How Rare Are WALNUT Coke Bottle Stocks?

[Vtgw938]

I have an acquaintance that has a Model 28-2 made in 1972-4, in very good shape with original grips and the box I believe. He has not expressed an interest in selling it. The gun is wearing a set of Walnut "cokes". I have a set of Goncalo cokes and these walnut ones are more coke shaped and smaller, being much more comfortable to my hand. The finish is worn off, but the grips are in decent shape for having been well used.

How rare are walnut cokes? I know Goncalo is the rage but I don't recall seeing a pair of walnut ones for sale or such. Is it possible that they are more rare?

I would like to have an idea if walnut makes them more or less valuable than the Goncalo's in case the gun comes up for sale and regardless I might just make an offer, but it would have to be a very good one, which I am willing to do.

Any info someone might have would be of help. I made the gentleman aware of the rarity of the grips, so I have no plans to try and "steal" them from him.

Added - the cokes are not original to the gun, he has the magna's that came on the gun as well. The cokes are obviously earlier than the gun itself.

Thanks in advance.

 

[s&wchad]

If they are walnut, they're almost certainly regular target stocks. I've never heard of walnut Cokes and don't believe they exist. Cokes have a larger checkering area than regular target stocks and have uncheckered diamonds around the escutcheons.

These are Cokes:

These are non-diamond target stocks from the 1970's. Walnut diamond target stocks were made in the 1960's and were offered as an option for the Highway Partolman.

Edit to add:

I had to dig out a couple of guns to show a side by side comparison of N frame diamond walnut target stocks and Cokes. Notice the differences in the checkering.

The Cokes are on the right:

 

[Bullet Bob]

The general consensus is that "cokes" were made from 1956-1968; unless the original grips on the gun you're looking at have been replaced, they're very unlikely to be that shape. It's also general consensus you can almost never say never when it comes to S&W using up stuff in stock.

This older thread has a good overview of S&W stocks:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...uide-post139918386.html?549200=#post139918386

 

[Vtgw938]

Your responses may be my answer. They are cokes (edited - I was wrong) and they are walnut. they did not come on the gun, he has the original magna's as well. Again, the feel of the grip is much more coke bottle like than my Goncalo cokes. I remember thinking I would have had them if I had known they existed instead of the Hogue's I ran on my duty and PPC guns. They had the larger checkering panel, etc.

Surely they are known to exist??

Added - Let me re-phrase that as "I am pretty sure", as I do with my wife all the time. I am aware of cokes, I have a set of cokes and I knew the difference and compared them to photos of cokes and showed him the difference. But I am old, so let me see if he will let me gets some pics.

i

 

[s&wchad]

A photo would be really helpful. As I said, I've never heard of walnut Cokes.

 

[Doc44]

I agree with s&wchad. I have neither seen nor heard of coke bottle stocks made of walnut. 44 Magnums were listed in S&W's All Model Circulars as having special oversize stocks made of Goncalo alves. If there is pair of coke bottle stocks made of walnut in existence, it was made outside of normal production channels.

In addition, even smooth target stocks made of walnut are fairly scarce.

Bill

 

[Vtgw938]

You guys have me questioning myself for sure now. I'll try to get my hands on it Thursday.

 

[Doc44]

Coke bottle stocks were discontinued in 1966. It is also possible the stocks you are investigating were made by a custom stock maker and not S&W.

Bill

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Hey 938 - we need a picture!
Here's my Coke comparison pic.

 

[weatherby]

GA can vary a lot in grain color and structure.My guess if indeed cokes is you may be misidentifying the wood type.

 

[jcelect]

Cokes

When you are looking at cokes, LOOK AT THE BOTTOM! The bottom shape of cokes is more oval than standard N frame targets which have a square appearance.

jcelect

 

[Vtgw938]

They are oval alright. Made a date for tomorrow am. If you don't hear anything you know the answer! See the attached pic, this is what I was doing today. Knew about the S pre-fix 28-2, didn't know about the grips thrown in a box of misc. gun parts! We both ended up happy. That's the way I like it, and maybe more to come. On top of that a nice father and son team in a shop packed wall to wall with guns and old ones at that.

 

[cgt4570]

Weren't some 'Cokes' made in Rosewood? I have a 'reresection' set on the bench that was shortened to frame lenght. Goncalo Alves didn't match at all but rosewood almost disappears at the repair joint.

 

[Doc44]

Very, very few pairs made in rosewood. I have seen one pair over the years.

Bill

 

[weatherby]

This is a set I have that resembles walnut.
Especially one side.

 

[GM4spd]

Cokes or not nothing beats Rosewood.

 

[weatherby]

Oh Pete your just so one sided.
Step into the light occasionally

 

[GM4spd]

Oh Pete your just so one sided.
Step into the light occasionally

I only like BLONDE in women!!

Hope my wife doesn't see this.

 

[Keith Brown]

GA is all over the map and can darken very rapidly from oxidation and exposure to light. IMO quite a few sets I've seen here over the years that are called Rosewood are actually GA, again just my opinion and that could change with the grips actually in hand for a better look. Attached is a photo of some GA I have on the shelf and you can see the color and figure vary widely. Also how it's cut, riff or slab, can really change the way the way it looks.
And the oval base can vary a bunch also. Some of the earlier cokes I've observed are much less oval than you would expect. The non coke Target grip became increasingly square as time progressed, less time on the machine I suppose.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Keith you got some really nice wood there!
I greatly prefer the Darker Grips with some Figure.
Like these.