Smith K Grips on Kimber K6

H

HighValleyRanch

New member
Haven't seen anything like this before on the net, so thought this information might be useful to someone.

The aftermarket grips are very limited for the Kimber K6. All of them leave the backstrap exposed. As anyone knows, that metal backstrap is a direct connection to the recoil force going into your hand. That's why Ruger was smart in their LCR line to stay with a tang grip and have a cushioned rubber grip as an alternative for lightweight revolvers shooting magnum loads.
Hogue should really think about making a wrap around rubber grips for this gun!

Sure the wood grips look beautiful, and rubber grips not so much. But when shooting a few cylinder full of hot magnums, the rubber will definitely be more appreciated.

I started to wonder if any exisitng rubber grips could be adapted to the Kimber. I saw one guy on google search that adapted a smith J frame pachmayr grip to his Kimber, but they looked ill fitted. All that I had in my grip collection was some rubber grips left over from my Smith model 19 with round butt, so decided to see if I could make them work.

They fit pretty good with some alterations. All that I had to do was to drill some pin holes for the Kimber to fit at the right angle so the back would be mostly covered and the frontstrap fill to fit. There was a gap both on the backstrap and frontstrap as the Kimber frame is very narrow. So I cut a curved wood shim to fill in the front and left the back empty to act as a void cushion.
Think that I'm going to look for some rubber repair stuff next time at the hardward store to see what I can come up with!:D

Took it down to the field and shot two cylinder fulls of Magtech .357 at around 450 ME, and it was pretty comfortable. Not that sharp bite when the backstrap was exposed.

UPDATE:
S.L. Variant speedloader did not work with these grips, but the HKS #10 worked and probably a 5 star made for the Kimber would as well.

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HighValleyRanch said:
Thanks, I think I will. The #10 works but you have to jiggle it to get it free. That mod might help!
Click to expand...
It does make it a lot easie3r but longer cartridges in a speedloader is almost a contradiction in terms. I find they wobble making is difficult to ensure a quick reload. I carry speedstrips which are great for topping off.
I use my HKS for the initial load only.
 
OP,

What grips did you use on the K6S.

I have the K6S 2" and am looking for rubber grips that add cushioning from the back strap of the gun.

Your idea looks promising.

Thanks!
 
Those are Pachmayr presentation compac for a Smith K frame round butt. All I did was drill the holes for the Kimber grip pin, and move the rear as high as possible and made sure the front strap fit under the Kimber frame.....and cut a wood space to fill the gap in the front.

But today, I bought some "SHOE GOOP" which is like a rubbery silicon to fill the gaps. I taped the grip frame with plastic electrical tape (covered with vasaline as a release agent) and held the grip in place while I dabbed the fill goop into the spaces and then used a putty knife to scrape the sides clean. It's sitting on the desk right now all tape up in place waiting for the "goop" to set up. I'm doing one side at a time as it's really messy, and trying to do two sides at once would result in my Kimber being covered in silicon goop!LOL
Right now, it's looking pretty good.
 
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