What Are These Grips Made Of? All Opinions, Please. New Pic!

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Wyatt Burp

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I posted this before but I'm curious about what these grips are made of. I have lots of sambar stag grips including one pair that had been thinned enough to reveal tones close to these. Someone on another forum said they remind him of sheephorn. The tones and color brings to mind mastadon ivory (I wish). The two tiny bark marks on the right panel make me lean towards sambar stag. I got them on e-Bay for $102 shipped. What do you folks think they are made of?
Thanks White Coyote for the clear closeup.

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Sheep Horn....

I'm thinking sheep horn also......Look in "Sixguns" by Taffin for some comparison.
 

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If the grips are as porous as they look in the pics they are bone. I've long ago forgotten the biological name for those pores but they are easy to see under even slight magnification. Antler or tusk is dense and smooth. Bone will pick up coloring from minerals permeating it when it has been buried, even for a relatively short period of time.

Were they mine, I wouldn't care what they are 'cause they sure are purdy.

Bob
 
Better pics would help.
Bottom ends and backs might help.

I do not think bone.
Antlers, like stag and elk, have center material I have always heard called "pulp" that is very porous.
With what I see now, I tend to think some kind of antler polished smooth.
 
bk43 said:
If the grips are as porous as they look in the pics they are bone. I've long ago forgotten the biological name for those pores but they are easy to see under even slight magnification. Antler or tusk is dense and smooth. Bone will pick up coloring from minerals permeating it when it has been buried, even for a relatively short period of time.

Were they mine, I wouldn't care what they are 'cause they sure are purdy.

Bob
Click to expand...
I hate porous stag, or bone, grips because they are weak and crumbly. Believe me, there are no pores here. The bottom on both panels are smooth and solid. They don't look porous to me in the picture because they aren't.
 
The Randal and Morseth sheath knives I bought in the early 80's had India stag antler handles. India stag does not have the porous center typical of North American antlers but was taken off the market to protect the species. The polished areas of the samples I had were duller and less transparent but antlers may vary. I do not know what you have, I just throw thow that in the conversation as a possibility.

Best regards,
Gil
 
I recently saw an old 1917 that had grips that same color and very dense. I was told they were made from big horn sheep.
 
dacoontz said:
I recently saw an old 1917 that had grips that same color and very dense. I was told they were made from big horn sheep.
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These are extremely dense and smooth and have coloration like "marble" tile on my bathroom counter and floor. I really can't stop looking at them they are so exotic.
 
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Do they flex when off the grip frame? I have some Dahl sheephorn grips that flex, but the color is different.

The other material I was speculating yours might be is fossilized mammoth tusk. I don't have any grips of that material but believe I have read that it picks up coloration from minerals in the soil.

Nice, whatever they are!
 
Wyatt Burp said:
I hate porous stag, or bone, grips because they are weak and crumbly.
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Sorry, my post was confusing. I was refering to the very small pourous structure of bone surface which is quite hard, about 5 on the Mohs scale like tusk and enamel. I was not refering to the soft center, or pith, which is weak and crumbly.

Bob
 
bk43 said:
Sorry, my post was confusing. I was refering to the very small pourous structure of bone surface which is quite hard, about 5 on the Mohs scale like tusk and enamel. I was not refering to the soft center, or pith, which is weak and crumbly.

Bob
Click to expand...
I never heard of a hardness scale for bone or antler. That's interesting. White Coyote brought up buffalo horn which hadn't crossed my mind. Since that's more common maybe that's what these are. Sheep has to be expensive and they would need a big chunk to make these.
 
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