Grips

[holsterguy]

Hey, all you gripmakers out there. Thinking about using real buffalo horn to make a set of grips for a Colt clone. What am I getting into? I have made elk antler and faux ivories in the past.
Thanks guys!

[Mk42gunner]

Is your buffalo horn thick enough to sand flat and still have room for the grip screw bushings?

I ask because I made a set of cow horn scales for a patch knife years ago by boiling and pressing the horn flat. Worked fine for a couple of years; then the horn tried to retake its original shape. The knife now has walnut scales on it. The cow horn was about 1/8" thick when all the work was done.

Robert

[pietro]

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I'm thinking that I would cut a horn in half lengthwise, thenfill & flatten the concave sides to fit the grip frame.

[Drm50]

I’ve made horns and small grips out of cow horn. Never fooled with Buffalo because I didn’t have any. Is it the same as cow horn?

[holsterguy]

This stuff is water buffalo horn. The panels are 2 3/8 x 5 x 9/16 thick.

[contender1]

I'm starting to fool with Dall sheep & bighorn sheep horn for grips. I have one set of blanks right now,, and recently acquired a pair of odd horns to be turned into grips. I'm having a grip maker cut them, and send them for stabilizing before I go to work on making any grips. He doesn't recommend using the "soak in water & flatten" method.

[OS OK]

am44mag ... is a very talented grip maker over in Oklahoma, he made these for me...his work is impeccable.

He'd be the one to 'PM' about hints-n-tips.



The first set he made me was sheep horn...

[Bazoo]

Water buffalo horn is used for revolver grips all the time. Eagle grips used to offer it before there was importation problems. I had a set on a Ruger blackhawk and then single six for 5-6 years. No problems and sold them like a fool.

[holsterguy]

Bazoo
Did you have any trouble with humidity changes? My elk grips shrink terrible in the winter. Fit perfect in the summer.

[Bazoo]

No I didn't. I used the guns that I had them on year round. They mostly were on that single six that went everywhere with me. The panels were not finished inside. I did have to give some slight fitting to an edge or two when I bought them, and I just polished them back. It was my favorite gun at the time and I looked at the grips a lot. Never any complaints, except being stupid and selling them on the 357 blackhawk. Now they are scarce.