Stocks by Hurst

[OIF2]

A while back, a fellow forum member asked me to do a thread on stocks by John Hurst. I used to have many more sets, but what I have left I think gives a good idea of what kind of work John did. John was a contemporary of Farrant, Hogue and Stark and worked the Academy during the same period. He was probably the greatest pistol shot the LAPD ever produced. The stocks he made incorporated his ideas. If you look closely, you'll notice his grips are similar to Walter Stark, another LAPD great.
Bob

Here's a notched set on a K-frame PPC revolver (John's personal one). Notice the palm swells and open backstrap, a Hurst trademark:

Here's a couple of J-Frames in Cocobolo and Micarta. Notice the palmswell. John also did flawless checkering.

Here's a nice set of Cocobolo K-Frames for a round-butt. Palmswells, open backstrap and nice checkering. John also made semi-auto stocks and target stocks for bullseye and ISU guns. At one time, all the LAPD pistol team had John's grips on their revolvers.

 

[MKT]

You have some nice John Hurst grips there. I feel fortunate to have one set, which are currently on my 547. They fit OK on the 547 but I think they'd fit better on an older Model 10. I have started digging in the old grips boxes at every gun shop I stop in hoping to find another set.

 

[SG-688]

Thank you. More, please.

Anything on the name J. Blackford from that era? (Guns & Ammo 1970 Annual.) Any tips as to how to differentiate Stark v Farrant v Hurst?

IIRC, Mike still owes us pictures of the Stark stocks on Chief Davis' revolvers. Subtle hint.....

My pair of probable Hurst for a Colt MKIII. Correction Colt E/I frame.

 

[OIF2]

Hurst. John liked the diamond around the grip screw, but I never saw a set of MK III stocks by him. Interesting!
Bob

 

[SG-688]

The MKIII tells are the straight line at the top and the locator pin - highlighted in yellow. Haven't tried them on a revolver, but that's what they look like to me.
----and I was wrong. Not MKIII----

 

[j38]

Great visual history lesson, Bob. The extra material behind the top strap would suggest that the shooter had long fingers and wanted a little more room between his palm and his trigger finger. How do you like shooting with them?

Regards,

Jerry

 

[robbt]

Stark grips

hi guys , Hi bob ,Stark grips please tell me more ??
robbt

 

[Sonny Crocket]

OIF2,

Re: the J frame grips....
I believe you stated in the past that the Hogue mono grips for J frames are based on these. Correct? What about the Crimson Trace 305s? To me they look alot like these Hurst grips. Anyone know?
Laser Sight For Smith & Wesson J-Frame LG-305 Extended | Crimson Trace Laser Grips

 

[Homie]

Bob,

Very nice indeed. That's more Hurst's than I've ever seen together.
Fuzzy also used the open backstrap. I've got three N frames and a cut Python that are open- J frame enclosed.

Good shooting!

 

[SG-688]

hi guys , Hi bob ,Stark grips please tell me more ??
robbt

The 1961 Cooper book lists Farrant, Hurst and a Stark as grip makers, with Stark predating Farrant's style.

LAPD pistol team: Earl "Fuzzy" Farrant, Basil Starkey, Emmett Jones and Walter Stark.



LAPD NOSTALGIA
Escapades of a Pistol Team by Lee E. Echols

American Handgunner, Sept/Oct, 1981

"Then they had another little sporting gentleman, Walter Stark. They’d acquired him from the Navy and he was a ring-tail- tooter with all three guns. He lacked about a half an inch of being tall enough to pass muster as a Los Angeles Police Officer, but that was alleviated quite easily when they put him in a pair of elevated shoes just prior to his physical examination. This put him up there with the rest of them and gave him a couple of inches to spare.

Walter’s stock in trade was bringing a few hen eggs out to the range on opening day. He’d get in a very serious conversation with a shooter and surreptitiously slip a hen egg in one of his front pockets. Then, just as the man’s relay was being called to the line, Big-Hands Wheeler would walk by and whack the egg a resounding blow- with one of his huge paws. By the time the shooter would be on the line with his paraphernalia assembled, the egg would be running down the inside of his leg and if you’ve never tried shooting under a handicap like that, you should try it sometime. I have, and found it totally unexhilarating."

------

Walter Rickell in the January, 1986 Guns magazine, in an article about a 1954 mfg. Colt Officers Model Special:

"What really makes this a piece of history is that everyone in the match that day (3-21-54) signed signed [the target] —notable shooters like John Hurst and Fuzzy Farrant, from LAPD and premier handgun grip makers;... and Walter Stark and Joe Blackford, who both taught Hurst and Farrant the art of custom handgun stocks and started the whole business of finger grooves."

..

 

[OIF2]

Hi Jerry
The grips are excellent with the extra wood above the open backstrap for the web of the hand (Farrant liked that, too). The open backstrap makes the grips very comfortable and controllable with normal-to-large-sized hands.

Sonny- yes, Hogue still makes a set of stocks that are similar for the J-Frame. One piece, I think. There's a great photo of John Hurst in the April 2008 issue of "Guns and Ammo", along with a pretty good article ("Guns of the LAPD"). It's online at "www.gunsandammomag.com".
Bob

 

[Sonny Crocket]

Sonny- yes, Hogue still makes a set of stocks that are similar for the J-Frame. One piece, I think. There's a great photo of John Hurst in the April 2008 issue of "Guns and Ammo", along with a pretty good article ("Guns of the LAPD"). It's online at "www.gunsandammomag.com".
Bob

Got the hard copy of that article when it came out, also have the online one saved in my favorites. Good stuff!

 

[fat tom]

There's a great photo of John Hurst in the April 2008 issue of "Guns and Ammo", along with a pretty good article ("Guns of the LAPD"). It's online at "www.gunsandammomag.com".
Bob

Is this the one you're talkin' about Bob?

f.t.

 

[Sonny Crocket]

I'm not Bob, but yes, thats the one he's talking about.

 

[OIF2]

That's it, Tom. Since I wrote it, I'm kinda proud of it... John was a superb marksman, a good copper and a gentleman. I miss him.
Bob

 

[BAM-BAM]

Not to hijack a thread. But a question for those who have posted here.

This thread reminded me of some grips I picked up about 3 years ago. So I went and found them at the bottom of my box of extra grips. The Back story;

Several years ago a friend was asked to break up an sell a retired US Marshal's "collection" of guns and other stuff. The widow needed to turn things into cash.

I bought a 4" Model 15 for my wife as her range and house gun. My friend knew I liked Spegel boot grips on my K frame Smiths; so when we got together to do the transfer he offered me 2 sets of grips he'd found.

He said, he thought they were Farrants from the 60's, both are for K-frames. One round butt with the extra wood behind the frame at the top. The other was a completely open backstrap for a unmodified K-frame sq. butt. This second pair kind of reminds me of Spegel extended boot grips.

Both are in a almost black wood (ebony?), with finger grooves, palm swell and checkered. Color a lot like the first set in OFI2'2 origional post. Sorry no pictures.

Once I got them onto guns, both my wife and I decided we didn't like them as much as Spegel's. So into the box of grips they went, and have been there for at least 3 years, untill today.

Anyway, to my question, from this thread I get the feeling there are some knowledgeable collectors in the Forum of grips by these makers. If we aren't going to use them; I'm thinking I should make them available to someone who would enjoy them.

But, I have no idea how to value them; cash or maybe in trade for some Spegel grips; to put them in the Classifieds section. I could but don't want to put them on an auction site and let the bidding set the market price; I'd rather see someone here get them. Thoughts/ Suggestions?

Brad

 

[OIF2]

Can't do much with a description; post some photos and we can go from there.
Bob

 

[BAM-BAM]

I'll see what I can do. I haven't posted pics before .

BAM

 

[dnater]

Do they look like these?

 

[OIF2]

Nice stocks, dnater! They look vaguely famliar...
Bob