K/L frame square butt grip recommendation please

C

cslinger

New member
Howdy all,

I have a few Smith K/L frames that I need some grip recommendations on.

I have the following.
-17-4 (probably a mid to late 70s gun) .22
-66-3 (probably a mid 80s gun maybe) .357
-586 no dash (probably an early-mid 80s gun I guess) .357

All are square butt grip frames. All came stock with what I would describe as the standard smith and Wesson coke bottle/target grips shown below. I know there are a bazillion tiny nuances to Smith grips over the years and frankly I am not that knowledgeable in this area.

edited to add actual picture
Old_School_20170108_zpsa0iqoboc.jpg


These are bit large for my girly hands and I am looking for something to mix things up a bit this year. I LOVE the looks of all of these but want to put some grips on that will get me to take them shooting more often.

So my question is for smaller hands what should I be looking for.

Currently I really like the VZ Grips Square butts but don't know if they are any smaller in the hand. I just put a set of round butt VZ's on a 686 and they are pretty darn awesome.

I also very much like the Ahrends Tactical square butt finger groove design and aesthetically they are gorgeous.

For those in the know are these a smaller/more shapely foot print then the stock Smith grips? The stock grips WILL NOT BE SOLD(I mean I'm not some kind of heretic or heathen. :D) as they just look sooooo right on these old Smiths but I feel like mixing it up a bit with some new options.

As always thank you for any knowledge you would be willing to share.
 
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A lot depends on how small and how much you want to spend. I have smaller hands and I found Altamont make very good gripes that fit my hands.
The best thing to do is give them a call and tell them what your looking for.

http://www.altamontco.com/pistol-grips/smith-and-wesson/

Knill Griffe also make beautiful grips but the price is up there.
http://us.nill-shop.com/Replacement-Grips-closed-Back-Revolvers

Another set I have on a 21 is Jerry Miculek's grips. Not a lot of people that have tried them on my gun care for them. It changes the grip angle where the palm of the hand is more on the side of the grip. They work for me and makes a two handed grip very comfortable and fast. Not a carry grip.
http://www.miculek.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
 
I have smaller....

.....hands myself. When I owned Smiths, I went with Factory Magna's with Tyler T Grips. Worked Great for me.
 
On my Model 17 I like the Jerry Miculek K-frame smooth grips. They are fairly narrow and work well for small to medium sized hands.
 
Man I appreciate all the input and as always love the pictures.

I have decided to do a couple things.

I am going to give the VZ Squares a shot.
I also was totally overlooking a grip maker that I Have had GREAT luck with on a couple Rugers. Badger Custom. So I ordered a couple K Frame full grips in Walnut and Maple. If the Walnut looks as good as it does on my Rugers I will be very happy.

This way I get to mix and match and try them out. If for some reason one of the other doesn't work I can return or if they all work out I have killed all three birds with one ston......errr credit card. :D

As always thanks for all the input. I wish I could just get a sampler pack from everybody and send back what I don't like. :D

I love these grips and I guess in my head I con-notated them with Ruger.
GP100%20007_zpsytoyhlzt.jpg
 
All are square butt grip frames. All came stock with what I would describe as the standard smith and Wesson coke bottle/target grips shown below.
Click to expand...

Just so that you know "Coke bottle" S&W grips predate the stocks on your revolvers. While you do have some nice K and L frame Target Grips there, none are Cokes.

In terms of stocks for your guns, try out various grips till you get what works well for you with a particular gun. There are many excellent stocks out there it's just a matter of what fits you.

You may find some useful stocks on the classified section of this forum or over to the S&W forum.

EBay also sells them.http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro..._nkw=smith+and+wesson+revolver+grips&_sacat=0

Hogue makes popular stocks https://www.hogueinc.com/

So does Herrett's, http://www.herrettstocks.com/index-2.html

https://www.eaglegrips.com/

http://www.handgungrips.com/

There are many good places to get grips.

Get some and try them out.

tipoc
 
Jerry Miculek K-frame smooth grips
Click to expand...
I've got a smooth pair on an N frame Smith M57 that's very comfortable with full house loads...great DA grips but nearly as useful in SA fire. No knuckle rap and I wear size L gloves and like a smaller grip.

I've also got a pair of checkered ones on my Smith M19 and they do equally good there. Both pairs are the best grips I've ever tried in 50+ years of shooting S&W revolvers.

Jerry delivered in about 2 weeks for my order...about a year back.

Rod
 
Small hands (glove S) and the 617-1
WP_20150413_004%202.jpg


Small hands and the 67:
SW67.jpg


686-6 w/ Square butt conversion:
WP_20140502_004.jpg


I believe all these came from gungripsupply.

I don't use my VZ grip because they are too fat or chunky for my little hands. It is the palm swell that seems to be the problem with grips and small hands.
 
Damienph, how much smaller are those Ahrends than the standard S&W Targets and do the prevent the classic 2nd finger knuckle rap? The problem I've had for the last 50 yrs, LOL, is that wood grips don't extend down far enough on the back side of the trigger guard to prevent the "rap". Thanks...Rod
 
Ahrends retro vs Factory

These are round to square conversion but they also make a square version of the retro targets.

M686-4 wearing Ahrends vs M15-2 wearing factory targets (not original to revolver)

2752663e-43b4-4cd8-87d6-c5915a5619a1_zpsf9onro73.jpg


994a8cc1-4c8b-4675-b594-2c8c775e6574_zpsadncukzr.jpg


732ed893-e2a5-4c9b-a6c3-160bb4ce36c6_zps4myho5fs.jpg
 
Once again thanks all for the input.

Grip Update 1
I received my VZ Square's today. WOW, what a difference. I was a little apprehensive because they are the same basic shape as the target grips but they are much smaller and fit me PERFECTLY. They lock into my hand and don't move and put my grip perfectly high up. I am actually a little shocked at how much I like these since I thought I would be returning them for fear of them feeling basically like the wood target stocks. Nope I LOVE em'.

I have two sets of Badger grips on the way as well. Those, assuming they fit me well will go on the prettier blued old school guns. If I don't like them, those other guns are getting sets of VZ's.

As an aside I cannot speak highly enough about Badger grips. The quality on my Ruger grips is awesome but that is really secondary to the fact that every time you email Badger you get.......a REPLY. I know right, I'm as surprised as you. I just really want to call out the good service in any industry as it always seems so few and far between. For me Badger makes that list. Badger, TopGunSupply, SGAMMO, Crimson Trace. I have had nothing but top notch service and products from them.

Anyway here are the VZ Squares on the 66, and again I am genuinely surprised at how different and how much better they feel in my hand from the stock grips.

SW_66__With_VZ_Grips_2_zpsg8rb0sue.jpg
 
Wow those Ahrends don't look that different on their own but they are drastically smaller in your comparison shots. Beautiful too.
 
Damienph, many thanks for the pics...they're exactly what I was looking for to make a good comparison. How 'bout the rap to the 2nd knuckle behind the trigger guard? It looks like (from your pics) that there is enough of a curve that nearly matches the trigger guard's contours to prevent the "rap". What say you? Rod
 
Rod, that doesn't happen to me. Same thing with the square trigger guard on Ruger Super Blackhawk, many say that the rear of the trigger guard hits the knuckle on the middle finger but I have not had that happen to me even with the small (for me) factory grips.
 
I found the Pachmyar gripperson my..

M15 and RSS are longer in the forward/ aft directions and narrower in the side to side, and fits my paws nicely. I wear the D3A size 5gloves.
 
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