Post by paulg on Jan 7, 2017 16:10:47 GMT -5
Picked this up in a trade with a fine fellow over on the Ruger forum that I've done business with before. Most of us know what these guns are. A git-r-done built like a tank every working mans revolver. Mine is a .38 special with a 3.06" barrel. I'd had my eyes peeled for a belly gun in .38 special for a while. There were plenty of J frames out there but I wanted a 3" barrel not the micro barrels and not a model 60 in .357. I'd only end up shooting .38's out of it anyway so a .38 is what I had my eyes peeled for. So this one showed up on the Ruger classifieds offered by a member that just happens to live in the same neck of central Florida that I do. A deal was struck and the little Ruger came home with me. It has a bobbed hammer done well and a slick action that's as good as any Smith that I've felt. BUT it came with Badger Boot Grips. That's where this story starts. I've only seen Badger's in pictures. I've never used them. They always looked weird to me and now having had them they feel as weird as they look to me. Everybody's different. To me they have a weird grip angle. They cause me to have to break my wrist in a slight downward angle to get a precise sight picture (if there is such a thing with a belly gun). Kinda like I have to do with my Glocks. Strike number one. Second the shiny almost 3D finish is achieved with polyester. While pretty it makes those grips so slick I felt like if I were to be in a hurry getting the little Ruger into action it would go flying across the room! I HATE polyester finishes! Strike number two. Finally the grips are so thick (they feel good in my hand though) that any chamber that ends up in a direct line with the grip panel only allows about half of the shell to eject until you rotate the cylinder to free up the stuck case. Strike number three. This would not do. Not to mention that if one wanted to use HKS speedloaders and the like it would be impossible because you couldn't get the loader past the grip. This doesn't matter to me as I use speed strips. So I set out to correct these problems. Now for pictures.
First I tried stripping the poly finish with paint and varnish remover. No go. It didn't hardly make a dent in that crap. So it was sandpaper.
Before and after:
After getting them back to raw "wood" I thought I'd try rubber leak sealer to make them grippable.
It was ugly but seemed to work. SEEMED to work. It wasn't long until it started peeling off. So it was back to raw we went. I figured as long as I had to finish them again I'd take care of the extraction issue. The following picture is the same as the first except I circled the problem areas causing the extraction problem. Of course only one grip panel caused an issue but I wanted both sides to look similar.
The following pictures are where they ended up. I gave them three coats of Hoppes Clear Gun Stock finish. I have a set of Pachmayr Compact Grips on the way to replace these. These Badger grips list at $80-85! I wouldn't give you a dime for these things but as we all know every person is different in their needs and wants.
Here you can see how much material I took off to fix the damn extraction problem.
Here are the Pachmayr's I ordered to replace these God awful Badger's.
I'll be ordering this XS Big Dot to replace the tiny black blade that my aging eyes can't see very well.
I can't do anything about the grip angle. It is what it is. That's what they make normal grips for.
Finally Mr. B is gonna fix me up with one of his Summer Classic IWB rigs for the little Ruger. That is another story. I'll tell that tale when that rig arrives. In the meantime I'll order Simply Rugged's Silver Dollar to tote around.
So if you've come this far in this thread then you are waaayyyy to bored and should really get a hobby. Thanks for the time!
Paul
P.S Have I told y'all how much I HATE photobucket?!?!?!
First I tried stripping the poly finish with paint and varnish remover. No go. It didn't hardly make a dent in that crap. So it was sandpaper.
Before and after:
After getting them back to raw "wood" I thought I'd try rubber leak sealer to make them grippable.
It was ugly but seemed to work. SEEMED to work. It wasn't long until it started peeling off. So it was back to raw we went. I figured as long as I had to finish them again I'd take care of the extraction issue. The following picture is the same as the first except I circled the problem areas causing the extraction problem. Of course only one grip panel caused an issue but I wanted both sides to look similar.
The following pictures are where they ended up. I gave them three coats of Hoppes Clear Gun Stock finish. I have a set of Pachmayr Compact Grips on the way to replace these. These Badger grips list at $80-85! I wouldn't give you a dime for these things but as we all know every person is different in their needs and wants.
Here you can see how much material I took off to fix the damn extraction problem.
Here are the Pachmayr's I ordered to replace these God awful Badger's.
I'll be ordering this XS Big Dot to replace the tiny black blade that my aging eyes can't see very well.
I can't do anything about the grip angle. It is what it is. That's what they make normal grips for.
Finally Mr. B is gonna fix me up with one of his Summer Classic IWB rigs for the little Ruger. That is another story. I'll tell that tale when that rig arrives. In the meantime I'll order Simply Rugged's Silver Dollar to tote around.
So if you've come this far in this thread then you are waaayyyy to bored and should really get a hobby. Thanks for the time!
Paul
P.S Have I told y'all how much I HATE photobucket?!?!?!
