Altamont Wood grips for SP101

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I am looking at the Altamont Wood grips for my SP101. Does anybody here have direct experience with these?

If so, how is the fit, feel, and quality?

Thanks!
 
I am looking at the Altamont Wood grips for my SP101. Does anybody here have direct experience with these?

If so, how is the fit, feel, and quality?

Thanks!
Huh, I didn't realize Altamont was making full grips for the SP101 now. I thought they were still only doing grip panels. I may have to order some of these. I have some Pachmayr's on mine, and they work, but they are a little narrow.

I've been on a quest to find the right grip for my SP for over 10 years now.
 
It
Huh, I didn't realize Altamont was making full grips for the SP101 now. I thought they were still only doing grip panels. I may have to order some of these. I have some Pachmayr's on mine, and they work, but they are a little narrow.

I've been on a quest to find the right grip for my SP for over 10 years now.
It's the same grips they are putting on the match champion sp101.
 
Altamont makes a lot of finger groove grips which almost always fail to fit. If you buy some grips with finger grooves and know for certain they fit, then it could work out. Buying without knowing if they fit isn't the problem. The problem is if you keep using them unaware that they don't fit you.

The last set of Altamont grips I bought (revolver but not Ruger) had the grip screw holes in a diamond surrounded by checkering (a fairly common feature on checkered grips). The hole was not centered, but all the way off center so it broke the edge of the diamond. More troubling, the particular design I bought was not cut for clearance of the brass when it is ejected. It was utterly hopeless -- the brass would jam up on every single ejection. I used a dremel and sandpaper to relieve it. Ultimately, I found I could not get enough purchase with my dominant thumb to control torque from my support hand (not related to the modification I made). Right now I'm using Hogue, but I don't like the Hogue's palmswell because it's too low on the grips. I think grips are important to give a good "NPOA" and the Hogue do that very well. I also have a set of Pachmayers that are ugly and made with poor quality, not to mention rubber, but they seem to work well. If I could stand the sight of them on my gun for long enough, I could evaluate them better.
 
Altamont makes a lot of finger groove grips which almost always fail to fit. If you buy some grips with finger grooves and know for certain they fit, then it could work out. Buying without knowing if they fit isn't the problem. The problem is if you keep using them unaware that they don't fit you.

The last set of Altamont grips I bought (revolver but not Ruger) had the grip screw holes in a diamond surrounded by checkering (a fairly common feature on checkered grips). The hole was not centered, but all the way off center so it broke the edge of the diamond. More troubling, the particular design I bought was not cut for clearance of the brass when it is ejected. It was utterly hopeless -- the brass would jam up on every single ejection. I used a dremel and sandpaper to relieve it. Ultimately, I found I could not get enough purchase with my dominant thumb to control torque from my support hand (not related to the modification I made). Right now I'm using Hogue, but I don't like the Hogue's palmswell because it's too low on the grips. I think grips are important to give a good "NPOA" and the Hogue do that very well. I also have a set of Pachmayers that are ugly and made with poor quality, not to mention rubber, but they seem to work well. If I could stand the sight of them on my gun for long enough, I could evaluate them better.
The three sets of Altamonte i have for my jframe fit so nice you can hardly see the seem that joins the halves. They're fantastic. The finger grooves fit me well. I did reshape the one set so the bottom finger grooves wasn't so pointy for concealment. But there laminate is super easy to work with.

The target style altamont for my gp100 also fits the gun well. However the grip shape didn't fit me well and causes the gun to sink into my hand under recoil not a fan.
 

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These “Bonded Ivory” Altamonts on my New Vaquero are a pretty good value for $28.

View attachment 878889
I forgot to mention my single actions in my other post. I have altamont rosewoods on my Blackhawk and single six as well. Fit is ehhhh ok, but they feel good in the hand. I had the bonded ivory on hem, but my set broke on my first range trip. Was shooting 44 special when it happened. They sure did look nice though.

Edit to add:
When the grip broke I emailed altamont. I shipped the grip back to them and they exchanged it for a rosewood at no cost. When receiving the grip i open the package to find two sets in the box? Can't complain about that. Now my Blackhawk and single six match again.
 

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I decided to go with Altamont over Badger, though I haven't had time to install them yet. I felt like the Altamont had a more natural grip angle, I can get all 3 fingers on the grips (about the same size as stock rubber), a bit cheaper, and I love the looks. However, I will have to do some Dremel work. I was hoping they would screw right on and fit perfect like my Hogue grips for the K6s, but these are nowhere close. Before any fitting (which is reasonable to assume there might be some) there is a pretty significant gap between the grips and the back of the trigger guard, as well as between the top of the grips and the frame behind the hammer where the tang starts. They also had to make them, so they weren't sitting around waiting to be purchased, which has led to another complaint: there was still some formaldehyde in the grooves of the checkering, and those grips STUNK! After about a week, you can still kinda smell it, even after trying to clean them with some Ballistol and wood cleaner & polish. I may call the company before I do any alterations. I guess I can expected a better product, especially since they make the grips for the Match Champion SP101, and I doubt Ruger has to deal with stink and the fit being off this much. I do think I'm the minority, as just about everything I read about Altamont was positive. I'll try to attach a pic or 2 of the grips if I get time and hopefully show how they "fit" when I got them.
 

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Here is the set of Altimonts I bought for my Colt officers model .22lr. They are pretty nice and the fit is good but not perfect. I understand that a 1939 officers may have some frame variations. The screw hole was a tiny tiny bit off center but it was not a big deal. ALso I had to cut and file one of the five different length screws they included to get the right length so it was not too short or too long. I finished mine with 5 coats of shellac and a little steel wool, The grips came with no finish on them.

index.php
 
I received them in the mail today.

What an absolute utter disappointment. I am trying to wrap my head around how bad these are?

The fit was so tight at spots and absolutely not even close at others! I can't understand how off the tolerances are!

1mm or so here or there, I can deal with....but this was silly off!

I find it hard to believe that there is this much discrepancy in Ruger's manufacturing! I would think that in this day and age, CNC manufacturing would have these parts totally interchangeable!

I packed them right back up and I am shipping back to Altamont in hopes of getting my money back. I am so bummed out! I really liked the look of the handles!
 

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I bought a set target grips for my 617 that were pretty nice so I decided to get a set of target grips for my 629. After receiving 2 sets that were very poorly finished they just refunded my money without even telling me.
 
I just ordered Altamont grips for a Kimber K6. I hope they are good.
 
I think I'll do the inserts for my older SP 101, the slotted factory ones look like the Bakelite grips on my old Helwan. I'm going to keep the synthetic outers though.

Sadly, I'm slowly finding myself going to rubber grips over wood grips on anything more than a .22/.22 Mag. I shot my .357 Dan Wesson with the zebrawoods on it a couple of weeks ago and quickly grew to really hate it. I guess as I'm getting older, no matter how much I LOVE the look of wood grips on a handgun I'm just not liking the feel of wood grips under recoil anymore. :(

Stay safe.
 
I received them in the mail today.

What an absolute utter disappointment. I am trying to wrap my head around how bad these are?

The fit was so tight at spots and absolutely not even close at others! I can't understand how off the tolerances are!

1mm or so here or there, I can deal with....but this was silly off!

I find it hard to believe that there is this much discrepancy in Ruger's manufacturing! I would think that in this day and age, CNC manufacturing would have these parts totally interchangeable!

I packed them right back up and I am shipping back to Altamont in hopes of getting my money back. I am so bummed out! I really liked the look of the handles!

Too bad those were lemons:thumbdown:. I got two sets of Altamont grips for the Single Six/Wrangler a couple of weeks ago and they're a prefect fit and look great, too.

Stay safe.
 
Mr. Tettnanger,

Sorry to hear that the Altamont grips were a bust for you. My experience with them was the exacty opposite. The repro "Coke Bottles" that they made for my 686 Plus are exquisite! Couldn't be happier! Out of all the grips I looked at they were also the most reasonably priced.

You are correct though, in this day of CNC, there is no excuse for such a mismatch!

I would contact them, with your photos and see what kind of explanation they have, those grips are clearly not a good fit, not even close!

Good luck!

Junkee alt4.jpg
 
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