Show your Roper grips

[digi-shots]

All this talk about Roper grips, gave me the urge to go looking for a pre-war Colt Officer's Model for the OM Ropers I have. I sold the Trooper they came with about a year ago.

Well, I found a pre-war OM at the Richmond show early Saturday morning. I really wanted a .22 to go along with my 1937 Outsdoorsman, but got this .38 Officers Model Target instead. The serial number puts it at 1937, same year as the Outsdoorsman.

Oh, one more thing... it came with its own set of Ropers!

Linda
S&WCA #1965

 

[kwill1911]

Linda,

You probably know this already, but those are also Roper sights on your revolver.

Regards,
Kevin Williams

 

[Hammerless-12]

Very nice. I like say I learn something everytime I'm on here. I had no idea Roper made sights as well. What, if any, other items did they make. Thanks to all for the post and comments.

Darn it now I am getting interested in aftermarket items, like Roper. Hate to start collecting anything else.

 

[digi-shots]

Originally posted by kwill1911:
Linda,

You probably know this already, but those are also Roper sights on your revolver.

Regards,
Kevin Williams

Kevin, actually, no I didn't !

I spent about 2 hours last night googling every type of front and rear sight I could think of. I noticed a posting with another Colt with the same sights, I figured it was some kind of off-brand.

When I just posted these pics, I noticed the previous post showing a reprint of Roper grips and the mention of self-locking micrometer sights. I was just doing a seach when I came back to get the exact name when I saw your post.

Here's some close ups of the sights:

 

[kwill1911]

Great pictures, Linda. Here you go--right from the source:

Regards,
Kevin Williams

 

[Onomea]

Originally posted by Jim Kalsem:
I had no idea Roper made sights as well. What, if any, other items did they make.

I have a Colt OMT, 38 spl DOB 1938, with an aftermarket hammer. When I showed a pic to Joe Miller, the US Revolver Association historian and a collector of prewar Colt target revos, he told me that he thought the hammer was a Roper. He based the comment, he said, from having seen guns with similar hammers whose owners said the hammers were received from Roper. On the other hand, Kevin has researched the heck out of Roper and has yet to come across a written reference to Roper hammers.

(I think Roper hammers are extremely rare. Maybe only two exist, the one Joe saw and the one I have! I have cornered 50% of the market!

)

 

[digi-shots]

Kevin, I really appreciate the info on the Roper sights! Thanks for taking the time to post it. All along, I thought Roper only made grips.

After reading the article, I see that the front sight has a spring inside the sight. I went and took a close looks at mine, and thankfully, it's still there. I took a pic looking down into the sight (and barrel).

Onomea, thanks for the info on "Roper" hammers. Do you have any photos that you could post?

This forum is a great source of information with very knowledgeable and helpful people!

Linda
S&WCA #1965

 

[Michael Stern]

This Officer's Model, in the foreground, has Roper sights and Sanderson stocks:

It's also got this hammer, the maker of which I don't know. Roper, maybe?

... and this trigger, also non-stock:

Kind of Frankensteinian, but wow, what an action, and what accuracy!

 

[Clyde from Carolina]

Terribly cool stuff, guys.

 

[Onomea]

Here's what Joe Miller told me in an email in January 2007: I've never heard of Colt doing any Target Hammers on the OMTs. I've seen a lot of King hammers and all of them have been marked King. The only other Hammers I've seen were from Roper, the same Roper that did the grips, they look real professional, something like a factory would do but they are not marked in any way. One way you may be able to tell is that all I've seen have the checkering running to a point toward the front of the hammer and the checkering is a bit coarser than the King type hammers. Does the OMT have any Roper items on it? Many times a shooter would send a gun to King or Roper for a re-work or tune up. Roper did his own type of Rear sights, Front Sights, Grips, and Hammers. I've never seen any of these items marked Roper but know for sure from owning guns that belonged to the original owners that had Roper do the work.

When I bought the OMT, it did not have the Roper stocks, but regular factory grips. Swapped for 'em later.

Re "...but wow, what an action...," when I got this OMT, I asked Grant Cunningham, the well-known revolversmith, to go over it for me, basically just to clean and oil it. He, too, remarked that whoever did the action work sure knew what he was doing.

 

[digi-shots]

Onomea, thanks for posting the pics!

You can definitely see the difference in checkering pattern and the swell at the edge of the hammer.

Linda

 

[Texas Star]

Originally posted by digi-shots:
All this talk about Roper grips, gave me the urge to go looking for a pre-war Colt Officer's Model for the OM Ropers I have. I sold the Trooper they came with about a year ago.

Well, I found a pre-war OM at the Richmond show early Saturday morning. I really wanted a .22 to go along with my 1937 Outsdoorsman, but got this .38 Officers Model Target instead. The serial number puts it at 1937, same year as the Outsdoorsman.

Oh, one more thing... it came with its own set of Ropers!

Linda
S&WCA #1965

If one studies these Ropers, he or she will see a strong similarity to the Pachmayr Presentation grip that fits so many hands well.

I'm not saying that Pachmayr copied a set of Roper grips, but the two men do seem to have had very similar ideas about comfortable, effective revolver grips.

T-Star

 

[sackpeterson]

My 22s.

 

[phenson]

My 1940 Colt Officers Model Full DW King treatment and Ropers.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Hope I didn't post these already here. From DC Wilson came these lefty Ropers that now reside on my Model 18. The gun seems too new for the stocks but it's the only adjustable sighted K-frame I got. Can't wait to shoot it.
You folks sure have some classic guns and grips on here. Great thread.

 

[Hammerdown]

Hello
About Six years ago, I came acorss a K-22 Model 17-2 that had a set of Roper Stock's on it & The gun was on consignment in one of my local gun shops so I bought it to have the stocks and they now reside on my 1951 K-32. Two Years ago I came across another set of Original Roper stocks at another gun show on a Model 27-2. The vendor asked if I needed the gun and I responded with "Just The Stocks". He said that he felt the reason the gun had not sold was due to the fancy grips it had, he felt they hurt the sale of it. it was clear to me he had no earthly idea what the stocks really were, so I offered him a set of Factory target stocks in trade for them and he gladly swapped me for the second set of Roper stocks shown below on my 1935 Registered Magnum. You just never know where these Old Roper stock's will turn up and I feel very lucky to have Two pairs of them to enjoy.




Roper K-Sq stocks dated on Rear 1936

Roper N-Sq stocks on a 1935 Registered Magnum

 

[DHENRY]

Here's a set of 'finger rest' Ropers on a 1935 K 22 Outdoorsman's revolver.
Don

 

[Dave T]

Hammerdown, that RM with the Ropers is AWSUME! (smiley face goes here)

Dave

 

[handejector]

There is an article on Roper grips and Keith Brown's grips in the March, 2011 issue of "Guns" magazine.
It is available online at- http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/GUNS/GUNS0311/
Click on the March edition of "GUNS" magazine. Keith's pic is in the Table of Contents, article on page 64.

It was written by our member "SDH".

 

[rck281]

Several years ago, Ray Brazille had a Mauser Broomhandle with Roper grips. Most unusual Roper's I've ever seen.