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Hopes this helps.

First image is a low back frame, see the "hump" about half way down?
Second image is a high back frame, no "hump" and the cut out for the hammer is larger on this than the low back frame.
Third, low back with OEM grips, notice the rounded off at the top
Fourth, high back with OEM grips, notice the up sweep at the top

Ron,

With those photos, I can now see the difference and I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me further. The "hump" is very subtle but I do see it as well as the other frame shape differences. Most of these features are easier to see without the grips but the steep upsweep on the high back is easily identifiable either way. Thank you!

Chuck,
It took me some side by side photo's to figure it out also.
Now I see how much further the hammer sits above the frame.
It always catches my eye cruisin' tables at a show.....
Cost's me $$ every time!!
Cheers,
JAY

RoninPA,

thanks for the tutorial. As I'm not a pistol collector, it was very informative. I assume these changes were for ergonomic improvements??

Jay, thanks for pointing that out. I can also now see that hammer sitting higher above the low back frame.

zebra55, Glad to be of help. Yes I think it was ergonomics, a lot of folks didn't like how it felt in their hands and when it was fired.

The differences can best be seen with the grips off, however, normally the easiest for people to see is the shape of the grips. That said, when looking for grips, you don't always want to go with the 150-/151- prefix to buy grips as there are 150- high back frames and 151- low back frames (I have examples of both in my collection), so you need to know if it is a high or low back before buying.

With grips off you can easily see on the low back the hump and there is also the slope of the frame where the hammer goes through, which allows more of the hammer to show. The top of the frame on the high back is more vertical/horizontal than that of the low back.