I have an old Mod-37 S&W airweight that is brutal to shoot (I prefer shooting full power 357 mags from my gp-100). I think most of the problem is there isn't much to hold on to (I have fairly large hands). Would new finger grove grips help and would they even fit on my gun (made in 1982)?
Old S&W new grips?
- Thread starter Torghn
- Start date
- Status
Shear_stress
Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Messages
- 2,728
Smith & Wesson grip frame sizes haven't changed since 1982. The only thing you'll need to bear in mind is whether your gun has a square or round butt. There are probably more grip options for a round butt, as that's all S&W makes any more in a J-frame.
deadin
Member
A set of rubber Houge or Pachmeyer fingergroove grips for the S&W "J" Frame will fit your gun and will help tame the perceived recoil. They will also make the gun a little larger and a little harder to conceal. (But very little.)
Hutch
Member
I like the Pachmayr Compac grips, or the Uncle Mike's Boot grips. I've shot Airweight J's with the 158gr +P "FBI load", and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Thanks I was going to ask which kinds you guys like the best. I think I like the Pachmyr better than the houge as the houge don't cover the backstrap. From the pictures the griper grips look the best, but I wonder if it makes the gun harder to conceal than the compac grips.
Old Dog
Member
Frankly, I always thought the factory wood S&W grips on their snubbies were terrible for achieving any type of hold on these revolvers when shooting, even when shooting tame factory loads.
As Old Fuff says, a lot depends on how you propose to carry the handgun. I use Uncle Mike's Boot Grips on all my snubbies for the range, but these grips aren't always the best for carry, as they have a tendency to stick to fabric when drawn from IWB, snuggly fitting OWBs (such as a good pancake holster) or from a pocket. Rubber grips can also contribute to printing (your shirt may cling to the grips and display a nice silhouette of your carry gun).
I use some fairly inexpensive Ajax laminated silver diamondwood grips (still pretty brutal as they don't help tame recoil at all, esp. w/+Ps) on my two Airweights for carry, but swap out with the rubber grips if I'm going to put more than a couple cylinders downrange ...
As Old Fuff says, a lot depends on how you propose to carry the handgun. I use Uncle Mike's Boot Grips on all my snubbies for the range, but these grips aren't always the best for carry, as they have a tendency to stick to fabric when drawn from IWB, snuggly fitting OWBs (such as a good pancake holster) or from a pocket. Rubber grips can also contribute to printing (your shirt may cling to the grips and display a nice silhouette of your carry gun).
I use some fairly inexpensive Ajax laminated silver diamondwood grips (still pretty brutal as they don't help tame recoil at all, esp. w/+Ps) on my two Airweights for carry, but swap out with the rubber grips if I'm going to put more than a couple cylinders downrange ...
Are there any sights that list the dimensions of the different grips? I wish a local source had them so I could take a look at them. I'd like to pocket carry but my S&W has a 3" barrel making it a little long. Utah is really backed up on their CCW permits so it'll probably be another month before I get mine in the mail.
- Status