Attached please find the PDF file of the Gagne article that Weatherby referenced. With a proper PDF reader you can enlarge the article to 100-150% to make it easier to read
A little something for Roper fans....article now added thanks to Mr. Wilson
- Thread starter weatherby
- Start date
fat tom
Absent Comrade
Thanks Paul and David! I would REALLY love to have a set of his "handles" made out of that "Caucasian Walnut"! 
f.t.
f.t.
OP
Good that will leave the birds eye for me
OP
I saw that too Sir and was wondering the same.
I have never seen any and don't have one but if true I'd like to see an example
I have never seen any and don't have one but if true I'd like to see an example
66Park
Member
Ah, yes. From the days when New Yorkers were avid gun fans and loved Caucasian walnut gun handles. I've been interviewed enough times to realize how wrong writers get facts much of the time. Still, a very cool thing to read!
LS1
Member
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This may be of interest to you Roper fans. Custom Roper stocked Tompkins single shot pistols. Wish I had better photos,
but all I had was the crappy camera phone. One of them had Kearsarge style oak leaf pattern carvings. They are the most
intricate Roper stocks I have ever seen. I'd love to see a rifle stock he (Gagne) did.
but all I had was the crappy camera phone. One of them had Kearsarge style oak leaf pattern carvings. They are the most
intricate Roper stocks I have ever seen. I'd love to see a rifle stock he (Gagne) did.
Memphis
Member
This thread piqued my memory so I went and checked my gun room bookshelf. Sure enough, I found an old copy of "Pistol and Revolver Shooting" with a copyright of 1945. Interestingly it had "second printing" inside the cover. It is a rather small book (5 1/2 X 8 1/4).
I also found a copy of "Experiments of a Handgunner" with a copyright of 1949. Size of this one is 6 1/4 X 9 1/4.
Tons of pics of Roper grips on various firearms.
The first book says "Dedicated to My Wife, whose encouragement has been a constant inspiration.
The secone one says "Reverently dedicated to the memory of HARRIETTE N. ROPER, beloved wife and best friend. For her, and with her ever-ready help this little book was written.
I just thought that was a wonderful "peek" inside his heart and see what drove such a creative man.
Roger
I also found a copy of "Experiments of a Handgunner" with a copyright of 1949. Size of this one is 6 1/4 X 9 1/4.
Tons of pics of Roper grips on various firearms.
The first book says "Dedicated to My Wife, whose encouragement has been a constant inspiration.
The secone one says "Reverently dedicated to the memory of HARRIETTE N. ROPER, beloved wife and best friend. For her, and with her ever-ready help this little book was written.
I just thought that was a wonderful "peek" inside his heart and see what drove such a creative man.
Roger
Hello Roper stock people
Really Neat thread, David Thank's so much for making this newspaper article readable in PDF format, and Weatherby for supplying it. I have a nice set of Roper stock's that I place and use on occasion on my first year 1935 Registered Magnum. There has been some speculation that they are knock off's as they do not have the Square Peg Jig holes in the rear of them. Keith Brown has seen the picture's of these, as well as some Very Sage S&W collector's in the Smith & Wesson collector's association and all concluded they have to be Roper's. Since I got these about Eight year's ago at a local gun show by swapping with a vendor that had them, I gave him a set of Factory large Non diamond Target stock's in Trade even up for them, There has been some other Roper stock's Pop up as well without The Jig square holes in the rear of them. In several discussions many sage collector's of them concluded that these had to be later Made Roper stock's where they held them in differently to perform the exotic famous Roper clover leaf Pattern checking to them. I am Not certain of the wood on these stock's but I surmise it may be something other than Roper's usual grade of Plain Looking Walnut, as the grain is very striking and looks to me to be Cirrcasion Walnut in contrast and color. They are in original Finish unaltered state with their finish appearing to be what Matheis Gagne or one of his worker's had applied to them. The fit & finish like all Roper stock's is amazing, They Hug the gun's frame very closely and follow the gun's lines perfectly. They are the most comfortable set of stock's that I have Ever owned.
I had a second set of Roper stock's shown below. They came to me on a Model 17-2 K-22. They apparently were sanded down to fit the K-frame as they Indeed were made for an N-frame and scribed on the rear "44 with" a date of 1936. Oddly, the clover leaf Pattern width differed a bit between the two panels. I am Not certain why but I surmise perhaps' one of the Original stock panel's was damaged and Matheis Gagne may have made a replacement Panel by itself not being able to compare the Clover leaf pattern design or possibly this wasn't a mistake at all it remains a Mystery to me. I swapped this set off for an original set of Factory S&W N-frame Pre-War Magna's that I desperately needed for my First year 1935 Registered Magnum. When the Magna's showed up they were a Tad Bit large as far as fitting my Outer Frame dimension's of my Registered Magnum, as Gun's back in that time span had no definitive frame dimension they all seemed to differ some, that is why S&W fitted each and every gun with their stock's before it left the factory and the reason why each stock Panel was serial numbered to the gun that it was fitted for so they got back to that gun on the final assembly.
Being that these had more wood on their outer circumference I was able to fit them to my gun's frame lines then I finished them in a semi-gloss finish very similar to what the factory did back in 1935 time span as shown. I have Two Walter Roper Books. The first one is "Experiment's of a Handguner" copy righted 1948, of which I assume a first Printing of the book as it does not say other wise, and he dedicated it to his wife and the second Walter Roper Book that I have is "S&W Hand Gun's" by Roper & McHenry copy righted 1958. Here are my examples of Roper stock's and the Pre-War Magna's that I swapped the altered K-frame Roper stock's for.
Here is the altered Roper K-frame stock's that I traded off for my Pre-War Magna's. If you look close at the second picture you can clearly see where the width of the clover leaf ribbon checking design differ's some between the two stock panel's. The rear of these stock's were scribed with "44" and dated 1936. I assume they were originally made for a .44 Hand eject or Possibly a Triple Lock .44 revolver. Someone sanded them down on the back strap area as well as the Upper wing's to fit a K-frame revolver before I got them.They came on a S&W-K-22 Model 17-2 revolver that I gave $310.00 for.
Here is the set of K-square frame altered Roper stock's that I swapped off. As you can see these have the square peg Jig holes and are scribed on the rear "44" and dated 1936. I assume they were originaly made for a Triple lock or perhaps' a later made .44 Hand eject. Oddly the one stock panel show's to have a slightly wider clover leaf ribbon border. It remains a mystery to me if Roper made them this way or if the owner may have damaged a stock panel and had Matheis Gagne make him a replacement stock panel without sending it's mate to him to copy off of. I got these on a Much later Made S&W K-22 Model 17-2 that I paid $310.00
Here is my current set of Roper stock's. I use these on occasion on my 1935 Registered Magnum. They are the most comfortable stock's that I own. I swapped a set of factory S&W Target stock's of N-frame size for these that were Mid 1980's time span Non diamond style stock's even up at a Local gun show to a vendor. I was very Pleased to have found them and he was pleased to get a pair of Original factory S&W stock's to Place on the much later made model 27-2 that these came off of. I am Not 100% certain of these are original Roper made stock's but they appear to be only missing the square peg holes that Matheis Gagne used to hold them when checking them. I have been told by many sage collector's that later on, matheis or who ever worked for him found another method of holding these tock's to check them that did not leave the square Peg holes on the rear of the panel's as other examples just like these have Popped up. It makes little difference to me, as I swapped a set of stock's for them that I only had $30.00 in.
Here is my first year 1935 Registered magnum that I fitted and finished the Magna's shown on it. These are the stock's that I swapped the altered Roper K-frame stocks for. The Guy I swapped with was aware of them being altered and we were both pleased with the trade between us.
Really Neat thread, David Thank's so much for making this newspaper article readable in PDF format, and Weatherby for supplying it. I have a nice set of Roper stock's that I place and use on occasion on my first year 1935 Registered Magnum. There has been some speculation that they are knock off's as they do not have the Square Peg Jig holes in the rear of them. Keith Brown has seen the picture's of these, as well as some Very Sage S&W collector's in the Smith & Wesson collector's association and all concluded they have to be Roper's. Since I got these about Eight year's ago at a local gun show by swapping with a vendor that had them, I gave him a set of Factory large Non diamond Target stock's in Trade even up for them, There has been some other Roper stock's Pop up as well without The Jig square holes in the rear of them. In several discussions many sage collector's of them concluded that these had to be later Made Roper stock's where they held them in differently to perform the exotic famous Roper clover leaf Pattern checking to them. I am Not certain of the wood on these stock's but I surmise it may be something other than Roper's usual grade of Plain Looking Walnut, as the grain is very striking and looks to me to be Cirrcasion Walnut in contrast and color. They are in original Finish unaltered state with their finish appearing to be what Matheis Gagne or one of his worker's had applied to them. The fit & finish like all Roper stock's is amazing, They Hug the gun's frame very closely and follow the gun's lines perfectly. They are the most comfortable set of stock's that I have Ever owned.
I had a second set of Roper stock's shown below. They came to me on a Model 17-2 K-22. They apparently were sanded down to fit the K-frame as they Indeed were made for an N-frame and scribed on the rear "44 with" a date of 1936. Oddly, the clover leaf Pattern width differed a bit between the two panels. I am Not certain why but I surmise perhaps' one of the Original stock panel's was damaged and Matheis Gagne may have made a replacement Panel by itself not being able to compare the Clover leaf pattern design or possibly this wasn't a mistake at all it remains a Mystery to me. I swapped this set off for an original set of Factory S&W N-frame Pre-War Magna's that I desperately needed for my First year 1935 Registered Magnum. When the Magna's showed up they were a Tad Bit large as far as fitting my Outer Frame dimension's of my Registered Magnum, as Gun's back in that time span had no definitive frame dimension they all seemed to differ some, that is why S&W fitted each and every gun with their stock's before it left the factory and the reason why each stock Panel was serial numbered to the gun that it was fitted for so they got back to that gun on the final assembly.
Being that these had more wood on their outer circumference I was able to fit them to my gun's frame lines then I finished them in a semi-gloss finish very similar to what the factory did back in 1935 time span as shown. I have Two Walter Roper Books. The first one is "Experiment's of a Handguner" copy righted 1948, of which I assume a first Printing of the book as it does not say other wise, and he dedicated it to his wife and the second Walter Roper Book that I have is "S&W Hand Gun's" by Roper & McHenry copy righted 1958. Here are my examples of Roper stock's and the Pre-War Magna's that I swapped the altered K-frame Roper stock's for.
Here is the altered Roper K-frame stock's that I traded off for my Pre-War Magna's. If you look close at the second picture you can clearly see where the width of the clover leaf ribbon checking design differ's some between the two stock panel's. The rear of these stock's were scribed with "44" and dated 1936. I assume they were originally made for a .44 Hand eject or Possibly a Triple Lock .44 revolver. Someone sanded them down on the back strap area as well as the Upper wing's to fit a K-frame revolver before I got them.They came on a S&W-K-22 Model 17-2 revolver that I gave $310.00 for.
Here is the set of K-square frame altered Roper stock's that I swapped off. As you can see these have the square peg Jig holes and are scribed on the rear "44" and dated 1936. I assume they were originaly made for a Triple lock or perhaps' a later made .44 Hand eject. Oddly the one stock panel show's to have a slightly wider clover leaf ribbon border. It remains a mystery to me if Roper made them this way or if the owner may have damaged a stock panel and had Matheis Gagne make him a replacement stock panel without sending it's mate to him to copy off of. I got these on a Much later Made S&W K-22 Model 17-2 that I paid $310.00
Here is my current set of Roper stock's. I use these on occasion on my 1935 Registered Magnum. They are the most comfortable stock's that I own. I swapped a set of factory S&W Target stock's of N-frame size for these that were Mid 1980's time span Non diamond style stock's even up at a Local gun show to a vendor. I was very Pleased to have found them and he was pleased to get a pair of Original factory S&W stock's to Place on the much later made model 27-2 that these came off of. I am Not 100% certain of these are original Roper made stock's but they appear to be only missing the square peg holes that Matheis Gagne used to hold them when checking them. I have been told by many sage collector's that later on, matheis or who ever worked for him found another method of holding these tock's to check them that did not leave the square Peg holes on the rear of the panel's as other examples just like these have Popped up. It makes little difference to me, as I swapped a set of stock's for them that I only had $30.00 in.
Here is my first year 1935 Registered magnum that I fitted and finished the Magna's shown on it. These are the stock's that I swapped the altered Roper K-frame stocks for. The Guy I swapped with was aware of them being altered and we were both pleased with the trade between us.
OP
Mr.Mundell those are incredible I thank you for posting them
Mr. Brown is modest at best..
The following is an article in GUNS MAGAZINE ..
He Follows in Mr. Gagne's footsteps..
GUNS Magazine Digital March 2011
The set of Ropers are the ones featured in the article .. I am thrilled to have them..
Thanks to the Big Gorilla..
I was able to acquire both pair.. 
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OP
Yes Sir Keith is a master
I've been privileged with trying to get A few more pictures of the birds eye set up......me thinks he choose poorly.
I've been privileged with trying to get A few more pictures of the birds eye set up......me thinks he choose poorly.
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O by the way. If you want to read Ropers Book "Experiments of a Handgunner" You can read it for free here:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/Library/BookPage.aspx?bid=FW0005835&sid=863&pid=176
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/Library/BookPage.aspx?bid=FW0005835&sid=863&pid=176
Here you go. Inside the cover, it says, "Back Cover -- A pair of S&W Combat Masterpieces, both fully engraved. Bird's-eye maple and rock maple are used in the custom stocks."
Douglas Johnson
Attachments
66Park
Member
Wish I owned this one
But I do own these
Clark had very good taste...and so do you!
kwill1911
Member
FWIW, I don't see anything about these that are similar to Roper/Gagne stocks.
Regards,
Kevin Williams
Great snag Paul.
Love those Ropers. He was a true craftsman indeed.
Edit to add:
Mr. Keith Brown is every bit on par with the other masters
works shown in this thread as stated. I am very fortunate to have
some of Keiths work.
Chuck
Love those Ropers. He was a true craftsman indeed.
Edit to add:
Mr. Keith Brown is every bit on par with the other masters
works shown in this thread as stated. I am very fortunate to have
some of Keiths work.
Chuck
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