Altamont grips are good!

[Blackwater]

To whoever it was (sorry, but my rememberer isn't perkin' right lately) who recommended Altamont grips, I want to extend a hearty thanks. I got two sets for my two Flat Tops, and they fit very well, look good, and are a little thicker at top than the factory checkered plastics that I just couldn't warm up to. Got the "rosewood" (laminated) smooth for the .44 and some immitation ivory for the .357. I think they're gonna' do just fine! Have to cast some up to try them now! Anyway, thanks. And the prices were really good at $28 each, which makes it that much nicer to boot! I appreciate the reference. Thanks.

[ReloaderFred]

That would be me, Blackwater. I've got well over a dozen Altamont grips and I've yet to have a bad set. They're reasonably priced and good looking to boot.

Glad they worked out for you.

Fred

[Blackwater]

Well, just wanted to say thanks. They're just enough thicker at the top to make a difference for me. I have a set of old stag grips on my SS SuperB 4 5/8" that are even fatter at top, and for that gun and full loads, they're appreciated, but I think these will do just fine. They sure beat the checkered plastic on the guns from the factory by a MILE! Larger girth, and nice and smooth, just like SA grips ought'a be in my experience. Thank you sir! Good call!

[ReloaderFred]

You're welcome, Blackwater. The Altamont grips are a great value for the money, and like you, I need more width near the top of the grip, and they provide them.

It's a little known secret that Altamont makes the factory grips for Ruger, but to Ruger's specifications. The same laser cutter is used to cut them out of the blanks, but they're obviously finished differently afterwards. It would cost Ruger very little to put the proper grips on their revolvers, since they're sourced from the same place as the skinny ones, at least the wooden skinny ones. I don't know where they get their cast plastic grips, but I've got a bag full of take-offs of both the wood and plastic factory grips.

Fred

[Low Budget Shooter]

Altamonts on my old Charter Arms Police Bulldog transformed it for me into a very useable shooter.

[bedbugbilly]

What?! No pictures? C'mob guys . . . we'd like to see 'em! Besides . . . "gun porn" is always good! :-)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Heck Blackwater, I could have told ya about Altamont.
A few years back, I bought a set of fishscale grips for a SRH

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/RTside_zps14e783c7.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/RTside_zps14e783c7.jpg.html)

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/LTside_zpsc1985909.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/LTside_zpsc1985909.jpg.html)

[Blackwater]

Those are great looking grips, Jon! Love that fish scale look! But I like smooth grips on almost all my handguns. Especially the SA's. I seem to shoot them better, and in long sessions, they don't abrade my skin like the checkered & carved ones. On .22's, they're really neat, though, and I recently bought another Ruger Mk III, and have my eye on a set of their "fancy" looking grips for it.

You guys cost me money every time I see a post like Fred's! Thanks! :bigsmyl2:

[Walter Laich]

got a pair each on my original Vaqueros. they are the best I've seen. Get a lot of compliments on them; not a lot on my shooting though :razz:

[Artful]

Didn't Smith and Wesson change from ACE grips to Altamonte after they quit making their own back on the '90's?

[scattershot]

Sorry, guys, gotta disagree. I have tried three sets of Altamonts, two went back and one is in my junk drawer. These were all for single actions, and while they looked great without a doubt, they all had a sharp squared off edge behind the triggerguard that made them uncomfortable to shoot.

[ReloaderFred]

I've only bought about a dozen pairs of Altamont grips, but most were for Ruger Blackhawks and one pair was for a Browning Buckmark that someone had taken a wire wheel to the rubber grips. All of them fit perfectly and no sharp edges. Sorry you had a bad experience.

When I had a custom set of Hogue grips made for a S&W Model 610 revolver, they ended up a little large, so while I was visiting my daughter in Paso Robles, where Hogue is also located, I stopped by their shop and showed them where I needed them taken down. Aaron Hogue took my grips in the back and a few minutes later came back and told me to try them. The grips were hot, so I asked him how he reduced the size that fast and why they were hot? He said he used a cloth wheel to take down the excess, and they don't have to refinish them that way, other than a little carnuba wax on the wheel. You might take a cloth wheel to the sharp edges of your grips and see if that takes care of the problem.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[scattershot]

Thanks for the tip!

[ReloaderFred]

You're welcome. Just remember to go slow. I haven't found a way to put wood back on yet...............

Fred

[Blackwater]

And FWIW, I frequently do a little very light sanding on many grips, but probably more on the SA grips because of contours that are too "shapr" or just not rounded enough. Anything like that will potentially hurt one's hand since the grip slips down in the hand during recoil. A simple cloth wheel as described above will polish most any hardwood used in grips.

Got a 4 5/8" SuperB recently with oversized real stag grips, and had to do a little rounding of some edges just behind the trigger guard. Very little change, and probably not visible except to the most practiced eye, but it sure feels better now! I just used 1500 and 2000 grit wet or dry, and they polished up really well. A tiny dab of wax, and shiny as a new penny! Love those grips now! The oversize works on that short barreled .44 mag, in my hands at least. Ironically, I didn't realize it until the former owner pointed it out to me, but I'd done the action work on it years ago! Sometimes, good things really DO come back to you! Ain't it funny how things work out sometimes?