32 Hand Ejector MOP Grip Value

[Swissfan]

There is an acquaintance that has a set of mother of pearl grips for a 32 hand ejector he is thinking of selling. They are in good condition, no cracks that I noticed and without medallions. I know it’s a total guess without pictures, but what would they be worth?

I am trying to get pictures and will post once received.

 

[Truckman]

I recently bought a pair of MOP's at a gun show for a SB K-frame from a vendor who had them priced at $400...I asked him how he determined that value, and he said he compared them to another pair from another vendor who had some priced at $1000, but he didn't need that much money for his...I wound up buying them for $85......Ben

 

[daddio202]

Never say never with S&W, but usually the m.o.p. grips that were made by S&W had medallions. There were plenty of aftermarket mop grips made back in the day and they were devoid of medallions.

 

[Hondo44]

Not likely S&W MOP grips w/o medallions. If they have hollow spaces on the back side and/or if they are not even thickness one side compared the other, they're definitely not S&W. Under $100.

Make sure they're not plastic imitation MOP. Those are called Mother of Toilet seat.

 

[glowe]

Premium ivory and pearl stocks had medallions starting in 1898 and continued into early 1920s. S&W pearl stocks were available as early as 1868 without medallions. Smith & Wesson pearl grips were made without medallions on pearl grips at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The company (S&W) discovered that rather than purchasing guns with pearl grips from Smith & Wesson, distributors bought guns with standard factory grips and installed cheaper third-party pearl grips. To protect its reputation (and profit), the company started placing Smith & Wesson trademark medallions on all factory pearl and ivory stocks starting in 1898. At the same time, the factory also replaced the pearl grips on its Columbian Exhibition display guns with new medallion grips.

It is not possible that any Model 1903 pearl stocks would be without medallions. Of course, someone could have found pre-1898 pearls and placed them on an I frame from time to time. As Jim alluded to, distributor pearls are almost always of poor quality and thinner than S&Ws stocks. A factory pearl stock should be around 3/8" thick at the thickest point.

 

[Truckman]

Make sure they're not plastic imitation MOP. Those are called Mother of Toilet seat.

You don't mind if I distribute that one amongst the masses, do you, Jim?......Ben

 

[.38SuperMan]

I don’t remember what I paid for the square butt K frame pearls but they are in excellent shape with nice color. I’m guessing just over $100 but just a guess.

The ones on my M&P came with it and I paid $350 for the gun and grips.

They may not be OEM Smith but they’re still very nice grips and look great. OEM Smith if you’re a collector but I’m more into shooting my guns and don’t really care if everything is original.

 

[boykinlp]

I don’t remember what I paid for the square butt K frame pearls but they are in excellent shape with nice color. I’m guessing just over $100 but just a guess.

The ones on my M&P came with it and I paid $350 for the gun and grips.

They may not be OEM Smith but they’re still very nice grips and look great. OEM Smith if you’re a collector but I’m more into shooting my guns and don’t really care if everything is original.

Wow, I wouldn’t describe that as “nice color”, I was describe it as awesome color! Beautiful!
Larry

 

[Swissfan]

Thanks, everyone. From what I was able to find, I figured they weren't factory due to not having medallions.

 

[Truckman]

My latest pair, although flawed by a chipped point, still retain a decent amount of iridescence in my eyes...The maker, apparently realizing how fragile the thin nacre could be in use, added some thin steel plates as a backup and as a bonus they add a little thickness to fill my hand better...They are not glued or attached in any way to the mollusk shell, but were cut expertly to fit the grips, and are perfectly flat...

I think they add a touch of class to the 1921 shipped M&P on which they landed in my accumulation...The S&W branded grip adapter was on the gun when I found it at a gun show...The steel plates can be seen in the second photo......Ben

 

[glowe]

OK, pearls are very nice, but both those sets above are poor fits to the frame as far as I can see. Pre-WWII guns had hand fitted stocks that were perfect fit in every way. No gap at the top round, not too small or too big for the frame. Both frame and stocks were fitted by sanding with the stocks in place removing both steel and wood, hard rubber, or MOP. This always allowed a very nice fit, but also made every set of stocks slightly different.

Unless perfect by chance, replacement stocks just never look right to me. Obviously, some guns purchased no longer have their original stocks and I own some of them. I have collected several sets of K frame stocks and have found that some are closer than other, so use whatever fits the best. Acceptable, but never be original again.