Not into hunting, but that does not prevent me from appreciating ivory.

Anyone else kicking themselves for not getting pachydermal grips for their favorite S&W when they still could.

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Not a bit, if I were ever to want exotic grips it would be black lip pearl.
I have knives with black lip pearl handles but honestly have never seen any gun grips.

Nope, not me!

Attached Images

	Smith & Wesson pre 27 with ivory grips 001.jpg (107.4 KB, 71 views)
	Smith & Wesson pre 27 with ivory grips 002.jpg (111.2 KB, 65 views)

I have a hard time accepting killing an elephant just to take the ivory husks. I ain't no tree hugger but I don't accept killing for ivory either. Talk about having a death grip on your gun there it is.
I know to each their own. Have it your way while I have mine.

Put me down as a 'No'.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Another no. No interest in it. And overall what gman51 said

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I am fine on a ban for selling any ivory not at least 50 years in the USA

But in NJ we cannot purchase Mastodon, Mammoth or other fossil ivory

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...I'm not kicking myself now. To me the time for this is past. If I wanted to I could deal in some old ivory for special pieces, but it's just not important to me.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I have .... lemme see.... custom elephant ivory grips on an M65; from another custom maker, a plain set on a second issue Colt Detective Special; I think way back factory, medallioned, but am not sure, on a Colt 357; an extra — carved nude lady, by the same artisan — set for the Colt DS; an older, yellowed, K-frame set with a carved Indian chief head on the right (palm side) panel, made in "West Germany," by who I haven't a clue; and, a no medallions K-frame magna by I don't recall, if I ever knew.

Had a custom medallioned set on a Wolf and Klar 3rd Model .44..., which I sold....., but not sure what happened to the grips... Hmmm. Maybe got 'em stashed somewhere.

Elephant ivory is beautiful. I am fortunate to have what I have.

I also support elephant conservation. They are magnificent animals.

A paradox, I realize, and lots of arguments on both sides to be made.

i agree with above

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Grips on a gun that sits in the safe 99.99999% of the time are so inconsequential to me I can't begin to explain how much. Grips on a gun I use often is slightly more important. Enough to spend a few bucks on the rubber grips.

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Not me...no interest in Ivory. I'm a Sambar Stag fan. Now the prices on that are getting higher.

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C & L

Not on antique ivory. I have some I bought from "Boone" trading years ago, there's absolutely nothing like them, gorgeous, so no. I've seen ivory still for sale at various grip makers sites. The ban on antique ivory is moronic and useless as well as stupid. Why not use antique ivory that was imported here before the ban (it can be easily identified)? It's not going to keep any more elephants alive by doing this. All it accomplished was raising the price. I have a pair on my daily carry gun and they're actually very resilient.

Nope.

About a year before the ban was proposed, I got some for my two Colt SAA, a Ruger OM Flat top from Boone and a set from Craig Spegel for a Commander. Sold the Commander with the grips (which I understand is still legal, if they are a "set"). I'll never sell the SAA.

Nope,Maple is just as or is nicer.

If it could be harvested from elephants that pass naturally, then all would be well, but unfortunately that's an unenforceable pipe dream.

I do believe it is beautiful and there is nothing that compares under the right combo of gun and grip.

Poachers killing off rhinos and elephants need to be hunted to extinction themselves.

I like stag stocks much better than ivory

Has something new come out lately?

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

...they make some nice looking faux ivory stuff...I'd settle for that...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

I'm all for "Poacher skull grips".

nope ... Fairly steep investment with a closed door against any future return since the market is paranoid about it

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it just needs more voltage

Most ivory in this country is pre-ban......
Acquired during the 60's when folks of means went on safari.
A lot of ivory that was used in these last decades came from estate sales.


We'll just keep the ivory piano keys on the wife's antique baby grand.


As well as the antique billiard balls on the table.


Ivory has been used for a variety of objects for centuries....


Firearm adornment have been but a small percentage of those uses.






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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

YES I have ivory tusks from elephants I hunted and some carved ivory that I purchased in Africa in the early 80's I wish I had bought more ivory art while it was legally importable.
This ivory came from elephant culls to control the over population. Elephants are not endangered everywhere in Africa the people who tell you that, are the same ones who blame guns for murdering people not the criminals.

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Len

I have several sets of Ivory. I prefer it over everything else.

If I were to look real hard, I bet i could find a few sets around here. No elephants have been killed in this posting. I don't even like the intrusion of politics into this thread. That's what outlawing existing grips amounts to. Someone pushing their liberal agenda of bringing dead elephants back to life if I just give up my old grips.

Well, elephant ivory grips are really nice. They just feel nice in your hand. And as they age they look even better. If I look real hard, I might even find some unfinished ones. I'll just keep them, thank you.

And Dave Keith is still a scoundrel for picking off the Marilyn Monroe grips 10 or so years ago. Oh wait, its a work of art and should be destroyed.

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Dick Burg

Another no. No interest in it. And definitely what gman51 said !

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DAV Life Member

Dick,


I don't rightly know who the gal was that model'd for that work of art.....


But, I sure would like to shake her daddy's hand!!!








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Lookin for a pic now.....Found it!!!







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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

I have a set on my SAA and another on my 1911 daily carry gun. Oh yeah, and a spare set for 1911 just in case. They have a feel unlike any other substance.

I never wanted ivory grips until I realized that I can't get them.

Folks do realize that there are other sources of Ivory than just Elephants ,and as anyone who has ever been a hunter knows that what Leonard said above is true with regard to culling.

Saw an image recently on this thing called the internet that showed a massive pile of Ivory in flames set by a government somewhere.

I am sure that made a lot of folks feel good.

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LEX ET ORDO

Culling in the 80s does not translate to the same numbers as today. A 3 year survey of 18 countries found that 15 had huge losses in elephant numbers. About 144,000 Elephants lost to poaching in less than 10 years.

Tanzania and Mozambique, combined lost 73,000 in under 5 years.

Zambia recorded 20,839. 11% decline. 48 elephants in Sioma Ngwezi National Park, down from 900 in 2004

Angola 22% drop since 2004

Namibia declined to participate

South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and parts of a few other countries found to have stable numbers.

Botswana has the highest population with 130,000 followed by 83,000 in Zimbabwe.
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Hunting/culling isn't the problem. Demand for ivory creates poaching. Those numbers still count. It's still killed/dead animals. Hunting/culling takes out the old ones who can no longer breed. Poaching kills all elephants, including the young and the babies. It wipes out future generations. While some poachers still rely on firearms to kill most have resorted to poison. It's much more effective. Poison their food and wait. In no time at all, and with very little effort the whole heard is dead.
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This isn't a blame on hunters or the US. Demand for ivory is huge in Asia. But again, dead is still dead. Just because poachers make a living selling to Asia markets doesn't mean those numbers don't count. And just because some countries are not effected doesn't mean there is no danger. Can't find any more elephants in one country? Move to the next! There is no wall that prevents poachers from moving on to where the animals are plenty.

This happened with a great American animal not long ago. Luckily because they are confined to the US we were able to bring them back from the verge of extinction.

Yes, once it's done it's done. May as well use the ivory. Agreed! No sense in having it a complete waste. But who trusts the African governments to accurately reflect what is old?

Personally...... whether it sounds like tree hugging or not I don't care. I don't understand the desire to kill something just to make so trinkets out of their bones.




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Are you volunteering to make sure all of the world's ivory comes from what you deem suitable sources?


The problem with ivory is one of money - as in: you have it, and the poachers don't. They will do whatever it takes, including poison, fire, unethical hunts, and other atrocities to make the money travel from your pocket to theirs.


Ivory can be chemically aged to obfuscate origin. If you have a legal market, the black market will thrive.


There is ZERO need to kill an elephant for adornment, any more than there's a need to kill your dog for your jacket's fur trim.

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No! I love elephants.

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"The Dude abides"

Put me in the most definite NO category. No interest whatsoever. Now some nice stag? That's another story...

When they still could? What are you talking about? You can still get ivory grips.

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I've still got it made.

CITIES permits from the country of origin and import are the controls, and when I take an elephant I know exactly what country I am in.

Devaluing and not allowing hunting of a species, in a country where it is not endangered does not protect it in another country where it is being poached, its a ridiculous theory. When an animal has no economic value in Africa it becomes more endangered leopards were and cheetah are poisoned by ranchers who see them a valueless predator eating their stock.

Elephants are controlled by farmers to protect their crops.

Anyone who thinks that an elephant only provides ivory has no idea of what really happens after a legal kill, the meat, and skin are used just like a cow, there is little left on the ground for the vultures to pick at.

The biggest problem for game in Africa is no different than anywhere else its the loss of habitat from the exploding human population.

What always amazes me is how someone can differentiate one animal from another, you like meat its OK to kill a cow, but you don't hunt so no one else should kill a deer, or any other wild animal. Dogs are eaten by some cultures, as are horses. This is a frustrating mind set like I don't like guns so no one else should have one.

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Len

Well said, Leonard.

The cheetah has been relegated to being a pest species; it will not endure.

Game management by NatGeo and Madison Avenue guarantee extinctions.

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I've still got it made.

Last I checked poachers don't bother with skin and meat. No different then me killing deer for their antlers and leaving the rest. Sure some may hunt legitimately but me and my closest 50 friends just want to sell the antlers. I think they would look lovely hanging on my rear view mirrors.


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No ivory for me unless it's the dish washing one

To me a set of highly figured wood grips is the most beautiful thing I can place on my guns.

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

Ivory has a warmth and charm all it's own.....the way it feels to
the touch of the piano keys, the sound of the strike of the pool
balls, to a hand carved pair of stocks/grips.




I'm convinced by this thread, it's not for everyone or every taste.


So, love it or hate it,


It matters not to the One that gave us dominion
over the beasts of the field or the fowl of the air.....




That is all.




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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

You can bait a trap with her or the grips and catch me every time. Larry

Well Larry,


It was luv at first sight for me too.......


Now my son as laid claim to that ivory stock'd
and engraved with a little gold inlay'd Colt 44 Spl,
It's jest doing my part, to give that Rodeo Hand a lit'l class, lol.


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And Yes Bushmaster, I'm glad I got it when the getting was good!!!






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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Put me in the yes camp.

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Sure you did

You seem to pretend that legally- and ethically-sourced animal products are the only ones in the trade.


Legalizing ONE leads to the trafficking of the OTHER.


Your CITES paperwork is easily forged, or simply ignored in many markets. A culture change where it's not OK to kill animals for fancy buttons or magic groin pills is what's needed.

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I prefer the real thing, but that's just me.

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What Larry and I were discussing is that, yes it is the real thing, ivory that is.


I believe all my ivory was harvested by W.D.M. Bell.....


That's my story, and I'm stickin to it!!!








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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Since this is a gun forum, this thread needs more pics.

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Smith & Wesson beat four aces

Needs more

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Sure you did

I agree, pictures make a thread.......




A Pair of one-piece ivory, that I carved back before the turn of the century,


From a old photograph of a prized registered short-horn bull
that my father was purty fond of.









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