Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns S&W Factory Target Grips

I picked up a set of factory target grips for my K-38. A worthwhile improvement.

One of the gold medalions is out of alignment. Is there a trick to turning those back into their proper alignment without mangling anything?

There is also a small gap between the mating surfaces on the forward edge. You can only supply so much pressure by tightening the screw. Is there a way to correct this without removing wood? ie paper shim in a strategic location, etc.

Thanks

Welcome to the club. I have a K-Frame round butt with Smith
oversize target grips which do not fit exactly in the front as
you say. I keep looking at how I can do some 'custom' millwork
to make it better, even tho the gap is only about 1/32nd to
1/16th. I'm thinking the grips could have been factory 2nds.
I did get another pair, altho the wood is not as pretty; which
poses yet another problem. The gun is engraved, and the new grips come up a little short on height which leaves a little
'bare' gap between the top of the grips and the engraving.
Maybe with a sanding block and Dremel tool I can get a better fit. Good luck on yours. My only other option is selling gun
with nice grips and putting new grips on new gun OR selling
new grips and live with gun as is. Help----

Have you even tried adding the Tyler T-Grip Adapter? The advantage to the T-Grip is that you don't have to switch to a bulkier grip to get significantly improved handling characteristics. You also retain the look of the Combat Masterpiece, which is a very classic and distinct look. If, however, your main concern is shooting characteristics, and you don't care about maintaining the distinct look of the Combat Masterpiece, why bother with anything Smith & Wesson ever made in the way of "target" grips? Just buy some nice custom after-market grips. There are plenty of them available that will improve the gun's handling a lot better than what Smith & Wesson calls "target" grips.

Hello again Hawkeye,

I just happened to stumble across a pair of the factory target grips at a gun show this weekend for a fair price and thought I'd try them. General Stuart recommended them and since he appears to have more than a little experience with S&W revolvers, I figured it was a reasonable gamble. I'm not out much.

I've been thinking about those t-grips since last time you suggested them. I wouldn't mind trying a pair. I looked, but didn't see any without a gun attached to them. I'll probably pick up a pair when I stumble across some.

I'll have to admit, it's not my view that the t-grips leave that "distinct and classic" look unspoiled. I saw a couple at the show that were outfitted with them. To me, it looks like it doesn't belong on there. I like the look of the target grips better. I thought one set of factory grips for another retained a much greater degree of factory originality than hanging a hunk of brass off the front. It looks like it could have been shipped with them.

Now, my guess is the t-grips are much more carry friendly. The target grips are a bit bulky. It's like carrying a larger frame. But I have big paws and it fills them better than the magna grips. It will mostly be a range gun. I have a 3" j-frame that fills my carrying needs.

If it wasn't for custom grips (and rubber grips) I wouldn't be able to shoot S&Ws for crap. T-Grips are also effective but no substitute for good grips.

Magnas are too small for any serious cartridge and targets are just too big for my hands and the checkering too sharp for shooting magnums.

However one of the best "custom" grips I have is a set of L Square Targets I violated (had a big chip on one side so I don't feel bad) with an electric sander to thin them down, round them off, and soften the checkering.

Later grips aren't hand fit to each gun. If you picked up a set of grips that fits loosely, there may be no way short of making sawdust to get them tight. But I swap grips a lot and don't see many loose ones.

Strider, if you don't like the look, that's fine. They are, however, to those in the know, a common sight on classic S&W revolvers equipped with classic Magna grips. Here is an example illustration of a Combat Masterpiece taken from The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson. Notice what it has installed on it's Magna grips. That's how typical and classic a look it is, that one with these installed would be an example of this model revolver in the standard reference text for collectors of Smith & Wesson handguns.

I picked up a new pair at a gunshow. They fit well on my K-22 and fit my hand very well,...a big improvement on the originals.

Hello Strider
I have always Liked the Looks and feel of the Larger Target style grips on all my S&W Target style Revolvers compared to the smaller Magna style grips. I am More fond of the smooth Presentation grade Targets as well, and have them on most of my Higher recoiling Magnums as I find they Kill The hand shock when shooting Hot loads. The Most Comfortable Larger style Target grips I own are the Original Walter Ropers. I am Blessed to have come across Two Pairs one being for The K-Sq. Frame revolver and the Other Pair for the S&W-N-Sq. Frame revolvers. These are very thin in width compared to the factory original Target grips and melt into One's hand. I will never part with them, but will share some Pictures of them for you to see what I speak of about them being Smaller Profile & Target shooter user friendly...Walter Roper Built These Custom Target size grips for the Camp Perry shooting Teams back in the 1930's. He took his idea to S&W as serious target shooters requested a Larger style target grip for Better control when shooting Targets, and S&W Blew him Off as they Offered grip adaptors for their service style grips back then and Later they came out with The magna style Grips, which still was Not a Target style grip or what the serious target shooters Really wanted, so Roper developed his Idea and had Matheis Gagne make all his Target grips, out of a small New England Two Car Garage back in the Mid 1930's. Gagne, required a Pencil Tracing of the shooters hand to build the grips to, Then he used a simple V-Chisel to cut the elaborate Clover leaf style checkering he was famous for. He concentrated on keeping the grips "THIN" which allowed better shooter control, and Incorporated a Heavy Palm swell and bell shaped bottom into his grips to add to a more firm hand hold for shooters. His Grip's are the most comfortable pair of Target grips I have ever Picked up, and they are Very hard to find..Later when Matheis Retired his Son Albert Gagne , who Apprenticed in His Fathers shop and Foot step's, went to work for S&W In Their Stock department. Albert took his Father's idea's and Placed them into a set of True Target grips for the Pre-29 .44 Magnum about 1955 Time span. We saw them released on the Pre-29's Pre-27's which were In .357 Magnum and later on the Model 57 which was a .41 Magnum. These grips later were called "Coke Bottle Grips" due to their Old Coke Bottle shape that could be seen from the rear. They had a much Milder Less Prounounced Palm swell compared to his Father's Grips, but they also had the Oval shaped Bottom's that his Father designed. S&W used this style slight Palm swell grip, shown on my Pre-27 Nickel revolver that shipped in 1955 till about 1965 Time span, when we saw the Palm swell disappear, and the Panel looked more flat with Much less checkering coverage. The Coke Bottle grips are heavily sought after by collectors due to their comfortable shape and short time span....Thegeneral






K-Sq. Frame Roper Grips From the Late 1930's on a S&W Pre-16 K-32 Masterpiece








N-Sq. Frame Roper's on a 1935 Registered Magnum










S&W Pre-27 Revolver shown with Coke Profile Albert Gagne designed grips, Circa 1955

Class, as always General.

+1 on that.

TLee you've definitely got that right. I do enjoy looking at anything the General posts. Everything he's got is a Class Act and I sit back here in envy whenever he posts photos of his babys.

Hello W7ACT
I appreciate your kind words. Here is My 4 Month Old Baby. Her Name is Dixie Stampede...Thegeneral.

And she's a beauty too....

Great looking pup. I love Bostons.

Hello Guys
Thank's. My wife gave her to me for my Recent Birthday party Present. I had a great Boston Bull Dog Named Butch. We rescued him from the Pound and he came to us mean, beat, Under Nurished and was Born stone Deaf. He was of the Large Boston breed what they used to be before all these breeders took them down to Minature size. He weighed 50 Pounds ! I had to Put him down a couple of Years ago after a long battle With Diabetes'. It about Killed me as he went every where with me. He was 12 Years old. My wife spent Two years searching for another Large style Boston and Dixie's parents Both weighed 45 Pounds each so that is why I have her. She act's a lot Like Old Butch did, so it filled the hole in my Heart...Thegeneral.

Hi
Back to Grip's here. As I said, The smooth Presentation grips are my Favorite, but they sho less often than the checkerd ones. Below is a set of Rare Rosewood Factory grips...Thegeneral

Hi
The Factory also filled orders for special high Deffinition Gran Target grips as well. These are a real treasure to find as they seldom get seperated from the revolver's they were meant for. here is a Pair I am real fond of...Thegeneral.

General, I really meant it when I said I love the Boston breed. I guess that makes sense, because I love Pitbulls, and my current dog is a pure bred American Pit Bull Terrier.

I wonder if you are aware that originally the name "Boston Terrier" was a short form of the name "Boston Pit Terrier." That super short face (almost without a muzzle) most of them wear today was bred into them only in the last hundred years or so. They were once simply the Boston variety of the American Pit Bull Terrier (once called, simply, "Pit Terriers"). To say that a Pit Terrier was of the Boston variety simply meant that he was an extremely compact one.

Here's a very early illustration of the Boston variety of the Pit Terrier (later called the Boston Terrier):



Here's an early photo of one still looking very much the dwarf Pit Terrier (i.e., looking like a dwarf American Pit Bull Terrier):


The reason they bred Pitbulls ("Pit Terriers") to such a compact size in Boston was that pit-fighting in Boston (unlike just about anywhere else in the country at the time) was strictly illegal, and there were jail terms and fines attached if you were caught, so they selected only the smallest Pitbulls available to use and breed in Boston. They had to be small enough to place inside of a smallish suitcase (with hidden breathing vents), so that they could transport them in large numbers to a small fighting pit in a hidden location (a basement, for example) without attracting the attention of the police.

Gradually, as pit fighting was cracked down on more and more, the "sport" disappeared completely from Boston, and the breeding of Boston (pit) Terriers shifted from dog fighting men to show breeders. The "pit" part of their name disappeared, and they became simply Boston Terriers.

Since their distinguishing characteristics in the show ring were 1) compact size, and 2) a short face (all Pitbulls are somewhat short-faced because that's a side-effect of breeding for a strong bite over several centuries), the show winners were those dogs that most exhibited 1) compact size, and 2) a short face, while retaining the powerfully muscular physique characteristic of fighting breeds. The result was that breeders only bred the most compact and short-faced Boston Terriers to the most compact and short-faced Boston Terriers. Consequently, the breed became more and more compact and short-faced over time.

Some speculate that, as a shortcut to winning in the show ring under these terms, some unscrupulous show breeders introduced small admixtures of the French Bulldog (say 12.5% Frenchie and 87.5 Boston) to bring down the body size and increase the short-facedness of their show dog lines. The result is the modern Boston Terrier, which tends to maintain the personality characteristic of a Pitbull, i.e., extremely friendly towards people (even indiscriminately), but somewhat scrappy towards other dogs, and extreme courage in general.

Regarding the last point, I personally witnessed a scrappy (yet extremely people-friendly) Boston viciously attack my own 85 lb Doberman Pinscher. It was like witnessing a Pitbull going after a lion with total abandon. I also witnessed a scrappy little Boston viciously attack an English Bull Terrier at a dog show once. In both cases, the Boston jumped up and latched onto the other dog's neck from underneath, holding on and viciously shaking out his bite. My Doberman simple came crashing down on him, crushing him until the Boston was forced to let go. Then I and the Boston's owner quickly separated our dogs.

PS There are no photographs of the Boston (pit) Terrier taken when he was a pure fighting breed, since they became a pure show breed before the development of photography, but some of the earliest photographs show a sort of halfway development from what he used to be to what he is today.

Here's a typical American Pit Bull Terrier illustrating the characteristic Boston coat pattern for comparison:



The earliest Boston (pit) Terriers where simply this type of dog on a smaller scale. Their eyes appear bigger in relation to their heads just because that's what happens when you intentionally breed a breed of dog down in size. Eyes don't shrink so readily in that process, just the bodies do, so you get that very endearing big-eyed look, which is part of what makes them so appealing and lovable as pets today.

Strider,

I'm no help with the medallion. Set the grips on a flat surface to check for warping. It wouldn't be the first time grips have warped or shrunk when off the gun.

If the grips are warped fitting them probably won't work. You can try clamping them down on a flat surface to straighten them out. Put a piece of cardboard between the clamp and the wood.

Thegeneral,
Might you have some pictures of target grips for a square butt J frame???
Thanks!
Virgil B.

Hello Virgil
Square butt-J-Frames are not my Bag, But I did have Two at one time. Shown below is a model 37 Air-Weight in .38 Special with a set of Factory Service diamond grips and my Model 631-J-Frame Combat Model in .32 H&R Magnum......Thegeneral.