Does anyone know what kind of wood the lighter grips are made of?

I have never seen this color on a set of combats. They are dated 1982

Thanks

Look like some very plain Goncalo Alves.

The pair on the left are some type of laminated wood, but the other two are Goncalo Alves, and I don't think the middle pair is all that plain.

I agree on the left pair being laminated. No idea on the others. I didn't know GA came that light, if it is that.

Donald-

The first is definately laminated, and the other two are definately GA. Tha's all S&W made their combats out of during the period that these grips were made. I have seen GA so light, it looked like Birch.

Doc44 has a set of " KB cokes" that he posts here once in a while that is like the light set, that he bought from Keith Brown.

The pair that others are saying is laminated sure don't look it to me. I see natural irregularities in multiple sections of the grain. You never see that with laminate.

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NRA - All Day

I agree, while they look the way laminated grips have alternating layers, I don't think they are laminated, usually laminated wood grips are straight grained and the layers thinner when viewed along the end grain:



The style of those grips look to be factory, made in the 80's before S&W switched to outsourcing grip production.

I'd say those are made from wood with an outstanding grain pattern. If you look at the lower finger groves on the middle grip, you see a similar pattern.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

I believe the grips that look like laminated are simply g a wood that has been sawed from the block of wood, some times called quarter sawed, I know that on a stock the way it was sawed from the trunk determines how the finished stock will look, I think that is why the l.h set looks like this, they look very nice to me. After looking at the pictures again I think the set on the left were sawed out of a piece like the middle set but were turned 90 degree and then blocked out. Jeff

Im pretty sure they are not laminated as stated earlier there are natural iregularities. I will post better pics when I can. Thanks guys.

Back in the day Smith would take the better grain wood and make it combat grips for the shorter barrel K&L guns and for individual sale to up grade your gun.

Agreed, they are not laminate but Goncalo Alves w/ some terrific grains.

Goncalo Alves [ AKA tigerwood , zebrawood ] #3 is the Sapwood #2 is Heartwood and #1 is between them . IMHO
Mighty pretty wood in #2.

All three pair are constructed from goncalo alves in my opinion.This wood varies a lot from being quite plain to very striking.
rfo1

Talk about getting off on a tangent. He was only asking about the light colored set, not all three!

Meh... when I clicked on the thread I was just relieved it didn't involve Bret Favre...

FWIW I enjoyed the input. Good looking stocks & informative commentary. I thought the one set showed too subtle changes to be laminate...

Does the bold print mean that you are screaming?

The more I look at the first set, the more I think I was wrong in my initial assessment.

That set looks in the second picture like it is nothing more than a set cut from a block that didn't get quartersawn before being placed in the jig.

Normally they try to avoid the grain running straight front to back or side to side for strength/durability.

I'd like a peek at the inside/front/back either way, just to see the grain structure.

No shouting please, I have a headache