Study of pre-1900 grips

[GSonnen]

A few grips in my collection:

Walnut checkered grips from a 44 DA "Frontier" model

Red mottled grips from a 4th model 38 DA

A few pearls, a gutta percha, and some "aftermarket" bone grips that date to 1910. All on 38 2nd model frames.

Please add if you have any good grip photos.

 

[opoefc]

Nice photos. Are the .38DA and the .44DA stocks numbered to the guns? The pearls won't, of course, a they are "after market" also. The safety hammerless stocks are hard rubber, not gutta percha, but they could be original and numbered to the gun. Ed

 

[cflier]

GSonnen & Ed,
I believe that the pearls could very well be factory grips as he has them on 2nd model revolvers. The factory didn't start putting medallions in the grips till the mid to late 1890s depending on the model. The early pearl grips that were manufactured by S&W tend to be thicker and heavier than after market grips I believe. The wooden grips in the first picture were used in the 1910 to 1920 time period. The gun is officially an antique but since they didn't sell quickly could very well have been shipped late with those grips.

 

[opoefc]

Mark, The pearls in the photos don't fit the guns. That's why I labeled them as "after market." Factory installed pearls were polished on the frame to fit perfectly, just like the walnut & hard rubber stocks and were numbered to the gun , in pencil. The S&W catalogs of the period, describe the pearls as being of high quality and thicker than after market examples. If the poster can send me the serial number of the .38DA in the photo, I can tell him whether the gun was built with pearls, or hard rubber, as I have the factory production records ( not the shipping records) for the .38DAs, which notes the configuration of the gun when manufactured, not when shipped. The shipping records may, or may not, describe the type of stocks on the gun when shipped, but S&W apparently did not change the type of stocks on a gun to pearl on an already built gun in the vault, to fill an order, but instead issued an order to the Floor Foreman to build a gun with pearls. That way they were sure the pearls were fitted to the gun to begin with. Ed.