Bradshaw

[bigbore5]

Those grips always feel tight going on but look to be correct size for the gun.

[bigbore5]

I personally like the Hogue grips with only the top finger groove.

[bradshaw]

Skeen.... don’t recall seeing DWA checkered grips for the M44 (.44 Mag----large frame) and M40 (.357 Maximum----large, stretch frame). The grips you show may be for the DWA M15 .357 Mag.

Pachmayr’s rubber/neoprene grip for the M44/M40 frame is unusually l-o-n-g. When I tried it, it put my M44 .44 Mag Vent Heavy 8-inch over the IHMSA 4-pound limit for Production guns, thus I never tried the Pachmayr in a match. I did use the Pachmayr on my DWA .445 Super Mag.

Didn’t matter; unique among wood grips on double action .44 magnums, the Pachayr Combat (my favorite) and Target wood grips are perfectly pleasant over strings of M-29 fire with full house .44 Mag. My Dan Wesson M44 VH8----according to DWA the first M44 out of the factory, it was shipped to me in Austin, Texas----came with two grips: 1) Combat, light walnut beautifully rounded & contoured, and 2) Target, also light walnut. Later on, DWA sent me a more graphically contoured Combat, a denser, better looking piece of walnut, but right at 4 lbs on the VH8.

Most production big frames were shipped with walnut Target stocks. Which is the way the M40 .357 Maximum arrived. And that’s they way I shot it, preferring the M40 with walnut Target grip, while preferring the M44 with walnut Combat grip.

For shooting the S&W M-29 with mangle-ems, I want the small Pachmayr Presentation or the Pachmayr Gripper. While the large Pachmayr Presentation is too large for my preference, for me it’s better than any wood handle on the M-29.

The last thing I want between me and a .44 Mag is ram’s horn, a material better suited to a baseball bat. The base of my thumb took enough punishment earlier in life before switching Pachmayrs for the hard stuff.

Ruger’s great Redhawk has the toughest DA gut on the planet. Had Bill Ruger not been beset by progressive rheumatoid arthritis debilitating his hands and therefore hardly shooting at all, he might have gone straight to Warren Center’s grip spike idea for his Redhawk. As it was, he basically traced the S&W N-frame, while raising the thumb-hump 1/2-inch. While I find recoil from the 7-1/2” barrel manageable enough with factory scales, recoil from the 5-1/2” barrel with factory stocks is downright rude. I’ve handled, but can’t imagine shooting, Ronnie Wells’ Redhawk 5-1/2" with factory Redhawk grip----which Redhawk Ronnie rechambered and had rebored to .454 Casull.) Ronnie has hands and a grip that allow him to hold his smile while shaking hands with Mean Joe Green and George Foreman.
David Bradshaw

[oddshooter]

Hey skeen,

If you are still looking for the barrel wrench, or just like Dan Wesson accessories, try:

www.ewkarms.com/zen8/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=67
Prices on the original wrench are huge. EWK is more than reasonable and my even work better than the original.

EWK is also one of our members and posts on here occasionally as well.


Prescut

[oddshooter]

Once again, thank you David for sharing the history of the sixguns we love so much.

The Dan Wesson saga may be my favorite because I'm such a fan of DW and the Maximum.

I particularly appreciated the story of Bill Ruger, his arthritis, and how that effected the choices for the Redhawk. This is so personal that I don't think the information has ever been written down or captured elsewhere.  A bonus was reading the story of our own Ronnie Wells and his hands.

Your personal review of the different grips just became one more printout for my 3-ring binder. Great info in one spot.


Prescut

[Lee Martin]

I'm pretty sure your "L" grips are for the small frame DW (like the Model 15). As David noted, I don't recall ever seeing checkered on the large frame guns.

LB Custom Grips used to make really high-end grips for Dan Wessons. Unfortunately, they're no longer in business. Years ago, I had them make a matched set for my SuperMags and Maximum. As you can see, they turned out well.

.357 Maximum:



.375 SuperMag:



.414 SuperMag:



.445 SuperMag:



Keep an eye out on eBay and Gunbroker.com. I've seen large frame LB grips show up there on occasion (as do factory wood grips). And don't be too quick to give up on the Pachmayrs. Yes, they're soft and don't look as good as wood. But with heavy loads, they make a huge difference. My shooter .445 SuperMag wears them.



-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"

[skeen]

I got some Hogue grips off Ebay that fit, not nearly as good lookin' as Lee Martin's, but they'll do for now. 😊

[jwp475]

The M40 is at least as strong as the Ruger Maximum if not stronger I assume