Wow. Truly excellent!
I don't think I've ever seen a set for sale
In the decade or so I have been trying to find them (thanks to this amazing forum showing them to me and giving me a desire for them bordering on sinful envy), I've seen 7 "lesser" sets for sale (as in affordable for the common man).
Three of those sets were on guns that I purchased (the I frame, NRM, and Colt above). Two were loose (the 1911s and this new set of N Frame).
One set was on a Straightline (which I couldn't afford at the time regretfully).
Another set was on a Colt New Service (which you can see I think in the other Kearsarge vs Roper thread, and was for sale recently in fact, also couldn't afford it).
There were the 3 sets that came up in the 2015 Elmer Keith auction.
And then there was DB Wesson's gun that was equipped with them that sold just a few months ago.
I look very hard for these stocks, and I know of one other person who bought a gun recently that had them on there I believe locally to them. I expect more of these change hands locally, and its probable that I miss sets that are on Colts (which I don't keep as close an eye on as S&Ws), but I doubt it's very many.
If I remember correct Keith Brown told me once that he thought that Wendell made maybe 300 +/- 50 or so (please correct me if I remember that wrong), and I expect that is a pretty spot on estimate.
I should add that I would like to believe that given the clear attractiveness of these stocks their survival rate may be higher then other stocks. I know when I show them to people there is an immediate draw, which I attribute to Wendell's clear artfulness, and the great folk art quality to them. I would suspect that even if the gun they were originally on was destroyed that the stocks were pulled off before that, and squirreled away in a drawer. I can't say that I have data to support this, but every set I have hasn't come with any information about original ownership. I'd like to think that the attractiveness to even non-gun people has been good for their preservation.
Even with a high survival rate, based on my discussions with anyone who will let me talk at them about this subject, I'd estimate that if there aren't even 50 of these owned currently in the sort of "known" collecting community interested in old grips. Most guys have one set at most, and maybe as many as 3.
Anyway. I'll blather about these Kearsarge stocks all day if given half the chance. I'd really love to find more people, probably outside of this forum, who maybe have sets, and can add pictures of them. My experience with them, between my 5 sets, and handling another 3 sets of one of the excellent forum members here, has been interesting. They are all different, despite being recognizably his.
