pearl grips

[rhmc24]

Comment re this thread --

I put an eagle or a snake on the left grip so I can see it when I hold the gun, something
else on the right to show for others ---

From my grip-pix file --


This one is a grip fix, replaced a big shard of ivory that was missing --


Ivory on ebony, silver on ivory & ebony, silver on bone -- Ebony grips &
all decor work is my DIY. Repairing pearls, I use Devcon 5 minute epoxy
because it sets water-clear, missing chips I use pearl buttons for material
& when the pearl matches, the result is at worst not obvious & at best
undetectable.

 

[Lee's Landing Billy]

I read an article many years ago about pearl grips being made in the Pacific Islands . This was mainly because of the huge shells available and the young men that were able to retrieve them from great depths, not to mention the artistic ability to turn them into works of art for us gun folks. There was a period of time when these fellows were pushed in production past the point of safety. They were dying at an alarming rate! After it occurred to some one to autopsy some of the misfortunate ones, they found that through inhalation the shell shards had cut their lungs to doll rags. The water is to keep this dust like material that is actually super sharp shards from killing them.

 

[Lee's Landing Billy]

SORRY, I didn't see Hondo's post. I was a little late to the party.

 

[05CarbonDRZ]

Here is a set carved by Wolf & Klar:

DSCN0392 by alex1961m, on Flickr

 

[rburg]

Actually, I don't think W&K made any grips. They sure did sell a bunch of carved or just grips made from exotic materials. We've had threads on this in the past and the conclusion is that the items we identify as W&K grips are simply supplied by them. Outside "contractors", often Mexican workman, did it as a kind of cottage industry. You could order anything you wanted, and they'd supply it within reason. Some posters here have even studied the markings on the pearl grips. It seems a large number have roman numerals on the back side, probably to keep the pair together. The quality you see if you view enough is that it ranges from terrible to great. More toward the high end of quality.

If anyone else has a comment, I'd like to hear it. I imagine W&K as a high volume gun shop, not a sweat shop with a bunch of little guys hunched over a grinding wheel, killing themselves with toxic dust. I could be wrong.

 

[rhmc24]

A pair of maybe W&K pearls on my $900 TL S&W re-nickel - as near a new TL I'll ever get.
No marks on grips back.



Dust from MOP work may be dangerous like people say. Wondering if I should be worried,
been working MOP off & on much of my life. Is it likely to get me in my old age? I'm only
91 now.

 

[umwminer]

At a small gun show last weekend , I passed on a Spanish copy of a .44 triple lock . Real rough , badly out of time , etc. BUT it had a fairly decent pair of steer head (R side) MOP stocks. Owner would not budge below $175 so I walked. I'm wondering now if maybe I should have picked it up just for the stocks ?

 

[rburg]

Is it likely to get me in my old age? I'm only
91 now.

When my grandfather was 91, my mother and his doctor were trying to get him to give up his nightly whisky. It wasn't like he got drunk, just a small glass on his way to bed. Surely not a shot (1 1/2 oz). Really it was my mother with the assistance of his doctor. So they kind of had a dust up over it. And his argument was pretty simple. He'd been taking a sip at bedtime for a lot of years. It helped him get to sleep. So he asked the simple question. "Whats it going to do? Kill me young? Too late for that."

Just another story about women wanting old guys to suffer. So the doctor, to appease my mother, agreed with her for some reason. She cleared all the booze he had out. And she went home, feeling like a victor. Before she got out the drive, he called me and told me it was payback time. So I drove him out a bottle. He was happy and she was happy. Until he dumped the empty in the garbage can and she found it. Not his smartest move.