Plastic and Tapioca....

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SmithNut

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Just put a nice old K-22 Outdoorsman on hold, will pick it up in a couple weeks.

This one may have some Alaska lineage, will send for a letter to see what/where it was sent to.

My friend who runs the gun store gave me a little guide to differentiate the difference between Elephant and Walrus ivory.

His description about how to tell if it's Walrus was "Plastic and Tapioca"... :)

Looking at the bottom of the grips, there are two "circles" the outer one looks like plastic and the inner one looks like Tapioca....

Now I know (but it's not likely I'll ever run into any others in the future)... :D

KIyVaU.jpg


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(Much) better pics to follow in a couple weeks...

Click on the pics for a larger view, my cellphone pics don't do em' justice....
 
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If your heart is set on an Outdoorsman... I hate to tell you this, but that is not a K-22 Outdoorsman... that is a K-22/40, also known as a pre-war K-22 Masterpiece (notch in hammer, micrometer rear site...)!!!:D So if you are paying an Outdoorsman price for that gun, you are getting a steal!!!

Also, the grips look like jigged bone to me, rather than walrus ivory, but I'm no expert at all...

Congrats!!! That is a real beauty!!! :cool:
 
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Learn something every day....

Thanks Richard,

I'll need to hang out in this section more often.

Appreciate the heads up, in looking at SCSW v4, I see the difference now (K-22 Outdoorsman vrs. K22/40), and I'm feeling better about the purchase, not that it was bad in the first place, but it just got better....... :)

The pics aren't my best, they were taken by my 5 year old IPhone, will take better photos when I gain custody of this thing....
 
JP@AK said:
Poor choice of a phrase, Richard! :)

I'd think you'd be very happy to point this out to the fortunate buyer of this scarce revolver.
Click to expand...

Edited my initial post to add "If your heart is set on an Outdoorsman..." Now I think it works much better than my tongue in cheek way of sharing my excitement and joy about this fortunate experience...:D:)

We sure missed you at the Symposium a couple of weeks ago - sure hope to see you again in Tulsa next year.
 
IMHO I think those grips are jigged ivory and not bone. I would not have made that staement a while back but I just picked up a set of jigged ivory stock at the symposium. I guess maybe some folks just felt that the ivory was too slikc??
 
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Neat gun for sure, I'd say jigged walrus ivory. Here's a pic, left piece is elephant, walrus on right, and elephant again on bottom. The Schreger lines clearly visible on the elephant and not present on the walrus. The walrus has what I describe as a pearl like center but the tapioca might be a better descriptor.
19-DA5672-54-C0-46-E0-9-F87-11-CBA00-E34-ED.jpg
 
Thanks for the comments folks...

Just got back from paying for it and now the wait, they should be past the WA state hoops by next Thursday or Friday.

More pics to follow.
 
Wow, congrats!

While you're watching for it to arrive, have you googled to see what those sell for these days compared to what you paid for it?
 
That looks like a fantastic pickup to me!
K22/40 instead of a K22 Outdoorsman - check ++
Jigged Walrus Ivory instead of the wood grips - check +++++++

Hopefully, the walrus ivory will mean an association to Alaska.
Larry
 
Hondo44 said:
Wow, congrats!

While you're watching for it to arrive, have you googled to see what those sell for these days compared to what you paid for it?
Click to expand...

Have not searched for updated prices, just looked at SCSW V4 and see the difference (at time of publishing) between the pre-war Outdoorsman and Masterpiece, knowing that there is likely positive movement on price :D

I'm grateful for Richard pointing me in the right direction, and Keith regarding the grips, so when I get it home I'll do some more searching and take some better pics.

Thanks again for everyone's input!!!
 
Keith Brown said:
The walrus has what I describe as a pearl like center but the tapioca might be a better descriptor.
19-DA5672-54-C0-46-E0-9-F87-11-CBA00-E34-ED.jpg
Click to expand...

Keith, I've always heard, and used, the term "pulp" for the center of a walrus tusk. BUT, that was from a bunch o rednecks like me, so it may not be universally correct. :D

I bought a great tusk at Tulsa on Sat about ten years ago and was thinking about how many pairs of grips I might get out of it. Before I got back to may table, a guy stopped me and wanted to buy it. I said I just got it and did not want to sell it. He kept asking me to price it, so I threw a crazy number at him. He said he better pass, but followed me to my table and took a card. Sunday evening, he called and asked if I was still at the show. I said I was about packed and leaving soon. He asked if I had to go through Ft Smith and I said yes. He asked if I would meet him at an exit in Ft Smith and sell it at my figure. I said I was tired and facing an all night drive and still didn't really want to sell it, so I did not want to stop. He offered more money for my trouble. Alas, my tusk went away in a parking lot beside I-40. ;)
 
quinn said:
IMHO I think those grips are jigged ivory and not bone. I would not have made that staement a while back but I just picked up a set of jigged ivory stock at the symposium. I guess maybe some folks just felt that the ivory was too slikc??
Click to expand...
Jigged ivory must have been a "thing" for a while. I picked up a pair several years ago, and have seen at least one other pair on here. Someone ran a set of grips on ebay for $150, I wrote and told him they were jigged bone, so he offered them to me for $80 and I jumped on them.
Imagine my surprise when I got them in hand and saw they were ivory ! I wrote and told the fellow that and he offered a partial refund on the price, but I told him don't worry, I was happy enough with the purchase.
31dcea5802c0939521338e82ebcefe29.jpg


Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk
 
Reading this thread has "learn't":rolleyes: me something new. I don't think that I had ever seen jigged ivory before. I have seen jigged bone grips many times, but never even thought of jigged ivory. I will definitely look closer at any jigged grips from now on! I think it looks good, but wouldn't have even thought about having ivory grips jigged either in the past. Thanks for sharing.
Larry
 
Wow, that's something else. Can't wait for the good images. I did not know anyone jigged ivory.
I think those walrus grips are outstanding. 👍
 
So, I decided to dig out my recently (symposium) acquired jigged ivory grips and put them on my 5" TL. The jigged bone and Rhinestone grips that came to me with the TL are shown just tot he right. I believe this ivory is elephant.

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Lee, I've heard it referenced that way also but not sure if it's correct or not, suppose it don't really matter as long as we know what we're taking about ! Even smooth ivory seems to have some natural traction and when it's fully finished smooth I would always question if anything else even needed to be done.
 
Some updated photos....

Still taken with my cellphone, need to get my photo booth set up, keep getting some glare on the barrel.....

There is some blueing missing at the very end of the barrel and on the top of the front sight, otherwise it's in pretty good condition for something 80ish years old.

FAxRV4.jpg


aHP6UY.jpg


Some shots of the grips....

This shot shows a crack on the left grip (top to bottom), but it's just a surface crack, it does not go all the way through the grip panel..
gY5l5f.jpg


Inside view.... There is an address tab from a previous owner, with the zip code it's clearly not from the 40's....
HhzRfA.jpg


Unfortunately there was a large chunk that broke off in the lower rear of the left grip panel, the repair looks to be from quite some time ago, not sure if these can be reconditioned into better shape, or just leave them as is ......??
PPI0sp.jpg


Pretty happy with the overall condition of this old revolver....

Until I decide what to do with the Ivories, I've installed a recent pair of Birdseye K-Targets from my favorite grip maker.....
Just a placeholder....
ks5PDq.jpg


Click on the pics for a larger view...
 
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