Where do all the grips go?

[Twiki357]

I’ve purchased a number of older S&W revolvers in the last two years and more than half of them have had the original Magna stocks replaced with Pachmayr recycled Firestones. So I have to buy new stocks to get rid of the old recycled tires. What I want to know is where do all those original stocks disappear to, especially the Magnas? Are they just building up in a box in shooters garages? And when they are for sale on the internet or at gun shows, why are they priced at $35 to $50 for used ones when new ones from S&W are only $32? It just doesn’t make sense to me. Right now I’m looking for round butt K frame grips and it doesn’t seem right to put brand new grips from S&W on a 35 year old shooter.

 

[CraigC]

All mine are in a box but they didn't get replaced with recycled tires!

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

I can tell you that MOST original grips on S&W's, magna and target, were replaced in the 60's, 70's, and 80's with something else by police officers and civilian shooters. Mostly, the S&W issue stocks were discarded. Weep if you will.

 

[Twiki357]

CraigC; I know yours wouldn’t have Pach’s. All the ones you’ve posted have beautiful wood.

SDM; Yes, I’m weeping. I have a bag full of Pach’s.

 

[Drail]

They mostly end up on Ebay at insane prices.

 

[Nomad]

A couple years ago I had a few from revolvers I had bought and sold in the 70s and 80s. I put them on Ebay one at a time and they sold fast to a buyer in Japan.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I will make a guess that many went in the trash.

 

[cfullgraf]

I’ve purchased a number of older S&W revolvers in the last two years and more than half of them have had the original Magna stocks replaced with Pachmayr recycled Firestones.

I doubt there is much neoprene in tires.

I'm guilty, I much prefer Pachmayrs over the original S&W wood grips or even the current S&W neoprene grips.

Unfortunately, the current crop of Pachmayr grips are not as good as they were in the eighties but I guess that is the price of progress.

My original wood grips are stored somewhere.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

I should mention that MANY sets of grips were worn, chipped, or cracked while riding on officers guns, as they got in and out of squad cars. Between the steering wheels and door frames, it was just logical to move to rubber, better feeling and recoil absorbing grips to replace them. You could bang a set of Pachmayrs or Hogues all week, and they would still look the same. Civilian shooters benefited from the same, or just liked the improvements that custom grips offered.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Right now I’m looking for round butt K frame grips and it doesn’t seem right to put brand new grips from S&W on a 35 year old shooter.

If you take that gun to the range and shoot it enough those grips won't look so new in a year or two, especially if you carry the gun too.

 

[Unistat]

It took me two years of scouring gun shows to find some OEM S&W square butt K-frame grips for my Model 13. I also did not want to see new grips on a vintage gun. Most gun shops I asked said that they keep all the grips they can get their hands on for repairs and what not.

The guy I bought mine from had 3 (!) sets. They were $30. It made my month, tell you what.

 

[BYJO4]

Not only are the original grips missing from many guns but so are the boxes. I prefer rubber grips for shooting, so the original wooden grips on my older S&Ws are kept in the original boxes.

 

[JJHACK]

I've got a new set of crimson trace 207's for S&W revolver. They are left over from a project not realized. 175 bucks ???

 

[LAGS]

I was buying a lot of the police trare in's and got tired of the Pacaderms on them and not being able to find wood grips I liked.
So I just started making my own.
And most of the wood originals I found, were all chipped up and I would have to sand off the checkering anyway.
But I prefer a smooth well shaped grip with lots of grain showing , rather than carving and checkering to dress the grips up.

 

[RealGun]

I was buying a lot of the police trare in's and got tired of the Pacaderms on them and not being able to find wood grips I liked.
So I just started making my own.
And most of the wood originals I found, were all chipped up and I would have to sand off the checkering anyway.
But I prefer a smooth well shaped grip with lots of grain showing , rather than carving and checkering to dress the grips up.

You didn't include how much you were willing to pay for grips. My Hogues and Eagles are flawless works of art. Unfortunately, I prefer the Pachmayrs as flatter and a better fit for my smallish hand. The Decelerators are also needed on the magnums shooting real magnums. That is conceptually no different than a recoil pad on a shotgun or rifle.

 

[bannockburn]

I have kept all of my original grips as well as the boxes, manuals, etc. It's probably just the collector in me but I like to keep everything together when I buy a gun.

 

[JohnBT]

I found these the day I bought the 17-6 about 20 years ago. They were in the odds and ends box for a very good price and I have big hands. The dealer said they came off a new gun - the buyer didn't want them.



JT

 

[CraigC]

That is conceptually no different than a recoil pad on a shotgun or rifle.

Not really. The recoil pad on a rifle has no bearing on a rifle's fit. Although just like a rubber grip, it is often a bandaid on a poorly designed stock.

 

[Jimfern]

Some of them are in a tattered old box on the ground at a garage sale somewhere. I found a nice set for my 15-4 that way.

 

[xjsnake]

Mine are on my k frame. Where they belong

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Try finding some classic grips sometime. Like this:




Or this:




Or this:



Most of the time, the old grips just wore out and were discarded.

Then again, there are some unscrupulous buyers who buy old guns and pull the grips off and sell them separately. They can go for $100 or more. That's another reason that a lot of old guns have mismatched grips. The originals were pulled off and sold separately.

 

[GBExpat]

Are they just building up in a box in shooters garages?

In my case, the box is in the basement.

Last month I was searching in a storage box down there and found another small stash of original grips, so I consolidated them ... all except the OEM wooden grips for the 629 that I bought, new, ~25 years ago (shooting the gun with them damaged my thumb knuckle). Those are still in the original S&W box downstairs.

 

[RealGun]

That is conceptually no different than a recoil pad on a shotgun or rifle.

Not really. The recoil pad on a rifle has no bearing on a rifle's fit. Although just like a rubber grip, it is often a bandaid on a poorly designed stock.

That's too argumentative. It's not even true. I just added a recoil pad to my 30-30 and can tell you that the stock is now a fraction of an inch longer net than it was.

A rubber grip is better than the pejorative, Band-Aid. It's just an option for those who prefer it. Those who like it don't need a put down.

 

[toivo]

They're in a paper bag at the back of the kitchen cabinet, where they belong.

 

[Boxhead]

In a dresser drawer back home. Must have three or so dozen sets. Been buying them for years and have already bought a couple of sets of K targets for $15 a pop down here.