S&W 317 .22LR 9-Shooter soon to have a new home - with new grips

What's better than a 6-shooter .22LR revolver? How about a 9-shooter .22LR Revolver?

 I've been lusting after a S&W 617 Stainless .22LR 10-shot revolver, but haven't had the cash to get one yet, when lo and behold, someone trades in a S&W 317 9-shot .22LR revolver at the gun shop where I work.

My only caveat for the S&W 617 is the black-on-black sights, which my aging eyes don't see so well. But the S&W 317 has a green-fiber-optic HiViz front sight, just like my S&W 22A-1, my favorite .22 pistol.

So into the layaway safe goes the 317. It's also much lighter than the all-stainless-steel 617 with an alloy barrel with stainless-steel liner, alloy cylinder and alloy frame.

The only thing I don't like about it is the black-rubber grips. Not only ugly, but a bit small for my large hands.

But that little problem is easily solved as it is a standard round-butt K-frame S&W.

I've had my eye on some Jerry Miculek competition wood grips and this would be the perfect fit for them.

IMHO, there is nothing better for an ugly set of rubber grips than a really nice set of wood grips to replace them.

And if they're designed by the world's greatest S&W revolver shooter, the one and only Jerry Miculek, well, how could it get any better than that?

Now all I gotta do is scrimp and save my pennies and pay off the balance of the S&W 317 and I will have yet another fine firearm suitable for work or play.

I use all my .22 pistols for both, practice with cheaper ammo, and also for students in my N.C. Concealed-Carry Handgun classes to use.

North Carolina law does not specify what caliber or type of handgun a student must use for the firing qualification part of the course and many of my students elect to use my .22 pistols rather than their own serious-caliber guns, which not only cost more for ammo but are harder to shoot than a .22.

And while I'm on the topic of nice wood grips, I also ordered a nice set today for my S&W 29-3 .44 Magnum.

I didn't care for the checkered target grips that came with my square-butt 29, when shooting .44 Magnums they are not comfortable. At all. Ouch!

I got a set of Pachmayr Decelerator grips that solves that problem, but alas, they are ugly.

So I've been looking for some nice wood grips with finger-grooves, like the factory ones on my S&W 65-3, and guess where I found them?

The S&W website, of course. Duh. Why didn't I think of that earlier?

Sometimes I ain't the brightest bulb in the patch, but every now and then a blind hog finds an acorn.