Buying wood grips for a 686?

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platnumbob

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I have two questions as I have a new to me 686-6 in the mail.

1.) Can I get any S&W L frame grips? (Or K or L frame?) As I start looking online I am having a hard time identifying what grips would fit a 686. Do some frames/686's have different grip metal sizes?

2.) Where is the best place to find nice finger grooved wood grips? I am not noticing many Canadian options on my limited google searches thus far.

Thanks, still a bit of a revolver newb.
 
There are lots of different grips for these

two styles are for square butt and round butt grip frames if you have the grips off the rear of the grip frame is rounded on one and square on the other.


Look at Hogue as i think you will find that they are the best bang for your buck
 
Hogue wood fit very well. You can sometimes find them for good deals on eBay or amazon but it is also worth checking in with some of the site sponsors. SFRC carries some I believe. Do a quick google. If all else fails, hogue ships direct.

Other than hogue Ahrends make nice wood finger grips but you need to order through the us I think. If you really want something high end check out Nills.

The 686-6 should be a round butt.
 
No firsthand experience but some of the guys on the US S&W forum say the Thai stuff you see on Ebay is surprisingly good for the price.

Triple K Manufacturing in California sells a lot of grips and i know they ship to Canada.

gdawg is correct. A 686-6 would be a round butt. S&W made the switch from square in 1996 according to the S&W catalog.
 
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Sleeper said:
Look at Hogue as i think you will find that they are the best bang for your buck
Click to expand...

+1. They will also do custom combinations of finger grooves, no grooves, checkered, not checkered, etc. If you call your order in the shipping charges are greatly reduced over the website calculator, too.


Mark
 
Keep an eye on the EE and also check the S&W Forum. I have factory round butt, smooth, finger groove Combat's on my 686 and 629, works prefect for me. The 686 came with them, I got the N frame ones for the 629 from a guy in Norway, through the S&W Forum.

B
 
So to summarize - a 686 would take K or L frame grips but you need to make sure you have the correct round vs. square grip.

Retailers I have heard so far are Brownells, SFRC, Ebay...and a recommendation for Hogue and Ahrends. Thanks all!

Canucklehead...we will talk Sunday, not sure what yours look like (you know I am a picky SOB).
 
Shoot it first.
Recall my -3 is wood grip
Sure my -6 is rubber grip

Rubber grip is a lot less shock/recoil firing factory load.


Bought changed my 629-3 wood grip to rubber grip. 44Mag is esp unpleasant with wood grip (but looks great).
 
I have another .357 Taurus pistol as well with rubber and I find it is very manageable with .38; .357 is definitively more shocking but quite manageable with the rubber grips as long as I do not shoot tons of it.

I love the look of wood - might just have to suck it up when shooting the mags. (or I can be a sissy and put the rubber grips back on)
 
On S&Ws with exposed backstraps, Hogue rubber grips are less comfortable for long sessions or with magnum loads, than the wood grips, because the rubber deforms around the backstrap, spreading the full impact over a smaller surface area. I find the woods more comfortable. If you really want a recoil absorbing rubber grip, Pachmayr is the only way to go - i just find them a little on the fugly side.
 
What are people's thoughts on the G10 grips? I like the look better than wood, but guessing they still aren't as comfortable as the rubbers.

Hogue G10 Extremes look awesome but waaay expensive. VZ grips are less visually appealing but almost 1/2 the price of comparable Hogues.
 
Random follow-up question since I now have my 686 in hand. It has the L round butt grip frame. Do "square" frame wood grips also fit the round butt frame or must one get grips made for the round butt? I think I know the answer to that (you have to get the round butt frame grips) but I figured I would check.
 
Your 686 is a K frame round butt.

You can get round butt grips or round butt conversion grips. Ie makes round butt look like square. Grips made only for square butt won't work.
 
canucklehead said:
Your 686 is a K frame round butt.

You can get round butt grips or round butt conversion grips. Ie makes round butt look like square. Grips made only for square butt won't work.
Click to expand...

Good to know - the "square butt" grips I was looking at are out then. I also understand 686's to be built on the L frame though - although the K and L frame share the same grip size making them compatible. Someone may correct me!
 
If you really want the best, think Nill. They will cost (the ones in the photo ran between $250 and $300 landed in Canada) but are fantastic. I ordered them directly from Nill, paid my money and waited about 10 weeks if I recall.

This 586 is a Square Butt, but they make them for both Square and Round butt. They also do checkering or Rhomlas as they call it. These are considered the plain wood and are in Walnut.

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