I have been told that these ivory colored polymer grips are call “Tuskoid" or "Tuscoid", and that they are very valuable. Apparently they were made by Smith & Wesson in the 1930’s and shipped primarily (possibly only) on Registered Magnums. Can anyone tell me more or point me at a good source for information? I've never done a Google search with fewer hits. Is this the best forum for this question?

These grips were found attached to a Smith & Wesson DA 45 Model 1917 Commercial which I posted photos of late last week.

SMITH & WESSON DA 45 MODEL 1917 COMMERCIAL

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I have a pair that were shaved to fit a K-frame. I displayed them at an annual SWCA show. One of the members offered me 4 figures for them and I refused.

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Don Mundell

I like the sound of that.

There have been some previous threads here regarding Tuskoid grips. You might want to do a search. I remember the threads exist, but don't remember anything about the content.

Thanks DWalt. I did a lot of searching in the forum before posting. I didn't find a thread devoted to the subject, just a few post. I've recapped the information I found above.

Ah, I see some of the post I found were in threads where the type of grip was unknown.

In the late 1990s a vendor at the gun show had a set on an engraved 38-44 Outdoorsman with a set. As I recall, the total price for the gun and other stuff was pretty steep. I never seriously considered it, knowing my place in life. I can't even recall Dan's last name. The gun was carried around for a number of years, then vanished. Once you've seen a set, you won't forget them.

If you want to fake a set, find some nice ivory and have them checkered!

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Dick Burg

If you want to fake a set, find some nice ivory and have them checkered![/QUOTE]

That won't help. They are a form of plastic.

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Don Mundell

weaponscollector...I am not an expert on tuskoid stocks, but only four or five pairs have surfaced over the years (counting yours). I know one Registered Magnum that letters as having been shipped with tuskoid stocks, but it is the only one. I believe one pair of black tuskoid stocks are also known. I am sure the right collector(s) would pay big bucks for a nice pair of stocks like yours.

Bill

WeaponsCollector:
Protect those tuscoid stocks with your life!
You have no concept of what "insane price" means until you get two collectors bidding against each other!

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You're shy a few manners.

Those are very nice,but cretin though I may be,off to auction is where they would be headed if they were mine.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Weaponscollector, Have you tested these grips to see what they are made from? Factory letter requests are on hold until the backlog is reduced, however that should be soon as Don Mundell is helping Roy Jinks with that task. The only way to be sure the grips are original to the gun would be a factory letter. If these grips are a composite "plastic" material, as Tuscoid is, the hot needle test would eliminate natural materials, like Ivory or bone. Ed.

Those ARE Tuskoid grips.
With a K, as in TUSK.
They are very valuable.

I would advise against the needle test.
A visual inspection will easily confirm what they are.
This is the RARE situation where we want them to be plastic, NOT ivory!
A needle hole, even on the back, will NOT enhance the value!

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Weaponscollector - congrats, you have yourself a set of genuine Tuskoid grips. There are 5 or possibly 6 known sets including yours, 4/5 are white/cream and 1 pair is black/brown.

I believe I'm right in saying I own the only gun that (so far) letters with a pair from new. It is a Reg Mag that came out of Ray Cheely's collection.

I also have a "spare" pair I acquired in case I ever found another gun that lettered with them but no longer had them fitted.

It's a long story but I bought a tatty old Reg Mag at Tulsa just to get the grips off it. They did not letter to the gun. I then sold the gun back to the dealer. The net cost to me was $2500, which happens to be the exact cost paid by 2 other collectors for the sets they own - not really a coincidence.

So, you've a set of Tuskoids worth around $2500.

Now let's sit back and watch the fun! :-)

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Dave Ballantyne

I do not know what plastic material was used to make Tuskoid grips, but from that time period, my guess would be that it is a thermoset phenolic such as Catalin or Bakelite. In which case, the "hot needle test" wouldn't tell you anything anyway. Phenolics do not melt.

Thanks Doc44 (AKA Bill), Jack Flash, fat tom, opoefc, handjector (Lee Jarrett), and merlinder (Dave Ballantyne).

There is no doubt that these grips are made from a thick heavy polymer (AKA Plastic). I won't be sticking any hot needles in them.

Is there a book where I can read more about Tuskoid grips?

To my knowledge, there is nothing written about Tuskoid stocks because other than the few pairs that have shown up, nothing is really known about them. They were most likely a factory "experiment" that was not pursued. The stocks could have been samples that were supplied to S&W, but again, no one really knows. They are unique, and that is why they are so valuable to collectors.

Bill

Thanks Bill. That is helpful.

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Dana K. Williams

I imagine that somewhere in the S&W archives there may be more information about Tuskoid, but it probably isn't available.

Below is a photo (of a photo) of the only Registered Magnum to be shipped with Tuskoid stocks. It was shipped in August 1937. Click on the photo for a better look. The only difference between the stocks on the Magnum and yours are the S&W monograms.

Bill

Once upon a time I owned that gun. It did not have the Tuskoid stocks on it when I owned it so I took a pair of ivory micarta stocks and had a local craftsman checker them and install pre-war medallions that I salvaged from a pair of broken stocks. After I sold the gun to Ray, he eventually found a pair of Tuskoid stocks on a terrible, chrome plated N frame in an auction. He wound up paying big money to get the gun just to get the stocks. The revolver has a Marble's ivory bead front sight, a rare 8 1/4" barrel and was shipped to Mexico.

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

Forgot the picture:

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

Thanks for the photos Bill & Kevin. Very interesting.

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Dana K. Williams

Wow! You learn something new on this Forum all the time.

weaponscollector
As Ed said, I'm helping writing factory letters.
If I were you I'd wait to see if your gun letters with those stocks.

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Don Mundell

Just a new guy here so I realize my 2 cents don't hold much water, but.......
Has a factory letter been discussed? I know with the current situation that would take some time. Is it possible this gun shipped with these stocks? I'd hate to see the OP sell the stocks if they belong on that gun. After they get seperated, that "marriage" for lack of better words is shot to heck.
Again, a new guy.
Bob

Hi Club Gun Fan, and Bob too.

As I said in the original post, the Tuskoid grips were found attached to Smith & Wesson DA 45 Model 1917 Commercial which I posted photos of late last week.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-han...ommercial.html

In the box there was also a set of checkered wooden grips. I thought it was more likely the wooden grips came with the revolver so I put them back on to photograph it. I haven't checked the wooden grips closely for a serial number yet. And I don't see any writing on the Tuskoid ones.

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Dana K. Williams

Can you help me expedite a factory letter Club Gun Fan?

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Dana K. Williams

Go check the wooden grips on the 1917 for the number.
Top half of right grip in pencil.
If you find that number, it definitely dates the gun to the 1920s. They appear to be the original grips fitted to the frame.

Since the Tuskoid grips don't appear till the late 1930s, you will then know they were added to the gun later.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

My apologies. I have read these threads, over the last couple days and forgot. See.... New guy!
Best of luck!
Bob

Careful, you could get lynched, or at least tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail for that!

These guys would trade children to expedite letters on their guns.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I hope I didn't break the rules again already. Seems like my signature was too long and possibly to "political" to pass muster. I'll try to behave, and maybe ask questions like that privately.

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Dana K. Williams

weaponscollector,

See, I told you in your first post that as nice as the M1917 was it, it was a minor player in your acquisition.

Bob

I wish I could. Why not mail me the grips and I'll hold them until the letter gets written. You can trust me, I'm not like the others.
Seriously, unless you need the money, put them away and forget you have them. We are up to September right now. Take any offers that have come in and hold on to them. If you decide to keep them, you have a piece of Smith & Wesson history that most S&W collectors haven't seen or sniffed. In closing BABY STEPS!

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Don Mundell

You were right Bob.

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Dana K. Williams

Thanks for the offer Club Gun Fan, but I think I'll hang on to them for now. I am not in that big of a hurry to do anything, and I have many more interesting items to post here in the forum while I wait for the M1917 factory letter.

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Dana K. Williams

Lee,

According to personal communication with a fella named Jinks, the correct spelling is TUSKOID.

In the Vol.24, #3&4, Pg. 5 of the S&WCA Journal a .38/44 Outdoorsman is pictured with white grips and Roy confirmed to me that gun was wearing the Tuskoid grips.

In his updated article on the Registered Magnums in the S&WCA Journal, Vol. 44, Number 2, Roy has more to say about the Tuskoids. Apparently they were an experiment initiated by Doug Wesson. In a letter dated January 27, 1938 Wesson says:
"In response to your letter, we would say that the white composition stocks that you saw on Phil Sharpe's Magnum were experimental ones; we have been working on that plastic material quite a while and with very good indications of eventually being able to put them on the market, but up to the present time we have not been able to get the plastic material in exactly the condition it must be to permit of successful machining."

Bob

Wow Bob, Thanks! That is fascinating, and the references are really appreciated too.

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Dana K. Williams

These aren't the greatest pictures in the world, but, you get the idea.

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	tuskoid inside.jpg (9.1 KB, 155 views)

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Don Mundell

Those do look familiar Club Gun Fan.

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Dana K. Williams

Don't we love to get excited over the strangest things - and I include myself in that comment.

You've been given sage advice here Weaponscollector - don't you dare sell the grips until you get a factory letter on the gun. If it letters with the grips then you've a very valuable package.
If it doesn't, you've lost nothing but a few weeks, the value hasn't altered.

Thank you for sharing them with us.

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Dave Ballantyne

I deeply appreciate the knowledgeable comments and sage advice.

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Dana K. Williams

Unfortunate that there is no indication given as to the type of plastic used. Also, it appears that the intent may have been to machine a block of plastic into a stock panel rather than molding it, just as wooden stocks were made. That suggests a hard plastic such as a thermoset phenolic (in wide use during the 1930s), rather than a moldable thermoplastic such as polystyrene, ABS, polyethylene, etc. which were in the infancy of their technical development at that time.

WeaponsCollector, do you realize what you have done by starting this thread?

All these years, I have been looking through "junk boxes" at gun shows and gun shops, hoping to find something of value that has been long forgotten with the dirt cheap price of yesteryear on it.

I would have brushed aside any white plastic stocks, thinking they were some worthless aftermarket junk. Now I have to go back and rummage through all those boxes all over again! Think of the hours and hours I'll need to spend revisiting each and every one of those gun shops!

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You're shy a few manners.

It's funny that you posted this as it was exactly what I was thinking.
I'm almost positive I ran across white plastic grips in a junk box or two over the years.
I really hope the large pre war medallions would have caught my eye, but I fear they might not have. Now I'll be second guessing myself for a while, trying to remember where exactly I saw them.

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Rick
SWCA #2727 , SWHF #435

That's how I found these. I always go to the junk box in the back of my local gun shop.

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Don Mundell

Some people make their living on what others consider "junk".

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Dana K. Williams

And here's a photo taken this morning of Reg Mag #2517, complete with the Tuskoid grips, ivory marble front bead and 8 1/4" barrel. This is it enjoying it's well-earned retirement in sunny Florida!

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Dave Ballantyne

I remember how excited Ray was when he got that gun. I wasn't sure that a "piece of plastic" was worth that much. But, I will have to say (and guys you can quote me to your wives) that it (and the rest of his collection) was truly an investment!!
Sheryl

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SWHF

The factory letter is back and the M1917 appears to have shipped with the checkered walnut non-medallion grips found in the box. On closer inspection I was able to make the penciled serial number on those grips more visible using The Gimp. See Photos.

At the risk of incurring the moderators swift wrath, I'd like to post something when I auction the Tuskoid grips. Is there a proper way to do that?

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Dana K. Williams