Altamont Grips..... Fit?

A couple of weeks back, I commented about the poor fit of the hard black grips that came on a friend's new Blackhawk 45lc. I tried to convince him to contact Ruger about it, but he said that he's not going to bother with them and that it should not have been shipped the way they are. Yeah, I know, but he ain't having it.
This is the 1st. Ruger product he has bought, and he did so on my advice. Anyhow, he wants to try an aftermarket pair of wood grips. He has been looking at some of the offerings on Altamont's site. Any comments from users of Altamont's wood grips, especially the fit, would be appreciated. Thank you....

ODS

I picked up a pair of their laminate "walnut" panels for my 44 special new model flattop. They fit about as good as can be expected for a mass produced part. Just a little proud at the bottom of the back strap but you have to look really close to notice it. I also purchased a set of Altamont grips for a new 629 round butt Smith and they fit it quite well too.

It is my opinion that the poor grip fitment on new Ruger single actions has much more to do with the variances involved with the processes of casting and finishing the grip frame than it does with the panels themselves.

I bought a set for my dad's Blackhawk a couple months ago. Like 41-44...said, the fit isn't pristine, the bottom of the grip frame extended 1/32" to 1/16" below the bottom of both Altamont panels (I got the checkered super Walnut with the fleur-de-lis pattern) but that was the only gripe. I found the overall quality of the grip panels to be very, very good. I would absolutely buy from them again.

Off the shelf grips will always be a crapshoot. You might get lucky, you might not, you might fall somewhere in between. They are made to fit every Blackhawk, Single Six and Vaquero made since 1962. The only way to guarantee proper fit is to have a gripmaker fit them to the frame and unfortunately, that costs a lot more than off the shelf grips.

YOU gotta understand something here : IT IS THE SA sixguns halfvast dimentions that are outta whack by sometimes 1/8" or more on the cast gripnframe NOT THE STOCKS THAT HAVE BEEN HELD TO + OR - .002" since Moses was a corporal. QUIT bitching at the stock companies !!!
And so it goes...

I've bought two sets for Blackhawks, extremely pleased.

Thank you, one and all for your thoughts and sharing your experiences with the subject. It is appreciated.................

ODS

WIL TERRY said:

YOU gotta understand something here : IT IS THE SA sixguns halfvast dimentions that are outta whack by sometimes 1/8" or more on the cast gripnframe NOT THE STOCKS THAT HAVE BEEN HELD TO + OR - .002" since Moses was a corporal. QUIT bitching at the stock companies !!!
And so it goes...

Click to expand...

BINGO!

WIL TERRY said:

YOU gotta understand something here : IT IS THE SA sixguns halfvast dimentions that are outta whack by sometimes 1/8" or more on the cast gripnframe NOT THE STOCKS THAT HAVE BEEN HELD TO + OR - .002" since Moses was a corporal. QUIT bitching at the stock companies !!!
And so it goes...

Click to expand...

You got that right pard!!! :wink:

WIL TERRY said:

YOU gotta understand something here : IT IS THE SA sixguns halfvast dimentions that are outta whack by sometimes 1/8" or more on the cast gripnframe NOT THE STOCKS THAT HAVE BEEN HELD TO + OR - .002" since Moses was a corporal. QUIT bitching at the stock companies !!!
And so it goes...

Click to expand...

Well, I don't have a PHD in the lost wax investment cast process, but I have a fairly good idea of how it works.

What you said above would certainly make sense as to why there is a problem. If the grip frames are not all to the same dimension, then no mass produced grips are gonna fit them all properly. Thanks for your input, I do appreciate it.

ODS

I also recently bought a set of Altamonts super walnut grips for my year-old Blackhawk. For off the shelf they fit pretty good to my Blackhawk's frame. A small amount of sanding in 1 or 2 spots on the inside improves the fit even more. They make a reasonably priced, quality product, IMO. I'm planning to get a set for my S&W 22A