N-frame grips ?

[roysha]

On one of the gun auction sites there is a listing for a set of used S&W N-frame, square butt, smooth, Goncolo Alves grips with logo, which has a starting bid price, (no takers), of $369.99 plus shipping.

The question is this: Am I missing something here or is this just one of those pipe dreamers?

[Hickory]

You need not bother yourself.
Forget it and move on.

[stubshaft]

There are some suckers that believe, the more you pay for it, the better it is...

[smithnframe]

Are they "Cokes"?

[If1Hitu]

You need not bother yourself.
Forget it and move on.

I will second that.8-)

[TNsailorman]

I am an old dinosaur and no, repeat no, handgun grips are worth that much unless they are heavily gold plated. An then only for the gold. to me at least, james

[Patrick L]

Mostly a pipe dream.

HOWEVER, the grips that came on the original .44 Magnums (aka the pre 29, Model 29, 29-1, and some early 29-2s) up through about 1964 or so were known as Coke Bottle, or "Cokes" to serious S&W collectors. They were subtly different from S&W Target grips. A set of original Cokes in very good condition can easily fetch $400. For that matter, the Target grips made up to about 1967 with the diamond panels around the screw holes will also fetch a premium over the later 70s/80s Targets, which were noticeably fatter and blockier.

Collectors are a funny bunch. I sort of am one, but I'm too frugal to get that nutty.

[rcslotcar]

I recently sold a set of S$W L frame RB combat grips for $387. The grips on newer guns are not near the quality of guns made in the 80's and before. There are a lot of Collectors that want only perfect pairs with a great wood grain pattern.

[murf205]

P.T. Barnum said it best!

[9.3X62AL]

Some of the prices asked & received for OEM grip sets is mind-boggling. I use Pachmayr and Hogue neoprenes to a large degree, and I have likely thrown away or given away a small fortune--if pricing like this is typical. One set of grips that I COULDN'T REMOVE FAST ENOUGH came recently on my Performance Center Model 625 x 4". Those pink/white/baby blue abominations might be just the thing in SFO's Castro District or in Palm Springs, but I pre-ordered and had on hand a set of Hogues when the revolver cleared DROS and came home. They got installed within 10 minutes.

[murf205]

Some of the prices asked & received for OEM grip sets is mind-boggling. I use Pachmayr and Hogue neoprenes to a large degree, and I have likely thrown away or given away a small fortune--if pricing like this is typical. One set of grips that I COULDN'T REMOVE FAST ENOUGH came recently on my Performance Center Model 625 x 4". Those pink/white/baby blue abominations might be just the thing in SFO's Castro District or in Palm Springs, but I pre-ordered and had on hand a set of Hogues when the revolver cleared DROS and came home. They got installed within 10 minutes.

Amen to that description. I have seen them referred to as "clown" grips and I cannot ever see them bringing a small fortune in the future. S&W, what were you thinking??

[Petander]

Thank you all for this thread:

I just got a Mod 29 with Pachmayr plastic grips last week. Yes I can shoot with them but...

After seeing this thread I called the ex-owner about the grips -and he sent them to me with the original box. He was going to throw these away... it's all "target" now... Me likes.

https://i.postimg.cc/1X2pHKTg/IMG-20200207-174649-730.jpg

[murf205]

Petander, you are evidently living right!

[LAH]

Petander, you are evidently living right!

..Yes..

[smithnframe]

Some Coke bottle S&W grips sell for much more than that!

[arlon]

I've seen the smooth presentation grips go into the $500 range. A lot of sellers put plastic grips on the guns they sell then put the grips on ebay.

[Petander]

A lot of sellers put plastic grips on the guns they sell then put the grips on ebay.

This is just wrong.

[gunther]

On the other hand; I know a retired parole officer and a deputy sheriff who both wish they had kept the Lew Horton 3" 629's they had years ago. Those had a factory round butt wood grip that looked like a squeezed banana. The grip made those little monsters the easiest shooting 44 mags either of these very experienced guys had ever shot. Those grips bring Ebay prices like the previous posters have commented on, but they might be worth the money.

[samari46]

Sounds like the combat grips they used on the models 24-3 with the 3" barrel in 44 special and the 624 3" barrel also in 44 special. If these are the ones that have the finger grooves then they are the ones of which you speak. Those can go for good money. And as far as the smooth targets are concerned last set I bought cost me about $50. Always thought those type of grips or stocks were way too fat. The smooth targets. But having said all this, if the original revolver came with a specific type of grips and they are not on it when purchased some collectors will pay good money to get the correct ones. Frank

[Drm50]

I wheel and deal S&Ws, P&R era or older. It aggravates me that rubber grips are put on S&Ws and stock grips sold separately. They only do this because buyers are to stupid to dock the price the value of a set of factory grips.

You can find same set of grips from $25 to $300+. I just bought 2 sets of N targets, new in bubble packs for $60@. I would pay $100 for NIB N frame grips but that would be my limit for standard factory targets.

[gunther]

Samari46: Those are the ones. Those grips had a very wide recoil shoulder that did a great job of spreading out the recoil. Smith & Wesson got recoil control figured out better than most. If you shoot an N frame very much, a good set of grips will help a lot.

[samari46]

Have the 24-3 with the 3" barrel in 44 special with the combat grips. Have shot it with the Winchester 200 grain silver tip hollow point. Since most all N frames do weigh in at a signifcent amount recoil is more of a push than a jab. I put a set of smooth targets on my 1937 contract Brazilian 45 acp revolver not because of the recoil but those little service grips were too small for my hands. It does sometimes draw a crowd as most shooters at the sheriff's range I shoot at have never seen one like it. I bought some of the polymer RIMZ moon clips and love them. Open the cylinder drop in the clip,close the cylinder and go shooting.Even my old 1943 Springfield armory Garand shoots I sometimes have a few bystanders watching. And always takers when I ask if anyone would care to shoot it. I load the enbloc clip into her myself. Seen more than a few cases of M1 thumb. Frank

[skeettx]

Coke bottle and also diamond grips are going nuts price-wise

[Petander]

It aggravates me that rubber grips are put on S&Ws and stock grips sold separately.

Here is my 686 no dash no M grips. I'm not a collector per se but to me it feels like a counterfeit to put these grips on some other gun from who knows what era. These belong to this exact gun.

And substituting these with plastic ones... just plain wrong to destroy originality.

https://i.postimg.cc/pLg7w0DN/IMG-20200213-131532-791.jpg

[RJM52]

Glad you were able to get all the accessories for your gun...

Unfortunately many S&W, and for that matter Colt collectors, see it differently and will pay big money to make their gun "whole " again....

Cokes were only put on Model 29s (1956) and 57s (1964) up until about 1968...a mint set will bring up to $800 on the auction sites...that is the selling price, not the asking price... The N-frame fingergroove round butt grips known as "Combats" came on only a few 3" models in the 1980s...they will bring up to $400. The later flat sided ones will bring up to $200. Or the N-frame PC Magna (Plain Clothes) square butt grips that only came on the Model 58 and 520 will bring up to $200 and sometimes more if it has the diamond around the screw hole...

The most valuable Colt stocks are the 1950s vintage fully checkered Target stocks...They came as an option on the .38 Special and .22 Long Rifle TROOPER, Officers Model Match and I believe standard on the COLT .357 with a silver medallion...Last three sets I saw on GunBroker brought $422, $287 and $405 delivered... If they have the gold medallion they are for the Python and can bring more money. They were only made from 1953 to 1957 when Colt changed the checkering pattern to about 3/4 coverage...

One of the reasons collectors want the original period grips back on the gun is that it will often enhance the sale value of the gun more than it cost to replace the grips...

Bob

[Petander]

Glad you were able to get all the accessories for your gun...

Unfortunately many S&W, and for that matter Colt collectors, see it differently and will pay big money to make their gun "whole " again....


Bob

Thanks,yeah this doesn't happen very often.

Those guns would be "whole" unless someone took off the grips and sold them in the first place,right?

Kinda like people selling pickups from vintage guitars separately...


But well,Collector's World is something I don't know much about. I don't care neither worry about gun values much.

[Dale53]

"Some of the prices asked & received for OEM grip sets is mind-boggling. I use Pachmayr and Hogue neoprenes to a large degree, and I have likely thrown away or given away a small fortune--if pricing like this is typical. One set of grips that I COULDN'T REMOVE FAST ENOUGH came recently on my Performance Center Model 625 x 4". Those pink/white/baby blue abominations might be just the thing in SFO's Castro District or in Palm Springs, but I pre-ordered and had on hand a set of Hogues when the revolver cleared DROS and came home. They got installed within 10 minutes."

Al, we are kindred spirits. Many, MANY, years ago, I realized that Pachmayr grips fit my hands and eliminated the discomfort, for me, when shooting heavy recoiling revolvers. I have put Pachmayrs on nearly all of my guns to this day. I am performance oriented, not "pretty". I shoot, I seldom "admire". When I see the prices that original grips are going for, I shudder. I moved most of mine for $25.00 or so.

Reminds me of the day, I was cleaning out my basement shop and garage. I threw away, literally, a bushel basket of old, empty powder cans. My next trip to the OGCA Gun Show those "antique" powder cans were bringing real money. I nearly CHOKED! :groner:

Oh, well...[smilie=1: At least I shot decent scores at world class matches and took a considerable number of both edible small game as well as a few nice deer, all the while being COMFORTABLE while shooting.:Fire:

If I bought a new revolver tomorrow, it would have Pachmayrs on it, SO THERE!:drinks:

FWIW
Dale53

[RJM52]

No one who shot Magnum handguns back in the last century did so very long with the OEM checkered Target grips...it just hurt too much. Most everyone replaced them with rubber, threw out the box, put the cleaning accessories in their cleaning kit and somewhere lost the original grips... No one really realized how much these guns would be worth in the future because back then even "old" guns were just that, "old guns".

I'm guilty... It wasn't until Colt stopped making DA revolvers and S&W quality and engineering went down hill that these older guns became more valuable and the more intact the more valuable they became.

There are those people who will strip a set of Cokes off an older gun as they know that by selling them separately they can get more money in total than leaving them on the gun...I have never been able to do that...

The best deal I ever got on a set of Cokes was by buying a gun that had a set on it that didn't belong there. It was a Model 27-2 with an 8 3/8" barrel that originally would have had a set of numbered to the gun Magnas. Someone replaced them with a set of Cokes. There was a small chip out of the rear just below the backstrap which unfortunately is very common. The dealer knew that the original numbered to the gun grips were not on the gun and gave me a great deal on it... I took the grips off the gun, had a friend who is a master woodworker repair and refinish them so they looked like new... The I found a set of period correct grips for the gun and sold it for $80.00 more than it cost me to replace the Cokes..so in effect the dealer paid me $80 to take the Cokes...

Later on I found a mint 1964 first year of production Model 57 that someone had stripped the Cokes off of for about $500 less than the gun would have sold for if the original grips had been one it... The Herrett grips that were on it fit my hand better than any N-frame grip I have ever had and were moved to my 4" 1980 vintage shooter....and the repaired Cokes now reside where they should and the 64 was made "whole" again.....

[RJM52]

Petander...do I read that box correctly...is that a 10 5/8" Silhouette Model 29????

[Petander]

Petander...do I read that box correctly...is that a 10 5/8" Silhouette Model 29????

The pic with the cat? Yes it is.

[RJM52]

...nice find...S&W didn't make a lot of those... They only made something like 4 in .41 Magnum...