Ahrends Tactical or Retro Combat for S&W 686?

[Hank15]

Which one do you prefer and why?

 

[Ashlander]

I love the looks of the tacticals with the finger groves in cocobolo. The round butt grips feel and look great. I have them on my 3" 65 and 2 1/2" 66.

Truth to tell though, the retro combats look nice as well.

 

[KRP]

neither, Spegel boots with or without the 3/4 inch extension.

 

[57sw]

Actually I have been trying to decide between these two in round butt for my S&W 696. I've never handled either before but I'm leaning towards the Retro Combats. They look somewhat similar to the grips that were on a Lew Horton 3 inch S&W 657 that I once owned. Those grips fit my hand just right. In this case of course I will be getting the K/L frame grips vs. the N frame grips of the 657. I also liked the way the right side fit higher up on the frame as do the Ahrends Retros. One thing noticeably different about the Ahrends Retro grip is that it appears to have a flat bottom as opposed to the S&W and the Ahrends Tactical which are more rounded. Looks like it might be a better fit for the pinky. The Tactical grips are also squared at the front of the finger grooves- not sure l'd care for that. Maybe someone who owns a set of each will chime in with their view on the differences.

 

[Hank15]

I have the Tacticals and the finger grooves are just right for me because my fingers bunch together when they are in the grooves.

Much better than the Hogues in my opinion.

With a high grip, the Tacticals fill the palm of my hand adequately.

The reason I started this thread was because I did a search on other forums but no one offered definitive answers, so I am hoping that this addresses that issue.

 

[Auto426]

I'm about to order myself a 686 and I'm going through a similar dilemma. I want a set of target style grips, and Ahrends is one of the top companies that I am looking at. I'm not much of a finger grove fan myself, as so far I have removed all of the finger grove grips from my guns and replaced them with non-finger grove options.

I'm looking really hard at the Retro Targets myself, I'm just a little worried because I have no way of feeling a set to see if I will really like them. I handled a S&W 329 with the tactical finger grove grips today, and they weren't that bad, but I prefer target style grips more myself. I like the original wood grips that used to come on the 686's, but they don't make those any more and the new guns are round butts.

 

[trex1310]

I don't like finger grooves on grips, wood or rubber. I also don't
like round butt grips. My 686 with round to square conversion
grips.

 

[Bellevance]

I have round-to-square conversions on my 617 and 686, and they're mostly fine, but I find the the sharp butt of the grips on the 686 will bite a bit with full-house loads.

 

[MifflinKid]

The flat front surface of the Retro Tactical grips seem to help me point the gun more quickly and improve recovery from recoil. They just improve overall control.

Plus, in my hands, they feel much better.