Walter Roper worked for S&W in the 1920s. He left and ran his own businesses (grips, sights, firearms consulting, writing) in the 1930s. He first offered his custom stocks in mid-1934. All the revolver grips/stocks were made by Mathias Gagne, although his son and other family members helped him. In later years Roper hired W.D.H. Nichols to specialize in stocks for automatic pistols. Also, when demand peaked, Roper offered a machine checkered stock that was a few dollars cheaper. Sometimes we debate whether or not a set of stocks is really of Roper design when they are missing the "ribbon" or 3-lobed pattern that is so characteristic of Gagne's work. I believe that there are plenty of authentic Roper grips that are fully checkered but they are either a) very early or b) later, machine checkered stocks. Many of the automatic pistol stocks do not have the ribbon because they were carved by Nichols.
Gagne's son did work in the stocking department at S&W and designed the original "Coke bottle" grips of the 1950s.
The Volume 39, Number 2 (Summer 2005) issue of the S&WCA Journal carries an article with some detail about Roper and his grips. Sources cited:
"Some New Grips for S&W Revolvers," F.C. Ness, The American Rifleman, Dope Bag, August, 1934
"The Mechanics of Handgun Stocks" by Howard Langley, The American Rifleman, November, 1941
Pistol and Revolver Shooting by Walter F. Roper, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1945
Smith & Wesson Hand Guns by Roy C. McHenry and Walter F. Roper, Standard Publication, Incorporated, Huntington, West Virginia, 1945
Experiments of a Handgunner by Walter F. Roper, Stackpole and Heck, Inc., New York, 1949
The Pistol Shooter's Book by Charles Askins, The Telegraph Press, Harrisburg, PA, 1953
Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting and Police Training by Ed McGivern, Wilcox & Follett Co., New York, 1957
"Double-Action Shooting," Walter F. Roper, The American Rifleman, circa 1947
"Notes on Pistols," Boyd Cherry, The American Rifleman, January, 1948
"Well, I'll be darned…," Walter F. Roper, The American Rifleman, March, 1948
"Custom Stocks," Walter F. Roper, The American Rifleman, June, 1948
"Handgun Grips," Elliott Jones, The American Rifleman, circa 1949
"Custom-Made Revolver and Pistol Stocks and Their Value to the Target Shooter," Edward A. Kiessling, The U.S. Hand-gunner, May, 1952
Walter F. Roper obituary, Springfield Daily News, April 1, 1954
Walter F. Roper obituary, The American Rifleman, August, 1954
Those are beautiful Colt stocks and would look much better on a pre-war revolver than a Python.
