Smith & Wesson single shot grips

willmckee · #1 10-04-2015, 06:41 PM

bought a pair of S&W black hard rubber grips at a flea market. as near as I can determine from the Standard Catalog of S&W and pictures on the web, they're for the tip up 1st/2nd model single shots. They're also shaped just like the grips on the Bekaert model but all the pictures I found of those have wood grips. i'm going to post them on ebay but can't find anything in searchable history or currently listed like them and need to know a) how do I list these so people can find them and b) what price should I start them at? they're in good shape, some wear and dings, one chip to the toe of the left grip, and do not have the screws.

thanks
roger

Club Gun Fan · #2 10-04-2015, 07:42 PM

Roger
Why not list them here for the members?

mmaher94087 · #3 10-04-2015, 08:18 PM

Pictures too, please.

glowe · #4 10-04-2015, 09:35 PM

Welcome to the Forum. If you are going to sell them on eBay, it really does not matter much if you start them at $0.01 since they will sell for what they are worth in the end. Both hard rubber and walnut target stocks were for several double action models, top-break single shots, and I frame hand ejectors.

There were at least 3 generations of walnut stocks, while the black hard rubber target stocks stayed the same throughout their production. They would simply be called S&W hard rubber target stocks. They could fit most medium frame 38 top-break revolvers, single shot is pistols and I think some early I frame HEs. Are there any numbers on the inside of the right stock?

willmckee · #5 10-05-2015, 12:06 AM

i'm not a gambler, don't start auctions at a penny. I start stuff somewhere close to what it's worth. if it sells it sells, if not, i'm not a business so I can live with it. no numbers in the right grips I could see or that showed up in pictures (which show a lot more than the eye can see). some funny bump on the left grip that is not only on the outside but the inside as well. haven't figured out how to post images. appears i can't load them straight from my computer but have to go to some image hosting site.

Goblin · #6 10-05-2015, 01:53 AM

No, you can click "go advanced" and click the paper clip icon to attach photos, browsing from your hard drive.

glowe · #7 10-05-2015, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willmckee

i'm not a gambler, don't start auctions at a penny. I start stuff somewhere close to what it's worth. if it sells it sells, if not, i'm not a business so I can live with it . . .

Remember - YOU PICKED THEM UP AT A FLEA MARKET!!! This is the very reason I hate buying from ebay sellers, since most think they have a priceless treasure. There are hundreds and probably thousands of collectors looking for a sets of stocks for S&Ws and they will pay what they are worth.

If there are no numbers, I would guess they may not be from a Single Shot pistol, since they left the factory with a set of targets and they should have been marked. More likely they were bought from the factory to fit a gun someone already owned. Make sure they will fit 38 DA or SS pistol frames before you list them.

BTW - there are reproduction stocks out there that have been made within the last decade, so make sure that yours are original? Even reproduction stocks often look used, since the manufacturers make their molds from submitted sets of original stocks. Best test is to heat a pin and melt a little of the inside of the stock. If the smell is sulfur/rubber you will be OK, but if it is a plastic smell, they are replacements.

deadin · #8 10-05-2015, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Remember - YOU PICKED THEM UP AT A FLEA MARKET!!! This is the very reason I hate buying from ebay sellers, since most think they have a priceless treasure.

C'mon Gary. Just because he got a bargain doesn't mean he has to take a chance that everyone is paying attention during his auction....

Besides if his starting price or reserve is too high they won't sell. He can always lower his price, but it's really hard to raise it after a sale.....

Club Gun Fan · #9 10-05-2015, 10:35 AM

Gary
I think we have been taken! This guy is good. He is fishing. He sells on ebay and he's not in the business? Really, I think he was trying to sell a bridge back a few weeks. If he was half way decent, he'd sell them here. Guys like him, their best friend is their wallet. He stated if it sells it sells. there is always a repost.

H Richard · #10 10-05-2015, 10:46 AM

As long as he remembers CONDITION is everything. If they are scratched up chipped, etc. they may be worth a few dollars. If they are pristine worth more. Everything somewhere in between. Without pictures no one would buy them or price them.

glowe · #11 10-05-2015, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadin

C'mon Gary. Just because he got a bargain doesn't mean he has to take a chance that everyone is paying attention during his auction....

I understand your point, but when was the last time you bought a set of factory S&W stocks on ebay way below their value?? I might have got a deal around 2000 but it was so long ago that I just don't remember for sure. Selling anything is always a risk, but I get tired of reserve and starting prices WAY too high, just look at how many items on ebay do not get a bid because of high reserves and opening bid prices?

Plus, I have never seen a set of early factory target stocks go cheap on ebay and I am watching all the time.

deadin · #12 10-05-2015, 12:10 PM

Quote:

I get tired of reserve and starting prices WAY too high,

Maybe way too high from a buyers point of view, but not the sellers.
Example:: I'm thinking about selling some cameras. I've checked current selling prices, (actual "sold" prices) and have decided that if I can sell in the upper range, I'll do it. There's no pressure that I have to sell, so if not, I'll just hang onto them. Asking/Reserve price is the sole choice of the seller, not a potential buyer. The thing I really get tired of are the sellers that don't get the message and just keep re-listing at the same price. (GB is the biggest culprit in this case.) All the eternal unrealistic listings do is clutter up the search engine....
There should be a charge for a re-list unless the price is lowered by some percentage. (Get real or Get lost!)

Thus endeth my Rant for the day.....

glowe · #13 10-05-2015, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadin

Maybe way too high from a buyers point of view, but not the sellers . . .

Dean, if something doesn't sell, it is probably priced above its value. Buyers represent the market and set demand which is directly related to value, so the buyers should be left to determine what something is worth and not the seller. Those high reserves and constant re-postings only clutter up the websites and waste the buyers time. I watch boxes, stocks, and paper memorabilia and find the same thing, a seller re-posting an item multiple times without touching the minimum bid, which is the also the definition of insanity.

Here is the tough question posted by the OP, what minimum price should be posted for a set of hard rubber target stocks that have a chip, some wear, maybe reproductions, a funny bump on one stock, and that the seller does not know what they fit??

deadin · #14 10-05-2015, 04:51 PM

Quote:

what minimum price should be posted for a set of hard rubber target stocks that have a chip, some wear, maybe reproductions, a funny bump on one stock, and that the seller does not know what they fit??

Put that way, I see three choices for the OP. One would be to post some good pictures and see what the experts here think. Another would be to do as you suggested and post it out there starting a penny and see what the buying public thinks. The last is to do as he has suggested and start high and just keep it if it doesn't sell.

As for letting the buyers determine the value, that only works some of the time. The "value" will fluctuate with how many buyers are looking for that item at the time. I don't know just how many people are looking for hard rubber target grips and are willing to pay top price at any given moment. Obviously there are some, like you, that keep an eye on these more esoteric items hoping to pick them up reasonably for later use or maybe making a little by reselling them at a later date.

willmckee · #15 10-05-2015, 10:25 PM

smith_wesson_black_rubber_rb_HE_target_grips (2).jpg

smith_wesson_black_rubber_rb_HE_target_grips (3).jpg

smith_wesson_black_rubber_rb_HE_target_grips (4).jpg

smith_wesson_black_rubber_rb_HE_target_grips (5).jpg

smith_wesson_black_rubber_rb_HE_target_grips (6).jpg

willmckee · #16 10-05-2015, 10:27 PM

smith_wesson_black_rubber_rb_HE_target_grips (7).JPG

smith_wesson_black_rubber_rb_HE_target_grips (1).JPG

willmckee · #17 10-05-2015, 10:29 PM

came out kinda small, but I maxed out the allowable file size in the first batch.

thanks for pointing out the paperclip. didn't have my glasses on, missed it before.

roger

deadin · #18 10-05-2015, 11:09 PM

I hate being the bearer of bad news, but those are not S&W grips. I believe they are some sort of Spanish target grips. I will need to look up the logo as there are several different Spanish companies that used similar logos.

Added: Found it! I was wrong about it being Spanish. Looks like the Monogram that Meriden Firearms Co. Of Meriden Conn. used on their revolvers.
Meriden was a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck & Co. and made firearms from around 1905 to 1918.

Here's a sample of one of their pieces.......

glowe · #19 10-06-2015, 08:55 AM

Dean - I guess our conversation was just an academic exercise. I was waiting to see how the sale turned out.

A identification key to almost all early S&W stocks is that they had a diamond in the center of the checkered stocks on both wood and hard rubber. Also, the logo was simply a stylized "S" & "W", with no other letters in the top round.

willmckee · #20 10-06-2015, 06:10 PM

deadin, you're correct in that they're meriden. I looked at them with my glasses on. i'd already noticed the missing diamond and suspected as much. and thanks to those who offered something useful.

some of you, particularly club gun fan, sure are quick to rake somebody over the coals whom you know nothing at all about. as far as being "decent" by selling on this forum, i'm not under any obgligation to you to sell them here or at all. all I did was ask 2 simple questions because I needed info and no, I don't think my stuff is "pricesless treasures" and that's why I wanted to know what they were worth when I thought they were something else. ok, i'm a moron for not looking closer before posting. I bought a sack full of stuff from this guy, some of which I needed, and picked thru his stuff and found this matching pair. they were essentially free but what I pay is irrelevant to what they're worth.

further, as far as selling on forums, my experience has been the buyer either goes bragging about how he virtually stole something or it shows up on ebay for a lot more than I sold it for/was told it was worth.

and as far as starting all auction at a penny, let's see you try that and have something sell for far less than you know it's worth just because of random luck and how long that opinion lasts.

if THIS is what this forum is like when all somebody does is ask a question, I won't trouble you again.

some - or at least one in particular - of you need to get over yourselves.

GEEZ!

Club Gun Fan · #21 10-06-2015, 06:57 PM

Wow!
Take a chill pill, buddy! You might what to learn how to use Capital letters.

glowe · #22 10-06-2015, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willmckee

. . . and as far as starting all auction at a penny, let's see you try that and have something sell for far less than you know it's worth just because of random luck and how long that opinion lasts.

Give me some ebay examples of what you are talking about and you will change my mind, but I doubt you will find any. There are way too many people who want stuff out there!

deadin · #23 10-07-2015, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Give me some ebay examples of what you are talking about and you will change my mind, but I doubt you will find any.

Not ebay, but will GB do???

$100 (including the gun, which was non-functional)

mrcvs · #24 10-07-2015, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willmckee

deadin, you're correct in that they're meriden. I looked at them with my glasses on. i'd already noticed the missing diamond and suspected as much. and thanks to those who offered something useful.

some of you, particularly club gun fan, sure are quick to rake somebody over the coals whom you know nothing at all about. as far as being "decent" by selling on this forum, i'm not under any obgligation to you to sell them here or at all. all I did was ask 2 simple questions because I needed info and no, I don't think my stuff is "pricesless treasures" and that's why I wanted to know what they were worth when I thought they were something else. ok, i'm a moron for not looking closer before posting. I bought a sack full of stuff from this guy, some of which I needed, and picked thru his stuff and found this matching pair. they were essentially free but what I pay is irrelevant to what they're worth.

further, as far as selling on forums, my experience has been the buyer either goes bragging about how he virtually stole something or it shows up on ebay for a lot more than I sold it for/was told it was worth.

and as far as starting all auction at a penny, let's see you try that and have something sell for far less than you know it's worth just because of random luck and how long that opinion lasts.

if THIS is what this forum is like when all somebody does is ask a question, I won't trouble you again.

some - or at least one in particular - of you need to get over yourselves.

GEEZ!

Nope...Club Gun Fan is one of the most knowledgeable Smith & Wesson experts out there, so it is ludicrous for you to berate him. By the way, you are not the first individual on this forum who has posted something for the first time, dead sure that it is a priceless treasure, only to find that it is a common item, worth very little, in poor condition, and yet, despite the fact that some of the most knowledgeable individuals in the world with regards to Smith & Wesson firearms are on this forum, ultimately conclude that the experts are wrong and that their item is truly priceless, worth thousands of dollars...or more! It makes for a really good laugh, and then some!

So, these grips were essentially free. What are you going to do with them? They even probably make a very poor paperweight, so I cannot even think of another use for them...other then if you have the firearm they belong to, which, in itself is not particularly desirable. Might as well sell them. Since you got them for free, if you post on Ebay for .01 and it sells for that, provided you charge for shipping, you are probably ahead of the game. The market will determine ultimately what they are worth at that time. There is no risk in doing this, especially, as you state, they were essentially free. I recently posted a grille for a Model A Ford on Ebay and started it at .01. It sold for $104.50. That's what someone ultimately determined it was worth at that time. I didn't need it, so what good would it do me?

Everyone wants to find that one in a million item they paid nothing for and is worth millions. Few do. That's why, in half an hour I shall get in my car and go to work, as dreadful as that thought sounds!

bigl1911 · #25 11-30-2015, 12:09 PM

Hold on everyone.. Manners here please..

This man asked simple and reasonable questions that are not out of line. All he wanted to know was how much should he start at auction (clearly he didn't want a penny start), What should they list for at a reasonable start and they are going on Ebay. The Op hasn't said anything that requires a negative response comment, doesn't matter how he got the item and he is not obligated to sell on the forum as a thank you. If you act like this gentleman how do you expect to grow the SWCA membership and support Smith enthusiasts? This thread reads as if forum members ran him off..

glowe · #26 11-30-2015, 01:26 PM

I guess you do not think post #20 qualifies, but several of us do, so let's leave it at that. The OP asked for opinions and we supplied them - it was as simple as that.

ol777gunnerz · #27 11-30-2015, 03:31 PM

Just got back online after power outage, there is, or was a set of the wood "Beakert" type target grips on Feebay for $125.00, they do not look to be in that great of shape. It should also be noted the back hard rubber grips are smaller than the wood, with shorter screws.

bigl1911 · #28 11-30-2015, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glowe

I guess you do not think post #20 qualifies, but several of us do, so let's leave it at that. The OP asked for opinions and we supplied them - it was as simple as that.

I see a man defending himself without a need to do so… I don't blame him for feeling beat to the ground and no he didn't ask for anyone's opinion Glow beyond his original questions… The tambour of the responses ran this guy off and if he never returns I wouldn't blame him. FTR I am not singling out anyone starting with CG fan.. CG is a decent guy but sometimes we write faster than we should and at times posts can be insensitive. I am guilty of it like others. Light slight and polite is the way a professional group of collectors should respond IMO. I am proud to be a member of this group and it disappoints me when we run a guy off who is simply asking for help…

glowe · #29 11-30-2015, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ol777gunnerz

Just got back online after power outage, there is, or was a set of the wood "Beakert" type target grips on Feebay for $125.00, they do not look to be in that great of shape. It should also be noted the back hard rubber grips are smaller than the wood, with shorter screws.

Yes and no. I frame target stocks show a great variety of size and design. Walnut target stocks are the same as hard rubber from about the middle section to the top. Most wood stocks flare out at the bottom, while hard rubber does not. I assembled a few sets to demonstrate the differences and similarities in these target stocks.

First is a set from the teens next to a set of original hard rubber stocks. The third and fourth sets are from the twenties and show a great deal of variation in checkering and flare at the bottom. The 2 sets in the middle almost are a match for size.

Top Roma · #30 12-02-2015, 02:22 PM

Very very ooooooold gun! But beautiful!