642 centenial grip fix time. for me, a snubby needs to have a 2 finger boot grip. the stock uncle mike's that comes with most smith j-frames has the typical uncovered back strap, and with medium to +P .38spl loads that can kinda dig into the thumb/forefinger web, specially with the high grip i prefer. the uncle mike's also felt a bit thin in the cross section. i did a buncha web surfing and couldn't find a more cushioned j-frame grip in the back strap area. i did trial hogue's 6000 3 finger grip and though it felt good shooting, it t'weren't a boot grip and was just too large. so ....
i took off the stock uncle mike's 2 finger boot grip and "fixed" the hogue grip and made it into a boot grip. feels much better now. yes, a jet speedloader works just fine, too.
the fix - with the bottom piece of the hogue grip off, a very sharp blade took off the softer rubber grip extension while that part of the grip was on the frame. the hard bottom piece was added and the missing part of the soft rubber grip exposed the frame which was used a guide to begin the hard grip's cut with a hacksaw blade, which was then taken off the gun and made short work of with a bandsaw (though the hacksaw would have worked fine, only taken longer). with the hard bottom piece back on, it was easy to see what needed sanding and that was primarily done with a belt sanding station after taking off that piece, then touched up with an emery board and fine grit. looks good, works great. haven't found a 2 finger boot grip like this yet. glad i have one now. but the proof is in the shooting and that won't happen 'til at the police range come this monday. (i might round off the grip's bottom rear, too).
stock uncle mike's ....
hogue 3 finger ...
modified hogue into a 2 finger boot grip ...
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Originally Posted by rfd
