Should I sand these things down, or...

[Evil_Ed]

...or just live with it and toughen up?

A few months ago I bought these Alatmonts for my Smith 19 Carry Comp:



...then I took it to the range, and it resulted in a pretty nasty blood blister. I think I might have put a cylinder of 357s through it at the end, but I don't think I put more than 3 or so cylinders of 38 through it, no more than 4 of everything all told because it just beat up my hand. I never did take pictures of how it interfaced with the frame though...









Is this a "your hands are too soft; toughen them up" thing, or should I break out the sandpaper and whittle these down and reoil/finish them? I'm feeling like the latter would really improve things; the grips are so pretty and feel so good otherwise...

[camel]

In my opinion I would fit them so that it’s more comfortable to shoot. Your not going to toughen up your hands no matter what with high spots like that shooting 357. With what I see in the pictures.

[Malamute]

Grips of course are highly subjective, what one loves the next may hate. At first glance Id say I would hate those grips because of the square edges and shape in general. My take on grips is that factory targets on Smiths are the very best ive felt (the 1950s and 60s grips seeming to have the best out if the box shape and feel but many can be dramatically improved on with some fearless work) and most often the worst, depending on the shape and how well fitted to the individual gun. Having the smoothest transition from the frame to the grips, particularly in the upper area where most of the recoils is felt makes a huge difference in feel and shootability to me.

If i were designing grips to be as painful to shoot as possible Im not sure i could do any better than the grips in the first post. Removing all the square edges and blending to match the frame as close as possible should help them quite a lot.

[onehalfmvsquared]

Absolutely, yes, sand down the corners. I have several Altamont grips and I have "blended" all of them to fit the frame with no sharp corners or edges in those areas you show. I put a little tung oil on the bare wood to match the original finish color and preserve it.

[Malamute]

This is what has worked pretty well for me, it was first impressed upon me when shooting the 4" Smith 29 with Keith loads in my tender youth, and has held up fairly well over time with the 44s and 357s. Trying to match the edge of the wood to the edge of the metal both in height and angle so theres no change to enhance the recoil effect. It also makes them feel rather nice for the most part. Several people have commented that the ones on my 29 were the most comfortable Smith grips they had ever felt. I was basically copying a nice set on a 1950s N frame gun as to outline and shape, so not my brilliant idea, just copying something i liked. You can try working them down and see how it goes, perhaps the pics can give you some ideas.

You may find that the narrowness of the grips you have at the top may never feel good under recoil even when the squared edges are removed, but you wont know til you try. Thats one main reason Ive used the factory grips for my Smiths, all the aftermarket grips seem much narrower and feel like they magnify the recoil feeling at the hump at the top of the grip frame. Ive also just shot scads of rounds in the K-22, so its probably some bias in that sense as well.

[Stephanie B]

Sand, sand, away!

I did trash a cheaper pair of grips from being too aggressive with a file, so I'd recommend going slowly.

[camel]

This is what has worked pretty well for me, it was first impressed upon me when shooting the 4" Smith 29 with Keith loads in my tender youth, and has held up fairly well over time with the 44s and 357s. Trying to match the edge of the wood to the edge of the metal both in height and angle so theres no change to enhance the recoil effect. It also makes them feel rather nice for the most part. Several people have commented that the ones on my 29 were the most comfortable Smith grips they had ever felt. I was basically copying a nice set on a 1950s N frame gun as to outline and shape, so not my brilliant idea, just copying something i liked. You can try working them down and see how it goes, perhaps the pics can give you some ideas.

You may find that the narrowness of the grips you have at the top may never feel good under recoil even when the squared edges are removed, but you wont know til you try. Thats one main reason Ive used the factory grips for my Smiths, all the aftermarket grips seem much narrower and feel like they magnify the recoil feeling at the hump at the top of the grip frame. Ive also just shot scads of rounds in the K-22, so its probably some bias in that sense as well.

That is beautiful.

[Malamute]

That is beautiful.

Thanks, its also one the the easiest guns ive ever shot for hitting at medium-longer distances, like 200-300 yards. The grips are pretty close to just right now.

[okie john]

Once upon a time, I had David Clements built me a five-shot Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt.

After the first range trip, I immediately knocked ANY edge off of the grips to create a seamless transition from wood to metal.

https://www.brownells.com/tools-clea...ools/scrapers/


Okie John

[Evil_Ed]

Once upon a time, I had David Clements built me a five-shot Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt.

After the first range trip, I immediately knocked ANY edge off of the grips to create a seamless transition from wood to metal.

https://www.brownells.com/tools-clea...ools/scrapers/


Okie John

I don't even know how to use one of those...I was just going to use a file to do some rough shaping, then sandpaper at 200, 400, 600, then higher...