New to Me S&W Model 19: How Do I Remove these Grips? (Now With More Weirdness)

.

The grips shouldn't be removed by simply removing the gripscrew.

The best practice would be to only partially unscrew the gripscrew, then lightly tap the head of the screw while holding the revolver by it's barrel.

That should loosen the grip panel opposite the screwhead.

Once that's done, tap off the other grip from the inside, via inserting a small drift through one of the hollow pass-through holes in the gripframe.


.
 
Years ago some police officers would put similar plates on their revolvers with their badge or department insignia engraved on them as a way of showing them off. There is another theory that the plates were put on so if you used the revolver as an impact weapon you would not mess up the grips. A lot of people got hurt in many ways over this theory. I have seen photos of similar plates that screwed to the grips with various crests on them.
 
Had similar

A Colt Trooper Mk III I bought used came with a similar configuration.

Wood grips with a baseplate (screwed not epoxied). The baseplate had a special forces emblem. Not being part of that group, I switched out to some correct grips, so as not to appear a poseur. :)
 
The actual fit looks pretty good, and that argues against it being a "kitchen table" hack job. Also the Millet rear sight, which again says something against it being a "bubba" job.
Click to expand...
Perhaps I wasn't clear.
The fit of the "head knocker" isn't what makes it a kitchen hack, it's the epoxy. Only a kitchen table hack would use epoxy. Someone that knew what they were doing would have used screws.
Yes - it's a Millet sight, but, it's also been filed into a trapezoid shape.
That's pretty "bubba".
 
The butt plate does two things.
1 protects the wood grip from damage when you go prone.
2 with the butt on the ground raises the revolver a little to allow a sight picture.
I can not think what match the rear sight has been moded for, but bowling pins are a thought.
 
The more that I look at the picture of the rear sight from the back (not from the top), it looks to me like the notch, weird shape and all, is actually not centered in the big block of black rear sight.

That would frustrate me to the very ends of the Earth.

I hope it's just photo trickery. If that hacked notch is not truly in the center of the mass, I'd yank that rear sight off and smash it with a brick just out of principle.
Click to expand...

Bingo. The trapezoid cut wasn't even as the angles weren't exactly the same and it wasn't centered to boot.

The store I bought it from has a 7 day inspection period on used guns. Find a problem and get your money back or at least store credit. The gun went back on Sunday. Could I have made it right? Yes I think so. The sideplate didn't look touched and mechanically I think the gun was in good condition. That said it was sold for $470. At that price I don't want to invest more money into sights or worry about what may have happened. It was sad (even my wife thought it was pretty) but there's always another one somewhere.
 
Pity you had to return it - S&W M19's are my weakness.
They just feel so right.

The good news is they were so popular S&W made millions of them.
 
Oops.
And just my opinion...
If I didn't already have a Model 19, I might have went after that at that price.

I do understand your reservations, and I don't fault you for your actions, but if we can assume "best case scenario" (meaning, we only need to replace that rear sight...), this ends up being a solid deal on a Model 19 if the gun is otherwise in fine shape.

Of course, that's merely my opinion and taking in to account the gun market and circles in which I travel. If we didn't have the rear sight issue, that would be in the neighborhood of a "STEAL", but the grips being altered also has some input.
It was sad (even my wife thought it was pretty) but there's always another one somewhere.
Click to expand...
Good call-- even though we've seen these prices climb recently, there simply are a lot of Model 19's out there to be found. I wouldn't go on searching with that price tag in mind, or you may be disappointed, but you can and you will find a better one out there.

I hope you get it!
There's a reason we love these things so much. :)
 
Oops.
And just my opinion...
If I didn't already have a Model 19, I might have went after that at that price.

I do understand your reservations, and I don't fault you for your actions, but if we can assume "best case scenario" (meaning, we only need to replace that rear sight...), this ends up being a solid deal on a Model 19 if the gun is otherwise in fine shape.
Click to expand...

Where I am in NH and being a stone's throw from the S&W factory, right around $500 is the going price for a decent Model 19. I agree it still would have been a good deal. But I'll pay a little more money for some peace of mind.
 
Man, I'd like for the installer of that monstrosity to share his thoughts... sadly, we'll likely never know.
Click to expand...

Maybe he needed a hammer to install a barbed wire fence.:p
Wouldn't be the 1st time someone used a revolver butt for a hammer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top