"The bank tied up the programs and even my name. It appears they are going to continue the grip line. There wont be any one named Ahrends associated with these grips and we only hope they can continue the quality we offered."

How can this happen? Mr. Ahrends builds a business and the bank takes it over using his name.😡 I wonder if he can sell the business to someone that he thinks would be right for it, and that he supports.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Very sad. I wish him the best...

My old 66-2.

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Isaiah 41:10

If Mr. Ahrends secured a loan with his business, it would be normal for the business name to be part of the "property" securing the loan. Especially here, where the "brand" may be one of if not the most valuable single asset of the business.

And once you declare bankruptcy for a business, you pretty much lose all control over what happens to the business thereafter. The secured creditors decide whether the business is continued under new management, divided up and sold in pieces (if there are multiple business operations that would allow one or more to be split off and sold to new buyers), or simply have the assets sold off in liquidation.

I just saw this thread and ordered a pair from Gripseller on eBay. They were original equipment on my 686 Stocking Dealer Special but I bought mine used and it didn’t come with them. Gripseller has quite a few still available

I also checked out ebay but they really didn't have what I wanted. I ended up buying 2 from Brownells, about 10% less than ebay. The only down side is that you can't see exactly what you're going to get. When I bought mine (late last night) they were the last ones in stock of that model. I doubt they have any left but if you're in the market for an N frame grip they might just have one. I bought K frame round and square.

Wow, this is unfortunate. I’ve been waiting on buying another revolver in as painfully eager anticipation as getting the Ahrend’s grips for it.

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Oui Chef!

That's really too bad for them, but in all sincerity, they're are a bunch of grips makers just as good and even better out there.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

Very, very nice!

They look and feel great:

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What is your favorite "wood" that Ahrends grips are made from? Pictures please.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Hands down my favourite wood of theirs is the Moradillo. Without the Tung oil.

Ashame. I guess as more and more handguns are polymer framed the demand for custom wood grips will lessen. And revolver popularity lessening also.

Here's a couple of pair of Moradillo wood Ahrends I have on a couple of my guns.

My 627 Pro with some Retro Combat round to square conversions.


My 4" 28-2 wearing a set of square butt Retro Targets.

I’ve always liked them.

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I've posted this pic before but seems appropriate to post it again in this thread. Only 2 pair I have. Both N frame. Very comfortable. Too bad things turned out the way they did for the company.

It is a shame to see this happen.

Just saw a few left. I found what I was looking for through GRIPSELLER on eBay and they were great to deal with.
I’m sorry for the Ahrends troubles. They made a excellent product at a fair price

Always a sad day when a good business goes under.

24-3 converted to .45 Colt. Grips were made from rosewood I supplied. Johnson paste wax only, no top coat.
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625-6 with walnut I supplied and finished with tung oil.
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625-7 with maple I stained and finished with tung oil.
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Ahrends has a combination of shape, fit, quality and price that was right for me. I also like Altamonts.
That said my 686 Stocking Dealer Special OEM grips were Ahrends In Cocobolo. When I asked for a set and even offered Kim the wood he refused because of legal problems with Cocobolo. I ended up with the grip in oil finished Moradillo, not a hardship
So who can I look to for similar grips in a similar price range? Some of the beautiful grips I see are way over my budget

Most of my S&W revolver have Arhends grips on them. So sorry to hear about they are out of bussiness.

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"lets be careful out there"

Google is your friend, they're tons of them out there without the notoriety.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

75Vette,
What wood are these made from? Thanks.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Larry, those are black stained maple.

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

Damn Shame, his grips are fantastic. I hope the post bankruptcy grips will be kept to the same high standard, but I have an unfortunate feeling that that will probably not be the case :/

Have had a couple pairs of Ahrends grips
Really like the square butt finger groove on an N frame
Currently have a set of round butt finger groove N frame that are just a little too small for me.
great quality though .
Sorry to hear he had to quit , sad to see a great company fold up their tent

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the rules? there are no rules

These were on my used 625-6 Mountain Gun when I bought it.

Not sure of the wood. Might be moradillo.

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I just spoke with Kim personally after seeing this thread.
From reading sure sounds like he had a hornswaggle gone on. Kind of same thing ive been dealing with since mid January, because ive got moxy and never back down.

I offered Kim a free page on my site, a free URL i would buy and host on my site, to make him a new ZERO cost way to get his stocks and grips back out there. Im pretty creative so the name thing isnt a problem. If i have to I'll spin another entity off of Original Precision just to sell his new grips under that he would be making himself and that he wold get 100% of the money for i wold get ZERO for doing this stuff for him. I do not know from our somewhat lengthy conversation if he will get back into it even as a part time making them to relax and remember things while spending time with his family.

But he has all of my contact info and the offer stands as long as I am alive Kim.

Honorable folks must stick together.

side note - which is what spun me into an extra dimension of bent out of shape so bad when i saw Kims situation. as of the other day my mom of all people on the planet filed a protective order against me because of some strongly worded yet very lawfull emails i have sent her lately. which knowingly locked me out of my house i bought from her on a deal years ago when she moved into town then married him, my trade secrets are in that shop as well as intellectual property, it ghas been my r&d shop for years, not the production facility which is ITAR Regulated. unfortunately she misled the judge when she filed this bogus court doc, and now it is on my permanent record. oh well no problem i got this. this coming friday i have a court hearing against her to contest this Malicious Act, which i will tie into many other things in the process. once i drop the Exhibit(s) from my Discovery into Evidence, im sure this will get cleared up and most likely exponged. worst part is i intentionally interwove a whole bunch of other folks into those emails that she has now forced to be put on permanent record in a court. honorable is honorable, dishonorable is dishonorable, and doesn't matter that they cut me from her belly back in 1974 (or so im told) im gonna smoke her to.

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R/S
J.D.

So happy with them, I ordered another set just like ‘em (except Retro Combat) for my 686+

The maples look dynamite on stainless.

They look very nice! I was wondering if they were Ebony.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I have several sets of Ahrends grips on my revolvers and 1911s. Great products, and I'm sorry they won't be available any longer.

But did you know he used to make grips for the Browning Hi-Power? These came with a Hi-Power I bought a couple of years ago.

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Lorin

Here are my 2 newest pair. The first pair are Retro Combat N Frame Cordia grips. The second pair are Tactical Banana J Frame Goncalo Alves grips. I really like the looks of both pair, but the Tactical Banana J Frame grips are very slick. Hopefully not too slippery though. I do like having my pinkie on the grip.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Got the last Mayan Bloodwood N RB boot grips on eBay from gripseller. Something to put on my 624 3" so I can bag up the factory combats and keep them pristine.

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Psalm 27:2

Ahrends bought from Haris1

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Sad news, indeed. I had a set for my 3" 65. Cocobolo boot grips with the tung oil finish. Excellent grips.



That was the best picture I could find of the grips. Unfortunately, I have neither the gun, the grips, nor the holster.

I wonder how many people knew he also used to do custom 1911 work. The first time I read about Ahrends was in a gun magazine article back in the 90s. IIRC, it was a cover story with a picture of a two-tone Commander he built on the cover. It was a very nice pistol. One of the things that really caught my eye was the grips, which was in a pattern I'd never seen before, but seemed very practical. A diagonal line separating a checkered front portion for traction when gripping the gun and a smooth rear portion that wouldn't grab on cover garments, and made from cocobolo. Here's an example picture from his website, with a different type of wood:

Here is another pair of mine. They are Ahrends Tactical Finger Groove Combat Moradillo N Frame Square Butt Grips. The thing I like about these is the grain. They are perfectly bookend matched on the bottom.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Does anyone know if he is making hrips again?

Not according to his website, which is still up and confirms the closure.

Is there a reason you think he might be?

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Pickpocket

At the same price point? Would like to hear some names.

Ebay has about 7 grips right now.
Sometimes, private sellers , sell theirs cheap.
I recently got some 329 takeoffs that were good.

I was looking for some 586 grips and ran across the site from a link. Then saw the out of bussiness post. They looked like nice grips. Wishful thinking i guess.

You can post an ad in the "Want to Buy" subforum here, and check eBay.

I was surprised to find several recent "sold" listings on eBay well over what they once cost new. Supply and demand, I guess.

What were you looking for specifically?

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Pickpocket

Looking for a roper style grip. I bought some from altamont to try. I like bigger grips they fit my hands better. I found one ofvthe 586's in .38 so notva lot of recoil

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And I thought 2020 sucked. This year ain't shaping up to be any better.

Ahrend's declared bankruptcy in early 2020, read post number 1 of this thread.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Ahrends never made a specifically Roper-style stock; closest was their take on the S&W target stocks called Retro Target Stock. It was actually a touch slimmer than the factory version.

You might wasn't to look over their site -- it's still up so you can see what Ahrends offered, and consider if something might work for you: Ahrends Grips : Home

Alternately, two businesses with good reputations still making stocks and offering a Roper-style are Herretts (who will craft theirs to your specific hand based on a tracing you send in) and Blu Magnum.

Gun stocks by Herrett's Stocks, Inc.

Explore BluMagnum - Custom Pistol and Handgun Grips

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Pickpocket

Thanks fir the links. I will check them out.

I'm sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, it happens more often than you might realize. Medical costs are, IMHO, insane. A friend had bypass surgery recently and the bill, including a 4 day hospital stay, was pennies short of $500,000. I asked him if he was worth that, and he had to admit, "Nope". He owes about $32,000 of that, and he is paying $1000 a month. Pity is, that $1000/mo. puts he and his wife's home sale and purchase in another city out of the picture for about 3 years. He tried to sell the house before and nobody wants it, it's a tiny house that's been added on to several times, and it wasn't done well, looks wise at all. The realtors have all suggested that it be totally resided, to make it look "all the same", but he's refused to do it, so the house never sold. The plan was to rent it to his nephew, but that's out the window, for now.

Another friend had cancer and after all was done to him, he still died less than a year later, and his widow basically lost everything and is now living on SS with their daughter and her family. It's not an ideal situation at all. as she needs to be in assisted living at this point and it's not going to happen for a while, so the daughter and grandaughter are stuck taking care of mom, while mom is trying to get everything paid off.

I found out about this only yesterday. Really sad to hear about it, I was a big fan of his grips, particularly the K/L finger grooved combat grips. I found a set on eBay going for about twice I paid for them before, would like another set. Really sad to hear about Kim going into bankruptcy.

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Si vis pacem, para bellum

Well poop. I was literally in the process of writing a check to order some new sets and saw his website notice. I am truly heartbroken. Ive probably got 10 or 12 sets of his grips.

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

Some piles of poop have a silver lining... your 10~12 sets of used grips are now worth $1500~$2000 altogether... as compared to my two sets, that just became orphans, unless some reasonably priced siblings or nephews show up on ebay.

I've been fairly disengaged from my firearms passion for several years and I'm just now beginning to get re-engaged. Very sad to hear about Judy passing and what has happened to Kim since her loss. He asked me to photograph a great many of his awesome grips back "in the day", which I gladly did, and in lieu of paying me for the work, Kim asked me to keep the grips.

Very sad for Kim and I only hope that he has been able to find some peace and stability in the next chapter of his life.