New to this club
 

I have been a semi-auto fan for most of my days but decided to broaden my experiences, so I just ordered a Smith & Wesson 642. It'll be here by Friday, and I got a really good price on it ($350 brand new). I'll post pics when it comes in.

And I'm already thinking about changing the grips, so any recommendations would be appreciated. FWIW, the gun comes with the standard Hogue grip.

Welcome to the club just keep in mind J-Frames can become highly addictive. I started out with a 637 and now have a 36 also. As far as the grips go the Hogue's are pretty good but ugly. I personally love the look of wood so I went with some original Magna's from Smith and Wesson. They handle really good and are pretty comfortable. Pachmayr grips are also nice choice they are bigger then the houges and 10x's as ugly but WOW there amazing. They absorb felt recoil extremely well so might look into them. I hope you post some pics once you pick it up.

Thanks for the advice, and I will certainly post pics of my new snubbie along with the rest of "the family".

I don't own a J-frame (yet), but have seen the VZ grips for j-frames....
and they look sweet and work well, according to reviews I have read (on this forum...I think?)

Keep us posted..this subforum needs more love!

Snubs have always been my favorite. I've tried several Semi-Autos but, always go back to the Snubs. My favorites for carry are the SP101 and LCR357. I like them best for the 357 Caliber. It is easy to carry them as a pair and they are easy for me to shoot 357 ammo. I have a couple of 38SPL. J-Frames and the 7 shot 357 Taurus that get rotated in at times. They are addicting and I have to control myself when going to Shops and Shows.

I love my j-frame

638 Airweight is my daily carry. Love it!

Love my 442-2! I use the stock grips on mine.

I like the magna /Tyler T-grip combo.

I originally purchased a Gen3 G19 for self defense but it was soon assigned to house defense. I NEVER carried it. I even bought a crossbreed supertuck IWB thinking that would help but again, it didn't. Solution? I bought a Ruger LCR - it is with me every second of the day, easily with me. My only complaint is I purchased Crimson Trace grips and wished now that I would have gone with the Hogue grip. I think I have just one more purchase to make and I will be set.

Welcome to the snubbie club.

Buy the Hogue from Ruger and sell the CT Grip.

Why? I am thinking of getting CT grips for my 442, so I am curious why you feel that way.

I have the stock grips that came with my 642 but whenever I try to use an HKS speedloader it gets jammed up. Is there a better grip option when using a speedloader?

I had the same problem with my 442. I found a Guy that had the older rubber Boot Grip that used to come on the Smith Snubs. I see some Guys have taken a round grinding wheel and ground a little hollow spot so Speed Loaders work. If you don't want to do that you could buy Speed Strips from Tuff Products that work well.