Help needed with a grip gripe. Astra 680 snub.

[Pond, James Pond]

My EDC is my Astra 680 2" .38Spl snub.

It came with small grips and, having a spare set already, I replaced them with larger wooden grips with a squared base and a small, low profile lip over the web of the thumb.

Despite this larger grip, affording me greater contact surface, the little gun still jumps in my hands, meaning follow-up shots need readjustment in the hand.

Not ideal if I ever needed it for serious situations.

So my question/request is, could you please post pictures or links to the style of grip I should be looking for.

Recommending a purchase is unlikely to help as a) few make grips for the Astra and b) of those that do, I bet none ship outside the States.

But... show me what it should look like, and I might be able to fashion my own!

Thanks!

[Bill DeShivs]

Finding new grips for an out of production Astra will be difficult, at best. They will probably have to be custom made.
You might try a Tyler "T Grip" adapter, or lower-powered ammunition.

[T. O'Heir]

"...Finding new grips..." Probably especially at the top of the Baltic stack.
"...little gun still jumps in my hands..." Little guns will do that. However, it sounds like the grips you put on don't fit you. Astra's are supposedly S&W clones. Dunno what Smith frame it'd be. That's been discussed here many times though. Your 2013 question is Number 2 on Google.
Using a lighter load will help for sure.

[Pond, James Pond]

Hmmm...

Getting grips made is not beyond the realms of possibility, as long as I have some idea what I'm trying to emulate. Hence the hope of finding a picture of the sort of shape that will counter recoil more.

Lower powered ammo?

Well, being an EDC, there's no way I'm using handloads. Factory loads only, meaning either FMJ, JSP or WC's. The latter are light, but I'd say too much so.

If I recall, I think my Astra is K-frame sized.

Still hoping for recommendations on grip shape!

[Cheapshooter]

Despite this larger grip, affording me greater contact surface, the little gun still jumps in my hands, meaning follow-up shots need readjustment in the hand.

Do you mean the gun actually moves around in your hand?
Or the recoil causes the gun to move gun, and hand?
The former may be helped with a wrap of grip tape.
However, a better grip will only increase the latter.

[2damnold4this]

You might look at Altamont grips for inspiration. I shoot an 11 oz (312 gram) S&W 342 with "BATELEUR®" grips. I sometimes do have to adjust my grip after firing but your Astra with a similar grip should be much easier to control with a mass of 650 grams.

[Pond, James Pond]

Do you mean the gun actually moves arond in your hand?

It's more this.

The recoil is snappy, being a light gun and a 158gn bullet, so the gun shifts within my grip. So after a shot, I have to readjust so that the web of my hand is higher up on the grip to where you would normally find a beaver-tail on a semi.

If I think about it, the gun seems to want to jump up and forward out of my grip, even if recoil want to send it up and back...

A grip that fills my palm more, might afford me more stability.

I need a slo-mo camera!

You might look at Altamont grips for inspiration.

I did, thanks!

Regardless of their effectiveness, they are niiiiiice to look at!

[Pond, James Pond]

To put in context, these were the original grips:


And these are the grips I put on after (I had them lying around). They are better but are still not entirely stable:


By contrast, my Redhawk has Butler Creek grips and they are fantastic: not a fraction of movement even on heavy loads...

[2damnold4this]

One thing that has helped me with shooting a J frame is a grip that puts my trigger finger in the correct position on the trigger.

[jar]

Go back to the original grips, they appear to actually fit the frame.

[Pond, James Pond]

The originals are small and the larger ones, themselves had come from another 680.

The point of finger position seems it could be addressed by the Altamont grips!

Such a shame no one ships beyond the US!

[Wheelie_Fan]

I'm in agreement with Bill DeShivs on the suggestion to add the T-Grips. I think you'll be very satisfied.

I have a S&W Centennial with Altamont grips, similar to the smaller grips in your photos. I added Tyler T-Grips and it looks and feels fantastic in the hand. Much more control. if i can find a photo, i'll add it here.

[Bill DeShivs]

http://www.t-grips.com/

[Pond, James Pond]

I've been trying T-grips.
Same problem: what model has cross compatibility with my 680? They only refer to the Cadix. Same as mine? No idea. And so far no joy reaching them for input.

The grips I'm considering are on sale in Germany: ie no import duties and lower transport costs. Even the chance of a returns policy exists. That doesn't the moment I order from the States. At least not without a pile of headaches.

[mk70ss]

I have put T Grip adaptors on many different revolvers that they were not specifically sized for and as long as you can tighten down your grip panels with the adaptor on where you want it, they work fine and stay put.

[stinkeypete]

As with any project it all boils down to:

Understanding the Undertaking
Time
Money
Resources

The Undertaking: Custom grips for an Astra .38

The Understanding: Smallish gun, smallish grips, hard to hold on to but easy to conceal because you state this is for Every Day Carry. Larger grips help. T-grips are harder to get in Germany and Astras are not all that common.

My input:

Functional custom grips are easy to make with hand tools.
Beautiful custom grips are not easy and are the real of specialized craftsmen.

Take those Redhawk grips that you like and trace them on to paper. Measure the thickness. Pick a less expensive wood, order some thin slabs of it on Ebay, and laminate up some blanks. Start filing and sanding! The lamination lines will aid in keeping symmetry.

It's going to take a lot of TIME
It's not very much MONEY
You'll need some wood rasps and sandpaper, a sturdy work table and maybe some clamps. Even a bad vise is deluxe.

Another option is to find some beat up Redhawk grips on Ebay then use clever tricks to get them to fit acceptably. Tricks like using glue, bits of wood, Bondo, etc. The same could be said about T-grips, but you might need J-B Weld (I think that's called JayBeeWeldenstickenontodermetalstuffins in German) and some files.

Advantage: making your own grip can take weeks of time sanding and filling to get the grips perfect for your hand. If you like working with wood and doing things yourself it can be very rewardling.

Disadvantages: It won't be super pretty first try and you might find that you've made your EDC gun too large to carry. It will take time. There is going to be dust.

I started out 25 years ago with my bullseye air pistol and .22 - both Russian anatomical fit grips with a shelf on the bottom. I wear a medium sized glove and the grips were too big. Being Russian target guns (vs. Swiss) they cost 1/4 the cost of the Swiss guns, shot just as well, but had functional basswood looking grips instead of amazingly beautiful walnut hand checkered works of art.

The advantage of the basswood- hey... just start sanding them down a little at a time. It made a world of difference.

So I thought "Hey! I can fix my Contender grip! That thing never quite fit my hand right and these .357 Maximums are beating up my paw!" Instead of sanding on the nice grip I had, I got a cheap beat-up grip on Ebay and modified that. Having overdone the sanding at one point, I used a little Bondo to fill in a low spot. I ain't too proud, it didn't look that bad, and it really helped with getting that recoil in to my hand without any hot spots or pinches.

Some bubba put really horrible target grips on a Ruger Single Six and managed to install the spring for the base pin latch button on the wrong side of the pin.. so I picked that revolver up cheap. I laminated some micarta and started sanding. I really liked the results which fit the frame perfectly and fit my hand well, too. And they started looking pretty.

Isn't it strange that you can't get black micarta grips for a Bearcat? I wanted some, so I made them. It took me two or three weeks. If I paid myself per hour... I'd be broke... but I enjoy the time working with my hands.

That's one of the things a real craftsman can do that I can't- do the job beautifully and quick and efficient.

Long story, sorry.

In my opinion, part of the problem might be that it's a small revolver with small grips which makes it easy to hide but hard to hold on to- and if you make it big it will be easy to hold on to but hard to hide.

The solution I took was to get a Ruger LCRx 3" with those big ugly foamy-rubber grips. They look horrible to my eye but they feel perfect in my hand. I like the revolver a lot but this is not a case where I would make lovely custom grips for it- that rubbery stuff works great for me when it comes to hanging on to it.

[Pond, James Pond]

Thanks, 'pete!

That is a long post and quite inspiring.

Making my own is something I might consider.
I'm not saying I won't, just that I know how much time I have:
Only today did I find time to go to the range for rifle practice. Can't remember when I last went.
2 weeks ago I reloading for the first time in 9 months!

I'm ashamed!!

[Jim Watson]

Another possibility would be to take grips comfortable to the hand and somewhat close to the grip frame and modifying them to fit. Cut out and fill in (with glass bedding or epoxy) as required. Less work than making grips from scratch.

In my youthful enthusiasm, I let a local store employee "gunsmith" modify my Highway Patrolman to round butt as was then popular. The Pachmayr rubber grips just somewhat served. A woodworker friend cut a set of target grips down to contour and finished them with auto body clear coat as he usually did with his pool cues.

[Bill DeShivs]

Just measure the width of your grip frame and let the T Grip people know.
Neither of your pairs of grips fill the FRONT of the grip frame. This is what the T grip does and it makes quite a bit of difference in the way the gun handles-without adding length to the gun.

[Pond, James Pond]

Just measure the width of your grip frame and let the T Grip people know.

I'm in the process of trying.

Sadly, they give no email address, they're apparently in and out of business and the distributors have yet to answer my email.

[seeker_two]

A quick and cheap (yet also ugly) method would be to use grip tape to add thickness to the front of the grip. Add a strip at a time until you reach the desired thickness, then wrap a layer of grip tape around the entire grip to secure it. It won't be pretty, but it will work.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Tinker Pearce]

Try a BK Grip Adapter. Not expensive, solid, reliable business and because they are cast plastic very easy to fit to an atypical gun. Get the one for a K-frame to give you more room to remove material to get it just right.

[Pond, James Pond]

Here’s a couple of photos of my frame. Thickness and then profile.

In inches! Don’t say I don’t do anything for you!

[Bill DeShivs]

I measured my Taurus 905, and it's quite a bit smaller than your grip. I don't have a round butt S&W "K" frame here- but we have already been told that those grips wont work.
The thickness is about the same as a "K" frame- so "K" grip adapters should work.

[Dessal]

@Pond did You found suitable grips for Astra 680? I need proper information, I've tried pachmayr k frame and it didn't fit, frame of this revolver rattles, I've tried pachmayr j frame round butt, and it is almost acurate, but I can't squeez it enough to close grip, something don't allows to do that; Do someone has any ideas? Dess