They seem quite old, very well made, and not Ropers. The checkering is wrong, screw goes in the wrong side, and there is no palm swell.

They are however extremely nice in the hand and do flare at the bottom. Also, the screw appears to be similar, if not the same, as the screw that came with my various ropers.

Anyone have any idea as to who made these?

Caleb,
This is all I have ever seen concerning G&H grips and it was posted here. The reproduction is too poor to really draw any conclusions other than G&H offered custom grips. My notes say the ad is from 1939(?).

A good friend and advanced G&H collector told he he had never seen any G&H marked grips although at one time or another he had nearly everything else marked G&H.

The grips you show are obviously custom made with lots of handwork. A clue to the manufacture might be in the diamond ratio (length to width) of the checkering. It is particularly steep as in probably 4 x 1 while more normal checkering might be 2 1/2 x 1 or 3 x 1.
The double border line around the pattern might be another clue. Of course one would have to find some grips positively identified for comparison.
They are very desirable grips regardless of manufacture.
Steven

Very nice Caleb. I was watching them and bid a little on them. Definitely not any of the known makers we are familiar with. I'd lean towards a one-off custom that some handy-man made up for shooting purposes; and scavenged the hardware and screw from his factory S&W stocks.

Regarding SDH's Griffin and Howe ad, the set of stocks on the right (which appear to be for a Colt) look strikingly similar to what we know as a Roper "fully checkered" design and the stocks on the left look very similar to Roper as well. Is it not possible that G&H contracted Roper to produce grips for them? I'd think so......

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Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

My Goodness they are gorgeous grips. To my old eyes, there appears to be some European influence, perhaps German? The pics are great, congrats on some beauties.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

I don't see how you can tell anything even approaching definitive from that ad; I can't. I'm a lot more careful about attributions especially when there is not a splinter of real walnut or a single real document as a guide.
They kinda look like Sanderson, Herrett, KB to me???? Is it not possible G&H contracted...

The photo is a tad blurry but the overall shape and pattern is visible enough for me to make that connection.

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Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Griffin & Howe Grips

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SWHF #448

Those are some pretty trick looking grips. The finish and attention to detail is amazing. They certainly look great on the revolver as well. Nice find!

Amazing, if you actually read the add it says"Imported". I would
Not be surprised to find out they are German or Austrian.

"Imported" likely refers to the walnut used to make the grips, not the grips themselves. In the old days, Euro-Asian walnut (English/Turkish/Circassian) was considered superior to American species and was selected for finer grade gunstocks and such.

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SWHF #448

Caleb,
We see the same thing time to time on the Colt forum. Just spectacular stocks made be some very talented person. We will prob never know who made them, but its nice to have a "one of a kind".

Here is my "one of a kind"

Here is some more reference material on the G&H as it seems to be hard to find.

Very nice! Even more evidence that they contracted Roper to craft them, and the hammers.

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Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Does anyone have the time frame for the posted GH ads or when they were selling?

Were they still selling grips post war at all?

Interesting.. Notice the Jig marks like you would expect to see on Ropers

Why don't you photograph them next to one of your many sets of Ropers and compare the jig marks for size and location?

I would if it were mine. This came from a Jack the dog auction and he was kind enough to provide me with the extra pics when I asked him.