I hit the Ruger SAMBAR STAG jackpot !!

[bigmtnman]

It's been a long time since I came up to a gun show table and saw this kind of jackpot. It's "The grips are worth as much as the price on the whole gun" jackpot. These beautiful vintage "popcorn" sambars were on a 2013 mfg. blue Blackhawk .45LC 4 5/8" bbl in like new condition. The "I'll take $500 for it" got it OTD for me. My original intent was to sell the grips and have a really cheap Blackhawk. After I put the sambars on my 1976 mfg. "200th YEAR Liberty" .45LC 7 1/2" model that plan got reversed...."Sell the gun and keep the grips" !! They are a big 'ol comfy handful of excellent fitting GORGEOUS vintage sambar. The "bookend" to this story is that when I bought this 1976 Blackhawk for $325 12 years ago it also had gorgeous sambar. Those grips made it my "free" Blackhawk. I also have a "free" 1957 mfg Single-Six thanks to sambar grips.

 

[les.b]

Beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing with us.

Best Regards, Les

 

[JayFramer]

Very nice popcorns.

 

[Ethang]

I picked up an Old model with stags for the exact same reason. Yours are gorgeous and they fit that frame pretty darn good.

 

[bigmtnman]

I picked up an Old model with stags for the exact same reason. Yours are gorgeous and they fit that frame pretty darn good.

They didn't fit quite as precisely on the 2013 model. When I put them on my 1976 model, the look, fit, and feel all came together too well for me to let them go.

 

[longarm4146]

Look like some vintage Ajax stag.

 

[JayFramer]

A shame Sambar is a rarity now, beautiful stuff and the Elk stag just does not compare in any way.

I may just have to get some Sambars for my NAA mini revolver, even I can afford those little things!

 

[okiegtrider]

Nice grab bigmtnman. Congrats!

 

[Bob L]

A nice find and a great set of grips.

 

[Mule Packer]

Very nice and congratulations! I lucked out in two similar circumstances a few years back. Both were with guys who were getting out of Single Action Shooting and didn't want the guns just to be lying around collecting dust.

The first pair I scored on was a pair of Ruger OMV's with 4 5/8-inch barrels in .45 Colt, with stag grips from Eagle grips. Both guns had been sent to Bob Munden to smooth up, do trigger jobs on both, replace the springs, buff off the Ruger warning label on each one, and install a Colt round ejector ring on the ejector rods instead of the traditional Ruger lump at a cost of $250 for each revolver.

I paid $500 for each gun and in essence got the grips and tuning job for free. Or I guess you could also say that I paid for the grips and tuning jobs and got the guns for free.

My second miracle that is similar to yours came just a few months later. They're a pair of Ruger OMV's with 5½-inch barrels in .357 magnum with Ajax grips. He also threw in two sets of Wolf Springs. Paid the same price for these as I did the others. I don't think my stag grips are as pretty as yours, but I think I'll keep 'em anyway.

Interestingly, though, both sellers told me that they didn't think anyone would pay for the guns if they also had to pay for all the extras. From what I've seen with other gun sales, they're probably right. When it comes time to sell a gun, don't expect to recoup an extra $250 for the set of grips.

 

[OLDSTER]

Beautiful bgmtnman I like all bone an antler grips, but agree that genuine India Sambar Stags are incomparable. These are on my "Early Chiefs Special Model of 1953".

 

[THEmodelof1989]

Here is my 629-4 backpacker sporting some Ajax sambar.

I actually got mine at a gun show as well. I walked up to a table, picked them up and the gentleman said they fit K frames and he wanted $60 for them. I turned them over and they were marked Ajax with a model number. I went for my wallet so fast I almost broke my spine.

 

[boykinlp]

Those are some of the nicest Sambar Stag grips I have seen, and as has already been said, it is quite superior to elk grips. Finding pieces of Sambar Stag that is large enough to make SAA or S&W Target grips is almost impossible now. Thanks for sharing.
Larry

 

[Model39]

1957 Ruger Flattop 44 Mag With Factory Stags

I too am a big fan of Sambar Stag grips, and was fortunate enough to acquire this mint 1957 Ruger Flattop 44 mag with original factory Sambar Stag grips out of an estate several years ago. The price of Sambar Stag is really going up, and to find grips as nice as yours was indeed a great find.