I decided I wanted to carry something new instead of my Beretta 92FS. It is nothing against the Beretta. In fact, it has never failed on me and carries a lot of ammunition. All things to consider when picking a carry gun.
However, I've always been more of a wheel gun kind of guy. I wanted a revolver. But J frames don't usually do it for me as they have 5 rounds and a frame that leaves my pinky dangling in the air. My first revolver was a Smith and Wesson 686 with a 6" barrel. I figured something like that ought to do quite nicely for carry. Except I wanted a shorter barrel.
I went to the local gun store and picked out a Smith and Wesson 686 with a 4" barrel. It is a pre lock model but has the firing pin moved into the frame and the rounded butt which I am not too fond of.
I am also not crazy about the cheap rubber grips. I checked around online for some nice conversion grips from round butt to square butt in a hardwood. Hogue grips came up time and time again, but they are rather expensive at more than 100$ for a set of wood grips and nobody seems to stock them!
Then I stumbled across www.handgungrips.com. I looked around and it seemed they had exactly what I wanted for around half the price. I bought 2 sets of conversion grips and a set of grips for my Ruger Mark III Target. The grips arrived about a week and a half later and fit onto the gun perfectly! Both the Silver Black and Rosewood grips are absolutely beautiful and feel much better than the Hogue rubber grips.
I think I prefer them to the Hogue monogrip I bought for my Smith and Wesson 617 as well. They are more true to an original square butt set of grips than the Hogue mono grips. Both function well, but for the same money, I bought 2 sets of grips versus the Hogue grips.
Since purchasing the gun, it has been my primary carry. I've got 38 +p in it for now, but I think I am going to upgrade to .357 magnum with Barnes XPB bullets (such as the Corbon Thunder Ranch or DPX series).
