All you gripmakers

[Big Rack]

Why don't I ever see bone revolver grips, specifically Ruger SA. I know they'd be a PIA to make and I'm sure they would stink like sanding stag but for the right guy the material would be cheap and I expect most guys these days have pretty good dust collection.

Years ago at Guns Of August in Ohio I thought Frank Koval (passed) of Koval Knives had a table full which looked to be made with a duplicator and left in the rough.

Seems like with the price and lack of stag maybe these would be a good idea, especially after aging naturally or artificially.

Thoughts?

[pietro]

I actually think I still have a set of bone grip panels someplace in my junk, that I took off a used ROA I bought a few years ago because I didn't care for the plainess / lack of character. IDK if the gripframe is a XR3 or an XR3-RED.

I blackened them, to see how the stainless ROA would look, but ordered/installed a set of Lett's black/silver lamo grips instead.

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[Big Rack]

I kinda like the lack of figure and think they would look great with age like an old knife handle, or soaked in "Old Bones" (think that's the name of it)
It also seems like with todays carbide tooling they wouldn't be too hard to make.
Anyone got one of those Craftsman duplicators and an old bull laying around?

[David LaPell]

I had been looking into making my own knife handles and scales with both bone and stag for some time now. I had talked with Patrick Grashorn and a couple others about it, and yes they talk about the stench. I heard a good belt sander is an absolute must. I'm not really sure about making pistol grips since to me you would be using elk stag, but I also saw that Duke Veturino had a beautiful set of grips on a SAA Colt that were made from the thighbone of a bison. There is actually a farm north of me that raises and butchers Bison for the meat (anything is possible here in NY!) maybe I can talk to them about getting one of those things. I heard they are pretty hefty.

[waksupi]

The problem with bone and antler, is you need pieces large enough to get away from the pith in the center of the horns, and the curve void in the bone. If you can get enough hard stabilizing resin in the horn you can get away with having some pith, but it won't look as good. The India Sambur stag horn is the best, if you can get your hands on any.
As far as coloring horn or bone, potassium permanganate is hard to beat.

[PanaDP]

The problem with bone and antler, is you need pieces large enough to get away from the pith in the center of the horns, and the curve void in the bone. If you can get enough hard stabilizing resin in the horn you can get away with having some pith, but it won't look as good. The India Sambur stag horn is the best, if you can get your hands on any.
As far as coloring horn or bone, potassium permanganate is hard to beat.

Surely every cow fibia in the world is large enough for SA grip panels, right?

[waksupi]

Surely every cow fibia in the world is large enough for SA grip panels, right?

It is the inside curve of the bone that is hard to get around, if you avoid the honeycomb of the joint area. I have been using buffalo bone for knife handles, and you get a lot of waste to even get knife scales. Now, if we only had access to elephant bones......

[Coffeecup]

. . . or mammoth leg bones. I had a short piece that made a nice set of grips, but now it seems no one is importing it (or maybe the Siberians have another use for it).

[NoZombies]

Waksupi, I've found that Hawaiian Axis Deer antler is as good as, or maybe even better than India Sambar. I've had a number of the antlers over the years, and the pith is almost non-existent, and the natural "bark" of the antler is darker and has more character than most of the Sambar I was seeing, even before they stopped importing it regularly.

[waksupi]

Waksupi, I've found that Hawaiian Axis Deer antler is as good as, or maybe even better than India Sambar. I've had a number of the antlers over the years, and the pith is almost non-existent, and the natural "bark" of the antler is darker and has more character than most of the Sambar I was seeing, even before they stopped importing it regularly.

Good to know, I'll keep an eye out for it.

[canyon-ghost]

If I remember right, Trey would know a grip maker that does stag and bone.

[Greg B.]

One of the guys in our cowboy club made grips for his Rugers out of moose antlers. They looked good and had a rough enough surface to keep your hands from slipping.

Greg B.