I bought a set of round butt pearls listed as I frame grips off ebay a few weeks ago and when I got them they were about 1/4 inch too short and a bit too narrow for an I frame or J frame . I compared them on an old break top .38 I have and the fit would be the same. They appear to be for a Smith of some kind but fit nothing I have . Are the grips on the " Lady Smith " smaller than I frame and did one model of these come as a round butt ? I sent them back for a refund and am trying to help the seller find out what they really fit before he puts them up for sale again. Here are some pictures. Pictures make them look to be different sizes but they are the same . Don't have actual measurements since I have returned them but can get the seller to measure them if needed. Thanks for any help.

Eddie
"
P.S. The seller measures them as 2.34" length x 1.04" width at the butt .

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

The M-frame (Ladysmith) is smaller, and I suppose it is possible that those grips may be for an M-frame. But I don't know how one could tell for sure without actually trying them on an M-frame, And I doubt those are original S&W MOP grips. Might even be for some non-S&W revolver.

Don't drive yourself too nuts trying to fit them to S&Ws. Keep in mind that everyone and their brother made a copy of the fine old top breaks, and they usually looked close in a lot of ways, but not quite. To make matters worse dimensions in some of the fakes are even different from gun to gun (especially with the Spanish ones).

I suggested that he take them to a gun show with a lot of pre WWII Smith collectors in attendance. Maybe someone would have a RB Lady Smith he could compare them to . Years ago I had a friend in Franklin Tennessee (Charlie Haffner) who had one of each of the different Lady Smiths in a display cabinet in his gun shop. Seems like he had one with a round butt and they appeared to be somewhat smaller than an I frame grip. I'm just curious about them .

Eddie

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

I think what you had were grips for the pre war and pre 1953 I frame and J frame.

The post 1953 I and J frame grips are the same and both longer than pre 1953 I and J frames. What vintage I and J frame did you try them on?

If you tried them on a pre war I or pre 1953 I or J frame and they were still too short, than they were for the .32 Top Break DA, or someone had modified them to fit the 32 DA which are smaller all the way around than the 38 DA Top Break.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

My guess is they are for a .32 DA or a 1st or 2nd model Ladysmith and they are non-factory stocks. Ed.

Pre WWI is what I had to try in an I frame as well as the break top. The J that I own is late 50's . My I frame is a .32 shipped well before 1910.

Eddie

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

Iver Johnson Top Break grips

Harrington & Richardson, Hopkins & Allen, Forehand & Wadsworth?

They could be for any number of top break revolvers made before 1930.

If you set the flat base on a level surface and measure vertically to the top of the stocks, you can compare with the numbers below. From K frame down, there were four sizes of round butt pre-war hard rubber stocks. Of course the same sizes will apply to pearl and ivory stocks of the appropriate era.

32 DA & 22 Ladysmith = 2.3” high

32 Safety = 2.37” high

32 HE, 38 DA, 38 Safety, 38 Perfected, 38 SA = 2.5” high

K frame = 3” high

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Mr Southgate,
Do you still have the small s&w pearl grips and if so are they for sale?
Tim

Hi Tim,

He sold them to me when this thread was current. They were pre war I frame and 38 DA size. However, before Eddie got them, someone had tried to fit them to the 32 DA (which are slightly smaller with a smaller radius at the round top). I have a couple of 32 DAs and I finished fitting them to one.

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Jim
S&WCA #819