Pre War Large Medallion K Frame Grips

[gripper]

Pre war K frame grips with large medallions are a scarce commodity. I was fortunate to aquire a great representation of these grips numbered to a equally good representation of a .38 M&P 1905 4th change. I have only seen two other sets of grips like these. One set was pencil numbered and the other stamped. I believe both were in the 611,000 serial number range. The serial number of this gun is 610355 and was shipped March 1931. Please share any other large medallion grips you have.

Chad Gripp

 

[Hondo44]

I don't have any at the present time to share but have long argued that they exist. Great post.

 

[rburg]

I don't have any at this time, either. And I'm equally convinced they do exist. In the past I've had several sets that I'm convinced were original. And I've had a set I'm also convinced were made from N grips that were refitted to a K frame gun. If you've got a set, look closely at them. It seems a good workman can alter a set of N's to fit a K and its hard to tell they've done it. They seem to sand the border up near the top of the back of the grip.

 

[Hondo44]

And I've had a set I'm also convinced were made from N grips that were refitted to a K frame gun. If you've got a set, look closely at them. It seems a good workman can alter a set of N's to fit a K and its hard to tell they've done it. They seem to sand the border up near the top of the back of the grip.

And all along the forestrap to make them fit. They actually make a more hand filling Magna for a K frame because of the extra thickness.

 

[boykinlp]

I really like those grips. A member here on the forum (I can't remember who now), showed a picture once, that had a couple of sets of the pre-war large medallions that had not yet been installed in a set of grips. I would love to have a pair!

 

[Retired W4]

Those are absolutely gorgeous, and a perfect match, condition wise, for that beautiful M&P. Thanks for posting. That gives a novice S&W collector something to aspire to.

 

[glowe]

I am curious why these stocks would be so rare? According to Supica's SCSW, the Diamond Walnut-Large Silver Medallion were made from 1929-1941. There must have been hundreds of thousands of square butt Model 1905s made in those years. I would admit that are probably few left that are as nice as the OP's. Is Supica wrong in his assesement?

 

[gjamison]

these don't number to the gun, got them in a trade.

 

[rburg]

I really like those grips. A member here on the forum (I can't remember who now), showed a picture once, that had a couple of sets of the pre-war large medallions that had not yet been installed in a set of grips. I would love to have a pair!

Times change. 10 years ago you could attend almost any large gun show and pick up a set of 1937 Contract grips and harvest the metal. The wood was just trash, so the price was pretty darn reasonable back then.

Guess I've got to go digging in my piles of junk. For a while I had a few extra sets, enough to attempt to convert them to buttons on a Woolrich Chamois shirt. I never bothered, but should have. Someplace I've even got a set of replacement items made from Sterling Silver. A jeweler had a die maker produce a stamp that would knock out either Sterling or 14K gold, you choice. Cost was fairly high, but not unreasonable. I should still have the set of silver ones...someplace.

 

[Hondo44]

I am curious why these stocks would be so rare? According to Supica's SCSW, the Diamond Walnut-Large Silver Medallion were made from 1929-1941. There must have been hundreds of thousands of square butt Model 1905s made in those years. I would admit that are probably few left that are as nice as the OP's. Is Supica wrong in his assesement?

During the pre war period Smith apparently shifted to simplifying things and switched to the smaller I frame size flat silvers in K frame stocks soon after introducing them c. 1928-29. And continued post war by making all medallions the same small size even on N frame stocks.

 

[gripper]

N Fame vs K Frame

I am curious why these stocks would be so rare? According to Supica's SCSW, the Diamond Walnut-Large Silver Medallion were made from 1929-1941. There must have been hundreds of thousands of square butt Model 1905s made in those years. I would admit that are probably few left that are as nice as the OP's. Is Supica wrong in his assesement?

Hi Glowe, The large medallions were available as early as 1929 and as late as 1941. I just don't think Smith & Wesson produced many K frame grips with the large medallions or at least we as collectors see darn few. Without looking up the facts and figures on the number of N frames produced in that time period and shipped with large medallions, I would say we are looking at somewhere between 25,000 to 30,000 sets were manufactured. This would include some 2nd and 3rd model .44's, but not all and of course 99.9% of all RM's, Heavy Duties, and Outdoorsmans were shipped wearing large madallions. So large medallions are a common as far as N frames. So with the above taken into consideration and the hundreds of thousands of K frames manufactured at the same time it would make us think the large medallion K frame grips are as common as the guns themselves, but they are just not. To add to that, the only ones we have found so far are in the 610-611000 serial number range and there are only a handful. This is what leads us to believe that Smith & Wesson only manufatured a small quantity of these grips for a very short time, hence the rarity. Very good question and thanks for asking......As time goes by more may surface and more conclusions may be drawn.

Chad Gripp

 

[gripper]

Collecting M&P's

Those are absolutely gorgeous, and a perfect match, condition wise, for that beautiful M&P. Thanks for posting. That gives a novice S&W collector something to aspire to.

M&P's are fun to collect. There are a number of variations to chase and it won't break the bank to put a few nice ones in the safe.

Chad

 

[Walter Rego]

Here's a good comparison shot

 

[gripper]

sn#

Here's a good comparison shot

May I ask the serial number on your large medallion grips? Thanks for the pics.

Chad

 

[RKmesa]

I've posted these before in several threads on this topic. And I have seen more than a handful of these large medallion K-Frame prewar grips, all of which have been in the 611XXX range (one set was in the high 610XXX range). Here is the only set that currently I own - I'm still looking for that perfect M&P Target (like Chad's) somewhere near that range to mount them on.

For comparison with a "standard medallion" set:

They are very cool...

 

[DCWilson]

Can't recall if I have posted these previously. I got them from Lee Jarrett a year and a half ago during the great Handejector accessory sale.

No. 611127. Interestingly, the numbering is hybrid, with the last three digits stamped into the wood under the hard-to-read pencil equivalent. The first three pencil digits are easy to read.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the large medallion K-frame stocks were limited to 1930. I had supposed that the silver medallion stocks were introduced for the N-frames, then the design was ported to the K frame guns. I bet a lot of wood was split and wasted getting those larger medallions properly seated in the smaller K-frame half rounds, after which the decision was made to go to smaller medallions for the K guns. Both my K-22 ODs have the smaller medallions; the earliest one is from 1932.

My hypothesis is that any large medallion stocks numbered 610xxx or 611xxx will be original, but that large medallion stocks with later serial numbers may not be. I'd like to see a census of all serial numbers from stocks that have large silver medallions.

 

[DCWilson]

Just to put some numbers out there for consideration, I will report that my Internal and Mostly Subconscious Statistician suspects that no more than 1500 sets of large-medallion K-frame stocks were produced. My IMSS also expresses the opinion that no more than 20 sets have been identified over the years.

Under the Delphi Principle that the average wisdom of an informed (or even semi-informed) group is more accurate than the wisdom of any single member, I invite others to add their best guesses to this thread. Let's see where our average wisdom lies.

 

[gripper]

Genius!!

Just to put some numbers out there for consideration, I will report that my Internal and Mostly Subconscious Statistician suspects that no more than 1500 sets of large-medallion K-frame stocks were produced. My IMSS also expresses the opinion that no more than 20 sets have been identified over the years.

Under the Delphi Principle that the average wisdom of an informed (or even semi-informed) group is more accurate than the wisdom of any single member, I invite others to add their best guesses to this thread. Let's see where our average wisdom lies.

David, Your a genius! Best explanation I have heard.....for anything.

Chad

 

[glowe]

Just to put some numbers out there for consideration, I will report that my Internal and Mostly Subconscious Statistician suspects that no more than 1500 sets of large-medallion K-frame stocks were produced. My IMSS also expresses the opinion that no more than 20 sets have been identified over the years.

So David, what stocks were used on most of the square butt K frame revolvers from 1928 to 1941?

 

[DCWilson]

So David, what stocks were used on most of the square butt K frame revolvers from 1928 to 1941?

Service stocks with small silver medallions -- almost exclusively. And towards the end of the '30s we begin to see K-magnas with small silver medallions.