Form vs Function

[DP03]

While browsing this revolver forum, I have seen many a beautiful handgun, with many of them differentiated by their grips. And as nice as it is to see all the variations, I also wonder how far folks are willing to give up in function for their beautiful grips. You hear it all the time.....complaints that shooting the 357 mag loads are so painful to shoot, with some even saying the magnum loads make their hands bleed.

I recently bought a Ruger SRH Alaskan in 44 mag, and I have shot that gun on multiple occasions using mag loads only. i'm talking at least an hour straight with 44 mag. The Hogue Tamer grips make this a comfortable gun to shoot, especially for a snubby shooting 44 mag.

So I'm just curious as to how many sacrifice comfort for looks, and vice versa. I know my Alaskan would look nicer with some custom wood grips, but I wouldn't take the Tamer grips off for anything. I'm sure if I did it would detract from my enjoyment shooting it, and therefore I'd leave it at home more often.

Would like to hear from others......Thanks.

 

[Snyper]

My guns are shooters, and have to be comfortable first

 

[beag_nut]

As a former furniture maker (mostly Shaker and Arts & Crafts) I believe that form follows function. Thus, my revolvers, GP's and SP's, are quite beautifically challenged by others, but very accurate and comfy for me. And I shoot them A LOT.

 

[MikeJackmin]

Sometimes the ugly rubber grips are the best ones for shooting. When that happens, they don't seem so ugly any more.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I'm a revolver man.

My guns are more than just "for show" or for "range use only" as some have relegated the wheelguns in their collection. For me, not so. They are performance handguns that could be called on to defend my self and home.

Therefore, I'll take function over form any day.

 

[bannockburn]

Definitely function over form, more so with double action revolvers than single action.

 

[CajunBass]

Who says you can't have both?

Form...

Model 58





Model 642-2



Function...and the way they get shot most of the time.

Model 58



642-2



It takes two minutes with a screwdriver to swap 'em over.

Oh, and the "form" ones, work just fine.

 

[CraigC]

I also wonder how far folks are willing to give up in function for their beautiful grips.

Why do you assume that they are giving up function to have beautiful grips???

You're assuming wrong. I am primarily a revolver shooter and I shoot, A LOT. That said, nearly every one of my four dozen revolvers has custom grips. The only one that wears rubber is my Super Redhawk and that's only because it would cost about $500 to have a comfortable set of grips made. Beauty is a big factor but the primary factor is COMFORT. It is entirely misconception that only rubber grips are comfortable for shooting. The primary factor in comfort is not material. It's fit. The grips must fit the gun but they must also fit YOU. The grips pictured below are beautiful but they're also infinitely more comfortable than anything rubber. Both Hogue and Pachmayr grips are too thin and Hogue's have that awful palm swell. No sir, you're kidding yourself if you think that properly fitted, properly shaped custom grips are sacrificing comfort for beauty.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Pretty guns there CraigC.

I have shot some 240gr SJSP in my Raging bull 8.5" and the soft grips make it worse for me. They kick like a mule and the thinner steel punches the palm pretty good when it bottoms out. After Six stiff ones I have to take a break. Sad thing is it doesn't hurt the palm shooting solid grips on the many other 44 magnums I have shot but the wrist gets a good workout!

I load mostly lighter loads for the 44 magnum in the 44 special +p range. Shoots softer and more enjoyable over several rounds. Keep a few big ones around for when I want the big boom.

 

[DP03]

Why do you assume that they are giving up function to have beautiful grips???

You're assuming wrong. I am primarily a revolver shooter and I shoot, A LOT. That said, nearly every one of my four dozen revolvers has custom grips. The only one that wears rubber is my Super Redhawk and that's only because it would cost about $500 to have a comfortable set of grips made. Beauty is a big factor but the primary factor is COMFORT. It is entirely misconception that only rubber grips are comfortable for shooting. The primary factor in comfort is not material. It's fit. The grips must fit the gun but they must also fit YOU. The grips pictured below are beautiful but they're also infinitely more comfortable than anything rubber. Both Hogue and Pachmayr grips are too thin and Hogue's have that awful palm swell. No sir, you're kidding yourself if you think that properly fitted, properly shaped custom grips are sacrificing comfort for beauty.

Well, your guns are beautiful, but we can agree to disagree on wood grips, any wood grips, being more comfortable than the Hogue Tamers (not the Mono's). The Tamer has a "soft area" at the web, which you can physically push in. That's where the recoil relief happens. I have shot many a wood gripped magnum, and have owned some, and there's no comparison.....Now that's not so say your grips aren't comfortable for you, but what would happen if you gave someone else two guns side by side for comparison? The reason I bring that up is my daughter, 115 lbs, shoots my Alaskan 44 with magnum loads and likes it. I highly doubt I'd get the same results if I threw wood grips on......

Or maybe the Ruger SRH 44 is just a comfortable gun to shoot compared to others????

Anyway, thanks for your input. Beautiful revolvers there......

 

[Rio Laxas]

The only hard recoiling revolver I have anymore is a 4.2" Redhawk in .45 Colt. I've had factory Hogue grips, Redhawk panels, pachmayr presentation grips, and most recently Herrett Ropers. Despite some fit issues on the ropers, they are by far the most comfortable and the best looking. I think a smooth wood grip that is properly sized to my hand is the most comfortable grip.

I've got a few pre-war .44 special revolvers that wear either factory service grips or Elk Stag magnas....until they go to the range. Then they get swapped for Ahrends target or tactical grips.

I had the Hogue tamer grips on a couple of different Super Redhawks in .454. They were good grips, but I would have tried wood ones if any were available at the time.

 

[Panzerschwein]

It is entirely misconception that only rubber grips are comfortable for shooting. The primary factor in comfort is not material. It's fit. The grips must fit the gun but they must also fit YOU.

I agree 100%.

 

[Crayfish]

I have to agree since I ditched those horrible (for me) Hogue grips on my Ruger for the old style rubber with wood inserts because it fits my hand and allows for a deep in hand grip unlike those dang finger groove high back things that fit so few people. Fit is more important than material for me.

 

[DP03]

Interesting.......So, if I decide to try wood grips, how does one decide on a grip? You really can't "try before you buy".

Are grips like holsters, where you end up with a bunch of them?

 

[cfullgraf]

Interesting.......So, if I decide to try wood grips, how does one decide on a grip? You really can't "try before you buy".

Are grips like holsters, where you end up with a bunch of them?

Maybe not as bad as with holsters, but yep.

I like neoprene grips and once I found a design, I add them to any new revolver.

Wood grips can look fantastic.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I have a box full of different grips that i've tried and retired.
Im usually partial to Hogue style rubber grips, but on something like a Ruger, they just feel foreign or alien somehow. I can fire it a lot more consistently with wood grips, and it sure looks a lot better, too. IMO

 

[CraigC]

I have shot many a wood gripped magnum, and have owned some, and there's no comparison.....

What grips? Factory grips? Off the shelf aftermarket grips? HUGE difference between off the shelf grips and grips that are made to fit your hand. Or at least made to compatible dimensions S&W factory grips have been atrocious for decades. Most off the shelf grips are poorly designed. Soft materials are a crutch for poorly designed, one-size-fits-most grips.

So, if I decide to try wood grips, how does one decide on a grip? You really can't "try before you buy".

Firstly, forget the crap you might read from 'some' gunwriters that thinner is better. John Taffin perpetuates this but he forgets to tell you that he has short, fat fingers. I don't. I don't have huge hands or fat fingers but I have long fingers. I struggled with thin grips for years because of this. Then I tried some of the Hogue cowboy panels on my first Ruger Bisley because they were cheap. They're fat and round and infinitely more comfortable than anything I tried before. So the light came on. It took a lot of trial and error but I finally figured out that I need SA grips that are thicker at the top, thinner at the bottom and with very little taper. They need to fill your hand. Cary Chapman does (or did) them very well and he has been my go-to gripmaker for Ruger SA's. Jack Huntington does them even better and his grips made the .500Linebaugh Maximum I shot more comfortable than a .44Mag with factory grips.

Same for DA grips, only you have both extremes in factory grips. You have the old checkered bricks that S&W used to issue. They were way too thick and checkering is a terrible idea for anything with recoil. Then you have the later Hogue's that are way too thin with that God-awful ambidextrous palm swell. They leave voids between your palm and the grip, which gives them a running start to smack into your palm. Same as SA grips, they need to fill the hand without being too big. They need to be nicely rounded with a much more subtle palm swell. Here I like Herrett's Ropers or the above pictured grips by Culina which are a similar design.

 

[Barry the Bear]

CraigC,

The gun to the left on the top pic, is that a model of 1950 in .44 spl?

 

[DP03]

I have a box full of different grips that i've tried and retired.
Im usually partial to Hogue style rubber grips, but on something like a Ruger, they just feel foreign or alien somehow. I can fire it a lot more consistently with wood grips, and it sure looks a lot better, too. IMO

Yup, everybody's different. For me, Ruger hit this one right on the head. Most comfortable magnum of any I've tried (in .44 snubby, let alone .357).

But I will get some wood simply out of curiousity to see if they can measure up. I guess I need to get some grip recommendations now. One thing I think we all agree on is that wood grips look so much better.

 

[CraigC]

The gun to the left on the top pic, is that a model of 1950 in .44 spl?

I wish, it's a later 24-3.

 

[Barry the Bear]

I wish, it's a later 24-3.

Its still a fine weapon I'd love to buy one some day.

 

[Rio Laxas]

I wish, it's a later 24-3.
Its still a fine weapon I'd love to buy one some day.

Its still a fine weapon I'd love to buy one some day.

It is that. As a fairly recent convert to the .44 special, my 4" 24-3 and 6.5" 1950 are among my favorite firearms.

 

[sgt127]

There is a magic pain spot on my thumb. DA revolvers with decent recoil can always find it. I've had to go with rubber on most of my revolvers.

Just the exact amount of torque and recoil. I swear, it never used to bother me, but, maybe it's 30 plus years of shooting that did it.

 

[StrawHat]

Here are two of my working guns. As in one or the other is carried daily. As you can see, I favor plain smooth magna styled grips and a grip adapter. My magnas are a bit wider than factory and work well to spread recoil out into my hand. The grip adapter allows for a more secure purchase.

Kevin

 

[RealGun]

Form vs Function
While browsing this revolver forum, I have seen many a beautiful handgun, with many of them differentiated by their grips. And as nice as it is to see all the variations, I also wonder how far folks are willing to give up in function for their beautiful grips. You hear it all the time.....complaints that shooting the 357 mag loads are so painful to shoot, with some even saying the magnum loads make their hands bleed.

I recently bought a Ruger SRH Alaskan in 44 mag, and I have shot that gun on multiple occasions using mag loads only. i'm talking at least an hour straight with 44 mag. The Hogue Tamer grips make this a comfortable gun to shoot, especially for a snubby shooting 44 mag.

So I'm just curious as to how many sacrifice comfort for looks, and vice versa. I know my Alaskan would look nicer with some custom wood grips, but I wouldn't take the Tamer grips off for anything. I'm sure if I did it would detract from my enjoyment shooting it, and therefore I'd leave it at home more often.

Would like to hear from others......Thanks.

Your gun is a pretty extreme example, on which those Tamers are probably optimal. You can have prettier grips on guns that are better balanced, platform to caliber.

My issue is the single actions, on which I will take the traditional looking fancy grips over the finger groove rubber, even though the bigger magnums may require special gloves to shoot more than a cylinder or two. I would rather shoot the double action versions just to get the grips and the control. More experience as an alternative would help, I am sure.