One from my research. Walter Rickell is a major source of information - but sadly he didn't put it all into one article. Tangentially, Red Nichols reported that Rickell did all the first color catalog photography for Bianchi.

Walter Rickell July – August, 1973 Gun Sport magazine, “The Combat Revolver Grip”

"The whole thing started around 1936 with Walter Stark, a Los Angeles police officer who was on the police pistol team. While firing his revolver standard NRA course one day, he found that most of these revolvers, which were converted to a short single-action, had unsatisfactory factory grips, so he started to experiment.

Unlike with the auto pistol, it is very difficult to achieve the same hand position each time with the revolver, so the first models were equipped with finger grooves to facilitate the positioning problem, but still left the natural position of the hand to be overcome.

Here Jo Blackford, a student of Stark’s, came up with the idea in 1953 to cut a section from the lower front portion of the revolver grip frame, which relieved the little finger and left the hand in natural position, eliminating any tension on the forearm.

From this grew the combat grips made today by Stark’s students, Jo Blackford, E. M. “Fuzzy” Farrant, John Hurst and Guy Hogue."
.

In another article, Rickell puts Stark, Blackford, Farrant and Hurst together at a 1954 match. He doesn't say that Farrant and Hurst were making grips then although that might be inferred.

Jeff Cooper and Max Hurlbut both put both Farrant and Hurst making stocks circa 1960.


Both Farrant's and Hogue's sons have reported that they checkered their dad's stocks. (Hogue's wife died in 1970.) Guessing puts that into the 1970's. James Mason's book and articles show Hogue grips evolving and the business expanding in the mid 1970's.

Guy and Patrick ran the shooting circuit in the 1980's. Joe Kent and I saw them at The Masters. Never asked how many were working back at the shop besides Aaron. Wish I'd asked Guy many more questions about the early days. Have since asked Patrick and Aaron, but they don't know.


Farrant joined LAPD in 1938, retired in 1964 and died in 2000.
Josiah Blackford retired in 1974 and died in 2004.
Hurst retired in 1978; died in 2007.
[Credit to DC Wilson for running down pension and other records.]

That's the short version......

Ah, the mystery Del Rey grips. Wish we knew.

A few months ago, some on FB were certain that Hurst made these. One said he'd seen Del Rey grips with others in a Hurst box at the LAPD store. But, things do get mixed up in non-original boxes.

OIF2 was a skeptic at one time but he may have changed his opinion. Bob?

First of all, thank you Craig for all the historical information. Those fellows go back further than I thought!

Here are the pictures of Davis's second revolver.









This last picture is a highly-magnified view of the butt of the grips. The white dots are showing up because of the magnification; they are not visible without the magnification.



Regards, Mike Priwer

These I think are early hogue

It's interesting to see anther Hurst with the inletting islands usually associated with Hogue.

Anyone want to guess who did these. The bottom does not look like Farrant or Hogue I think Hurst. K frame square butt for uncut frame.

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SWCA 1932 SWHF 135

My first impression is Hurst as well.

SG-688, thank very much for all the compiled info neatly laid out and, its far more than I expected. I was turned on to the design by some of Col. Cooper's writing and the few photos I could find. I will mention that the radiacal curve of many of these grips makes straight lines of checkering throughout the pattern nearly impossible. And the variations of each makers work could keep a collector busy for a long time.

Thanks again!

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kbgrips.com

I still don't think those are John's grips; they don't look "right" for Hurst stocks. I may be wrong, though. What's really frustrating is that if this thread was going 15 years ago, I could just drive over to John's house (he lived a couple of miles from me), sit in the garage and ask all these questions. Stuff that I didn't think about or didn't consider important back then would be really nice to know now.
Bob

OIF2, I would have loved the opportunity to meet Mr. Hurst and sit in that garage also. Just a glimpse of his workbench and tools might answer a few questions. One comment about the "Del-Ray" set of grips, since they are made for a modified exposed back strap gun I would expect them to look different than his other work, but maybe the real clues are inside rather than out, like the threaded brass insert for the blind side panel, is that typical. Just throwing it out because I see it but really don't know the answer.

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kbgrips.com

Toyman...Hurst no doubt

Roger that. Made fairly late, probably early 80's.
Bob

How early are these? Is the opinion that the inletting was done with a chisel or a router? Amazingly functional and beautiful, I have never seen a set so done.

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Front sight and squeeze

Truthfully...I don’t know....I believe they are for a K frame though. I really need to pass these along to a smith collector too..LOL I’ll never have a gun for it.

If you've not followed the Del Rey saga, the first set showed up here in 2013 with half a dozen others following here and on FB, looking for all the world like early Hurst or Hogue. Open backstrap, palm swells, finger grooves, bottom swell. Left side profile at the cylinder like Hogue. Right side...Sile.

One smooth with the rest having fleur-de-lis checkering that Aaron Hogue has said he never did. So not Hogue. One pair on a Browning Hi Power. 1 RB J.

Checking my saved pictures, all have the brass insert you notice rather than simply burying a nut.

I'm borrowing pictures from the first to post a set. Last I checked, he doesn't come around much anymore...

Attached Images

	Del Rey grip bvanwoert13 swfrm L.jpg (19.4 KB, 18 views)
	Del Rey grip bvanwoert13 swfrm r.jpg (19.6 KB, 18 views)
	Del Rey grip bvanwoert13 swfrm i.jpg (27.8 KB, 25 views)

That's what I call second generation Hurst. Purely my terminology. Maybe 1960's.
What I call third generation is the pair on the Model 15 from LAPD Chief Davis. As seen in the Cake-Davis rubber grips.

Probably mainly routered with chisel work additional. Late Farrant show very clear, methodical router marks, but what I think are early Farrant will look like that.
PS - I originally intended to say that someone else in this thread knows a bit about inletting.

Tangentially, Mike and I previously differed on the Model 15 grips. I think Chief Davis erred in his handwritten note identifying which grips were on which revolver. He also got Stark's name slightly wrong. He was an old man by then.
The other Stark grips in the auction were on the Chief's Special, as pictured in the auction catalog, not the M-15.