe.
 
Here's my Dan with Pacmayr Presentation grips, and a EWK 4" slab shroud and barrel. The original 6" is below. As you can probably tell, the frame on mine has turned and nice and ripe plum color.

FWIW, that EWK barrel is heavier than the original 6" barrel. It take the sting out of shooting .357 mags, except the weight eventually tires the your whole arm

upload_2020-9-4_14-14-25.png

BTW, what happened to EWK. They don't seem to sell barrels and shrouds anymore. They only show a couple options and they're all sold out.
 
Dudemeister,, I put a CZ/DW 4" barrel on my 15-2 which looks lighter than your EWK. Your Presentation grips look like the large version. I put the small Presentations on my other 15-2 after trying both. It seems the only difference is the small one is narrower. I like them both. IMG_0349_LI (4).jpg
 

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Dudemeister said:
Here's my Dan with Pacmayr Presentation grips, and a EWK 4" slab shroud and barrel. The original 6" is below. As you can probably tell, the frame on mine has turned and nice and ripe plum color.

FWIW, that EWK barrel is heavier than the original 6" barrel. It take the sting out of shooting .357 mags, except the weight eventually tires the your whole arm

View attachment 940261

BTW, what happened to EWK. They don't seem to sell barrels and shrouds anymore. They only show a couple options and they're all sold out.
Click to expand...


EWK is sort of weird; I think they just quit making stuff that requires a lot of machining like shrouds, and just make simple stuff like barrel nuts, barrel tools, sight blades, etc. I bought a .22 barrel wrench from them when I bought a .22LR DW.


stonebuster said:
Dudemeister,, I put a CZ/DW 4" barrel on my 15-2 which looks lighter than your EWK. Your Presentation grips look like the large version. I put the small Presentations on my other 15-2 after trying both. It seems the only difference is the small one is narrower. I like them both.View attachment 940292
Click to expand...
I added a CZ 4” .22 LR VH barrel-shroud to the .22 to go along with the 6” V barrel-shroud that it came with. The CZ is just as nice as any of the DW kits I’ve seen and it cost a lot less than the originals we’re selling for on GB and eBay.

Stay safe.
 
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