OMGosh Houge makes nice BIG grips!

[badge176]

8508385084

Or does Ruger make theirs TOO small?! I expect this switch to tame this SBH a bit...

[gandydancer]

Ruger make theirs TOO small? I am not a large man(over weight) but not large. all of the ruger wood grips are to small for my hands even the Bisleys. so I end up having custom ones made to fit my hands. My last ones for a flat top 44 special Bisley made by a grip maker from this website are super nice. and YES I believe ruger makes their wood grips to small on the SBH revolvers.

[paul h]

While from an aesthetic standpoint I can't stand the thought/look of rubber grips on a single action, I've found that the shootability of my Blackhawk 357 has increased dramatically by swapping out the factory grips for a Hogue grip.

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/1013122_10201954961256862_2015715109_n.jpg

But my SRH already taught me the lesson that beauty is a gun that is accurate and can be shot accurately.

[Rick R]

I wanted a 4 5/8" SRH for years, finally got one and suffered purple knuckle syndrome everytime I shot it with anything approaching a "Magnum" load. Tried the "pinkie under the grip" but it wasn't comfortable.

Bought the Hogue rubber grip and was appalled at how they looked on the little gun. Shot it and WoW! Recoil isn't gone but it's redirected somewhere that it doesn't bother me. Accuracy is much better now that I can get a grip too.

I believe my next buy may be a set of the wooden Hogues for the little fellow.

[9.3X62AL]

What Rick R said, as far as the Ruger SAs go with their OEM grip panels. The newer black hard rubber panels aren't an improvement for me. The neoprene Pachmayrs or Hogues aren't aesthetically pleasing, but beauty is as beauty does--and they do good work for me. I can abide the Ruger Bisley OEMs--not perfect, but still usable.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I went to the Hogue black rubber grips because of the bear paw sized hands I have. I have them on 3 of my Blackhawks, I even put a set of them on my .22 single six. Looks be darned!Robert

[adrians]

My thoughts mirror Rick R.

The grips on my 9mm sp101 were uncomfortable to say the least,, my pinky finger was just hanging out under the grips.

The Hogue's cured that, also i'm looking at some of those fancy wood grips,,,,

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[Deep Six]

I don't understand what you guys are complaining about - Ruger single action grips never bothered me. I shoot 250 Keith / 15.0 Gr 2400 loads out of my 4-5/8 flattop Blackhawk (not Bisley) with smooth walnut panels on it. I can 100s of those loads in a string. I do get a little knuckle busting from the trigger guard but it's not enough to hurt or turn my knuckly blue or anything. I've also yet to find a load that is unpleasant at all in my Blackhawk Bisley chambered in .45 Colt. I have rubber grips on other revolvers and never liked them due to the fact that they keep the revolver from rolling in your hand under recoil.

[blueeyephil]

I'm glad for you Deep Six, but I'm with the rest of the crowd. Several years ago I bought a vaquero in 44 mag and sold it because it was such a pain to shoot with anything other than 44 special cowboy loads. It was a beautiful stainless gun with the white grips. I traded it for a LCR when they came out. Well, I recently decided that I really needed a blackhawk in 357 to go with my Marlin 1894 in 357 and bought a like new older one. Well, I had loaded up some medium level 357 mag loads and it beats my knuckle pretty bad. I just got my ugly Houge earlier this week, haven't gotten a chance to try it yet. But I can already tell just by holding it, I believe it will solve the problem.

My only issue with the grips is the looks. They just don't look right. But better to have a gun I'll shoot than one I'll end up trading away.

[paul h]

I’ve been fortunate over the years to have fired just about every configuration of SA revolver that shooting buddies traded into and out of and had custom built. I’ve shot blackhawks with factory grips and the hogue grip, super blackhawks with factory grips, custom stag grips, custom oversize wooden harrets, rubber hogue and packmeyer, bisleys with factory grips and round butted factory grips, and FA 83’s with factory micarta grips, round butted laminate and packmeyer rubber and probably some configurations I’m forgetting and in 357, 44, 45, 454, 475 and 500 in barrels ranging from 4” to 7 ½”.
There are two issues when it comes to grips, recoil management and shootability. They are not necessarily compatable and what works best for one shooter will not be the best for another shooter. The best wood grip in my hands is the round butted FA83. My shooting buddy is an outstanding shot with a handgun, yet I was able to shoot a better group with his 5 ½” 454 than he could shoot, and any time I can shoot a 1” group at 25yd with an iron sighted handgun I’m happy, especially if it’s a powerful handgun. As far as recoil management, the most savage SA I shot was a custom 4 5/8” sbh in 500 linebaugh with very stout 440 gr loads and stag grips. Even with a very thick shooting glove it was brutal. SBH 44’s with dragoon trigger guards will also bite you if you shorten them to 4 5/8” and load 330 gr bullets to 1300 fps.
Of all the single actions I’ve handled over the years, the one that had that perfect feeling in my hands was the 4 5/8” old model Blackhawk. But, switching the grip to the hogue rubber grip literally cut my group size in half. I’d done extensive gunsmithing to make the gun shoot, but until I put the hogue grips on I was not able to get near the guns ability.
Targets never lie and you can’t no matter how much you like the look or feel of a gun, you should let the targets tell you what is best in your hands.

[starmac]

I don't like the looks of the large rubber grips on my sbh, maybe the reason I have another one with factory wood, to look at. lol

[9.3X62AL]

I understand that the SAA grip design is supposed to allow the revolver to roll up in the hand under recoil, leaving the hammer conveniently close to the thumb of the shooting hand for a follow-up re-cock. I have strived mightily to let that occur for me, in every centerfire caliber north of 30 Carbine--no soap, amigos. Same story with cap-and-ball Colt repros. All I get for my efforts is a beaten middle finger on the gun hand. This "roll-up" does occur to some degree with the Ruger Bisley grip; this could be why I get along with them better than with the classic plow-handles.

I might be doing something wrong--dunno. If someone has a grip-tension or other ergonomic suggestion for me, I'm all ears. I dearly love these cowboy Gatlings, and would like to make them work as intended rather than re-engineering them with aftermarket grips.

[starmac]

I think hand strength has a lot to do with it, at least it seems like it does in my case.
I had wood grips for years, and no problem, but my old virginia dragoon will now bust my knuckle hard enough that I just don't shoot it anymore. In fact I gave it too my son.
I do not have the same problem with the sbh with pachmyer grips. I do not like the looks of them though.

[Moonie]

I hate the look, but love the performance, my NMBH 45/45 convertible wears a set of the rubber ones. The 22gr H110/300gr loads were nailing my knuckle as well with the black plastic factory grips, and removing the skin from my palms...

[Rick R]

Maybe the Hogue grips look better depending on the venue:

85373

I'll ask the next deer I see what he thinks. ;)

[blueeyephil]

Well, took my Blackhawk 357 to the range today for my first try with the Houge grips. Now that was the way it should be! No knuckle contact with the finger guard at all.

The looks might just grow on me after all.

[WaywardSon]

I have had a number of large caliber handguns over the years, both single and double action and currently own three in .44 Magnum...a SBH, SRH and a S&W 29-3. All are wearing a Hogue grip for a reason. They give me better control over the firearm & I am more accurate with them...which is all that matters to me. They ain't BBQ guns:-P

I had an extended range session with all three a couple of days ago, looking for a load to deer hunt with. Had a lot of fun and found a load for each gun that will work...only thing that irritates me is that I have so far been unable to find a load that the Smith will group as well as either of the Ruger's. Guess I'll have to keep trying:-)

[9.3X62AL]

Wayward Son, your first paragraph sums up my experience with the aftermarket grips on my revolvers pretty succinctly, as well as my responses to the questions OEM stocks/grips pose.

[cbrick]

Was another similar thread a few weeks back, I was pretty chastised for my use of Pachs on my single actions. I'll stick to my guns (pun intended :mrgreen:) and repeat here what I said then. The Pachs are plain and simple ugly when viewed sitting there on the bench. When in my hand looking at the sight picture and squeezing the trigger they are plain and simple beautiful. I didn't buy any of my SA's to admire them sitting on the bench, I bought them to shoot them and I shoot them far, far better with a grip that actually fits my large hands.

The choice is pretty simple, shoot poorly with grips that someone else thinks looks good or shoot much better with grips that fit my hand.

Maybe someday I'll get some proper fitting custom wood, haven't done that yet, always kinda wanted to but for now the butt ugly rubber really is beautiful.

Rick

[frankenfab]

Was another similar thread a few weeks back, I was pretty chastised for my use of Pachs on my single actions. I'll stick to my guns (pun intended :mrgreen:) and repeat here what I said then. The Pachs are plain and simple ugly when viewed sitting there on the bench. When in my hand looking at the sight picture and squeezing the trigger they are plain and simple beautiful. I didn't buy any of my SA's to admire them sitting on the bench, I bought them to shoot them and I shoot them far, far better with a grip that actually fits my large hands.

The choice is pretty simple, shoot poorly with grips that someone else thinks looks good or shoot much better with grips that fit my hand.

Maybe someday I'll get some proper fitting custom wood, haven't done that yet, always kinda wanted to but for now the butt ugly rubber really is beautiful.

Rick

Im getting ready to switch to Pachmayr Presentaions on all my Rugers 357 Max and larger. I think they look a lot better than the Hogues, and I shoot much better with them since I am used to the same grips on Freedom Arms guns. I'm kinda nervous, though. From the lates reviews on the Pachs, it sounds like the quality and fit has diminished as of late.

[pmer]

Sorry but I had to take a Hogue Mono grip off my Redhawk. It seems to place my hand too low on the grip frame and won't let me hold steady. It came with custom wood grips that I thought were way too big but they place my hand better and seems to show good on dry firing.

[cbrick]

Sorry but I had to take a Hogue Mono grip off my Redhawk.

Odd thing to say. What could there possibly be to be sorry for, shoot what suits ya.

Rick

[pmer]

Yep, down to our last stick of venison sausage and have to put it to work here on the 9th :smile:

[9.3X62AL]

Yep, down to our last stick of venison sausage and have to put it to work here on the 9th :smile:

THAT sounds critical, right there.

Lotta sense in what CBRick says concerning grips. I still wonder if there is something I'm doing or not doing that prevents the SAAs from "rolling up" in my hand properly, but it seems a LOT of folks have similar issues with those little bitty plow handles--so I'll just attach neoprene and go forth.

I bought a set of new Pachmayrs to fit "I"-frame Colts last month, and they seem to fit just fine--as did a set of Pachs to fit a Blackhawk 30 Carbine in March 2012. Those are my most recently-acquired Pach gripsets.

[9.3X62AL]

Yep, down to our last stick of venison sausage and have to put it to work here on the 9th :smile:

THAT sounds critical, right there.

Lotta sense in what CBRick says concerning grips. I still wonder if there is something I'm doing or not doing that prevents the SAAs from "rolling up" in my hand properly, but it seems a LOT of folks have similar issues with those little bitty plow handles--so I'll just attach neoprene and go forth.

I bought a set of new Pachmayrs to fit "I"-frame Colts last month, and they seem to fit just fine--as did a set of Pachs to fit a Blackhawk 30 Carbine in March 2012. Those are my most recently-acquired Pach gripsets.

[cbrick]

I still wonder if there is something I'm doing or not doing that prevents the SAAs from "rolling up" in my hand properly,

No clue what he is trying to say but whatever, as long as he's happy.

From 30 years of shooting long range handgun with my primary efforts in revolver class the last thing I want is for the gun to "roll" in my hand. First, there is a huge difference in handgun long range accuracy and/or defensive/combat type of shooting. For long range you should never cock the hammer with your shooting hand, use the off hand to reposition the grip exactly as it was on the previous shot and cock it with the off hand. Again in long range a much looser grip on the grip that actually fits your hand is used, the gun shouldn't roll in your hand but rather your hand follow the gun up on recoil. I've heard the story for years of how a plow handle should roll in your hand to allow for a quick follow up shot, not being a combat style shooter a quick follow up shot isn't what I am looking for or want, hitting the target on the first shot is. Grips that properly fit "your" hand are a critical part of that even if others don't think they "look" good.

So I am left with the same two choices, either shoot good or look good to someone else. It's a no brainer to me but I guess not to everyone.

Rick

[9.3X62AL]

I can't remove the "double tap"--computer or site is doing screwy stuff this morning.

My question has no basis in style concerns--only in utility. The "roll up" doesn't happen for me, so I opt for the better hold provided by aftermarket grips. I don't "combat" shoot with SAA revolvers in any event, such things are the province of double-action revos and autopistols. Single-actions are purely recreational for me--hunting and targets.

[paul h]

It takes some recoil to make the gun rotate. If your shooting max 300 gr loads in the 44 or 45, then you should have no problem with rotation :holysheep

[pmer]

85804

Here's a pic of the grips I put back on the Redhawk. I had a Contender with a Pachmayr Presentation grip and it worked out good.