Grips for a S&W 638

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BridgeTooFar

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What grips are you 638 guys using?

I've finally decided that I'm tired of the factory grips, and I'm ready for something that lets me stabilize it a little better as the +P rounds can be a bit of a handful in that thing when I can't get a pinky on there anywhere.

Concealment isn't too much of an issue, but I still don't want to get too big (not looking for a full size grip, really). Also, not looking for anything too fancy; rubber will do.

I was looking at the Pachmayr Compac grips as they appear to give the best combination of size and gripping area.

Thoughts?
 
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Try Houge mono grips, they let you get all your fingers on the grip for control and are still a good size for concealed carry. I use them on a j frame 357 for the extra recoil. I actually like the grips that came on my 638, and think they are perfect for carry. Good luck!
 
The Hogues will help, but my solution was to use a less powerful round. The snub isn't much good to me unless I can conceal it with most of my wardrobe. The chances that the revolver grip sticks out and frightens someone into needlessly calling the police on me are (thankfully) greater than my chances of being assaulted.
 
Grips that do NOT cover the backstrap and extend up past the grip-frame proper allow the shooter to get a higher grip on the gun. The extensions also dissipate recoil a bit better.

This lessens the torque created when firing a round, due to the decreased distance between bore axis and forearm.

Does this matter? Only when rapid firing for accuracy. We'll define "rapid fire" as one shot every 1/2 second, preferably faster. Slowfire, it doesn't matter what grips you have on there.

Here's what I did on a recent trip to the range with my 442: (using a shot timer, the 1.69 is total time elapsed from start signal to last shot)

DSCF0001.jpg

Here's a rear view of the grips, so you can see the added area that spreads out the recoil a bit:

DSCF0006.jpg


In contrast, I fired a Charter Arms lightweight .38 with the same loads. The main difference being, I couldn't get as high a grip as on the 442. While the time is pretty close, the group is much larger. The hole at the top right IS one of the hits, it just caused the paper to tear oddly. In addition, shooting the Charter was much more uncomfortable (painful!) than the 442

DSCF0009.jpg

Is this enough difference to matter? Only you can decide that.


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These Hogue's are the most comfortable grips that I've found...a close second are the pachmeyers.
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I like the Pachmayers, but they're too big for what the J-frame .38 snub is supposed to be.........small !
 
I have the hogue monogrip on my 642. It's not much bigger than what came on the gun, but they are a huge improvement over the stock grips. I can hide it in the front pocket of my shorts and loose pants. So they aren't that much bigger.
 
I don't like how the rubber grips "stick" to clothing, either inside or outside of the pocket.

But that's just me.
 
Thanks again for the responses. I'm still leaning toward the Compac grip. If I can find one locally to test the feel and "grippy-ness" of the rubber, I may get one.
 
You'll like how it feels. If it doesn't make the total package too big and you're not going to pocket carry, then it might be just the ticket for you.
 
I'm thinking that if/when I carry the Airweight, it'll be in a cargo pocket as I have an LCP for when I need something smaller, so it may work out like that. Hope so as I really don't like the factory grip on there.
 
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