Special ordered Walnut grips for my 2012 production Ithaca 1911.

Here's the 'walnut' grips.

I'm not an expert on wood, but can anyone chime in on whether this is Walnut?

Thanks.

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Hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like walnut to me. There are different shades and varieties of walnut. Do you suspect the grips are not what they were represented to be?

I would agree that it does look like walnut. However, sometimes the back of the grip, which is usually unfinished and unaltered, can show a better image of the grain.

That is dark walnut, it has been filled to get that finish. I have a set of grips that are light walnut, there is a huge difference, and then there is black walnut.

thanks for the responses. I was expecting a light wood look. I have walnut S&W stocks, and they are light walnut. This one looks almost black to me.

oh well. they are nice though

Looks like engineered wood-impregnated laminate

I have bought prolly 8 pair of grips from them - they're pricey but I think they are fully on the up-and-up. I can't imagine them mis-representing the wood. You might have that happen from some place on fleaBay - but even Jaruwan (not sure of spelling) grips from there are very nice ...

That appears to be black walnut. Walnut is usually darker in color, although often times even black walnut has a few blonde sections large enough to make grips from. Once you apply a finish, they even get darker...and a bit darker more with some age.

I think they're perfect.

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Dum vivo cano

Here's the grips on the Ithaca

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They look marvelous...

Honestly they look good.

Those look fantastic, I would love them myself.

Yeah, Altamont's super walnut. I have a couple sets and they all look different.

I have some walnut blanks for shotgun stocks, they look like that, but with better grain. I would not have a problem with those at all.

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Fight socialism. Never stop.

They have the appearance of walnut laminate. A photo of the insides might help with an ID. However, most important are that you like them and they help you control the pistol.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Look at how perfectly straight the "grain" is. Those light lines are the edges of thin layers of wood glued together. You can clearly see the rectangular shape of some of the layers. Altamont's "rosewood" is done the same way. The tree species name is the name of the stain.

ask Altamount whether they're solid wood, laminated wood or synthetic. They're straight; they'll answer honestly.

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Loving retirement!

I have a set on my 21-4, actually they came with the gun. S&W uses Altmont as a source for wood grips. I called when I ordered service grips from S&W and was informed as such. I have a delay because my grips have to come from Altmont. The grips on my 21 do not appear in any way to be laminate, and they are very high quality.

Altamont is one of the big plasticized laminate (basically modern plywood) manufacturers. If not explicity stated as real hardwood, terms such as "walnut", "rosewood", etc. refer to the color of the grips, not the wood type they're made from.

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SWHF #448

I've owned multiple sets of Alatamont grips and all were made of engineered wood, AKA resin impregnated plywood. Super Walnut is walnut plywood, super rosewood is rosewood plywood. The grips are impeccably cut, fitted and finished but they are not cut from a naturally grown blank of wood.

Also, to the OP- those grips look just fine on your 1911!

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Seems like db is right on......
Here's a quote from the Altamont website:

"The materials available will depend on the gun you are outfitting. Most will be available in our super woods - Super Rosewood, Super Walnut, or Silverblack. These three are dyed birch laminates. We have experimented with many premium and synthetic materials and found these to be both durable and beautiful. We also offer bonded ivory, imitation stag, aged ivory, white pearl, pink pearl, and in some cases rubber, plastic, and premium woods."