Ivory or bone pistol grips

[davy]

I am just wondering .. if you wanted to make a set of ivory or bone pistol grips, what are the best options aside from expensive tough to get Elephant ivory. I am not interested in the faux or fake plastic stuff ... so what IYHO was most commonly used on old revolvers, and what would you reccommend now? :thumbsup:

Thanx

Davy

 

[wulf]

Ivory..it is smooth without being slippery..I have ivory grips on both an 1873 Colt and on an
1836 Paterson...Ivory is purchasable legal at some
places. I got myne at The house of Muzzle Loaders
in S.California. There is nothing like[url] it..in[/url] my
opinion...

 

[Maestro]

I didn't make them, but I have elk antler grips on a Ruger Vaquero - they're nice (IMHO). :hatsoff:

 

[WRussell]

Hippo ivory is legal, available (they have to cull the herds) and not outrageously expensive. Well, I guess it depends on your definition of outrageous.

Try Boone Trading Company Inc (Google "hippo ivory")

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Yep, there is nothing like ivory grips! Camel bone has some of the same qualities--if you can find some.

 

[renovato]

Mastodon ivory. It's real ivory and already has a bit of age to it. Looks great, not too hard to work and is affordable. A lot of modern "genuine ivory" grips are made from it.

 

[LRB]

Ivory of six gun grip size, will be expensive, mastodon can be higher or lower depending on color and quality. If your looking for Colt Mod.P size, you would need about a half inch thick to work with. An alternative may be an elk beam and remove the bark. Moose may work if you can get a piece with minimum pith. Bone large enough for the job may be hard to find.

 

so what IYHO was most commonly used on old revolvers

On originals outside of a VERY few which used hippo ivory - they were all elephant ivory.
Stag grips weren't used until the 20th Century.

Bone can work - but is often overly boiled and bleached during processing which makes it brittle. You can overcome this by soaking in something like Danish Oil for a week and then letting dry for a week or two. google buffalo bone - a shoulder blade from one will often be big enough. Another option is a BIG steer shoulder bone - if you've got a local slaughter house check with them.

Otherwise as Wick noted a big elk or red deer scale will fit - IIRC Eagle Grips carries elk grips already shaped for a pretty decent price and if you can find a solid piece of moose it is wonderful stuff to work with.

Real Ivory is still available but be prepared to spend $300.00 + for pistol grip sized pieces.

 

[Bri in Chi]

If Mastodon ivory is so valuable, why aren't any entrepreneurs breeding Mastodons ? It seems like there is a big market out there.

 

[Story]

Well, go find a pair! :grin: [url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon[/url]

 

[Wes/Tex]

If Mastodon ivory is so valuable, why aren't any entrepreneurs breeding Mastodons ? It seems like there is a big market out there.

Same reason you don't see a lot of Nauga farms! :rotf:

 

[hawkeye1755]

Davy, here is a pair of ivory pistols from
Katherina the Great.

They are both some of the most beautiful pistols that i ever saw.
:hatsoff:

 

[davy]

Those are beauties for sure! :bow:

Davy

 

[jaxenro]

Why aren't they breeding mastadons? From what I understand, they are going to try. Sort of.

It appears there is frozen semen in with all those nice pieces of ivory we all like, and that being a close relative of the elephant they are going to impregnate an elephant with mastadon semen to produce a ? mastaphant ? or something that closely approximates a mastadon.

 

[renovato]

Those guns never fail to take my breath away. The epitome of the gun maker's art.

 

[bavarialand]

OK, Mastadon, Mammoth cloning will be done. BUT, it will take about 50 to 75 years before a legitimate living "clone" will be availible to the zoo market. as of june 2006 no one has opted to start the process. and it will be VERY expensive to raise the animals in a bio-proof faciclity to emsure no out side contamination from "modern" germs. as the animals will have NO immune system until they are "infected" with a known pathogin. just for your info. Dave :grin:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

So does that mean that there won't be a mastodon hunting season any time soon? I was starting to get my hopes up, but I guess I'll have to settle for a Nauga every now and then. If only they weren't so hard to chew....

 

[renovato]

Would a .32 do for Nauga hunting, or would one need a more substantial caliber? :haha:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

A .32 will do nicely, but you need to get very close. Stay down wind--the Nauga's sense of smell, as is well known, is better than a blood hound's.