Grips

[oo_buck]

Looking for a set of grips for my "Stock" Ruger Vaquero.  It's the old model, in .44Mag.  It has the standard wood grips on it, and I'm looking for something a little bit different, to set off the stainless.

I love the genuine stag grips, but don't know if I can stand to pay that much for them.  But, I really don't want the stag-like grips I've seen.

Anyway, anyone know where to find a good price on a set of real stags, or at the very least a set of the Ruger "white" grips.  Checked the ruger website, but my internet won't let me get to them on ruger's site.....

I would also be open to any other "different" grips, be it differnt wood or whatever.

Thanks
Buck

[KENTDEP]

Look here for other nice grips too-

http://www.clccustomgrips.com/

Jay

[Lloyd Smale]

Go here he sells elk and moose stags that are more reasonalby priced the sambar stags http://grashornsgunworks.com/_wsn/page2.html  Also do a search for ruger grips on ebay.

[Blackhawk44]

Lett Grips is on the web, they do the factory grips for Ruger.  For real stag, check Eagle and Ajax.

[BlkHawk73]

Lett Grips is on the web, they do the factory grips for Ruger.  For real stag, check Eagle and Ajax.

  Ahhh, Lett closed up a while ago.  They're no longer in business. 

  For grips, Cary C is the creme de la creme for Ruger SA grips.  Check ebay as factory grips  occasionally appear on there as well.

[44 Man]

The white grips look nice on the stainless guns.  Want a little scrimshaw with those grips?  Here's a couple of Lloyd's.  44 Man

[oo_buck]

Who is Cary C???

[Redhawk1]

Go with http://grashornsgunworks.com/_wsn/page2.html  . I had a set of Elk Stag horn grips made for my Blackhawk, and they look great. 

[KENTDEP]

Who is Cary C???

Cary Chapman. He posts on the Ruger forum. Nice fella and he does great work. He did these Black Micarta grips for me.-


And


They fit great and for the money I paid I think that they are a great deal.

Jay

[Lloyd Smale]

For half what you pay for a set of real stags you can buy a set of white micartas and have 44 man do his majic on them. I only have one set of elk stags that i bought from eagle and to be totally honest they havent impressed me. They look great but there very pourous and the grip screw pulled through because of it. I had to dish out the area by the screw inserts and fill it with jb weld on the back side of the grips. If your going with elk make sure the people your buying them from are willing to pick a denser set. Problem is that if you want a set with real good bark, they are the ones that are going to be pourous so a guy needs to be conservative when it comes to percentage of bark on the grips. If i bought another set id want them with either no bark to look like ivory or bone or very little.

[KENTDEP]

+1 to the above.

In my mind, one of the best grip matterials for a working gun is micarta. It is just plain tough. On a bar-b-que gun I would pick stag or ivory but not if I intended to use the gun and shoot heavy loads.

My $.02

Jay

[Lloyd Smale]

actually Jay believe it or not sambar stag is a pretty durable grip material too. I wouldnt say the same about elk  stag though.

[KENTDEP]

Are they as tough as micarta?

Jay

[Redhawk1]

Lloyd, do you think the Elk stag grips will hold up from Grashorns Gunworks on my Blackhawk in 45 Colt with heavy loads, or should I put the factory grips on for hunting and carring in the woods?

[Lloyd Smale]

nothing is as tough as REAL micarta but its expensive and not what most of the white grips out there are made from. Most are just a polymer plastic which is very durable also. Next for durablity for a hard kicking gun is dall sheep horn but its as expensive as ivory. Sambar stag is pretty tough stuff not as tough as micarta but will take alot of abuse. Elk stag if it is a solid piece is pretty good but the problem with it is alot of it is very porous and the grips with a high percentage of bark are more pourous then the plain ones. If i was going to go elk stag with a hard kicking gun id look for a more plain set. I have real nice looking set on a 41 mag but the grip screw pulled right though and they look like a sponge inside. In a black grip a black micarta is just as durable as white and real buffalo horn is another good one. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with a nicely figured set of walnuts or cocabola grips either.

[Boxhead]

I will add that a key to grip longevity is a tight fit of the grips to the grip frame. These are factory grips that were refitted by drilling the grip pin hole oversize and using bedding compound (Brownells acraglass in my case) to fill it and along the top of the grips where they but against the grip frame. Doing this allowed positioning the grips such that they could then be fitted assembled to the contours of the grip frame for a much improved feel. They were then finished with Tru-Oil, I still need to go over them with rottenstone to get the final finish I want. Also, the new finish brought out the bit of grain that existed that could not be seen before. They now liiterally fit with a light "snap" heard when pressed into place.

[KENTDEP]

I like those Boxhead. The factory grips do look good if you do a little more finish work on them don't they?

Dave Clements once told me that many Ruger grips look good if you just sand them down to correctly fit the frame and then do a good oil finish on them. I would have to agreee.

Jay

[Redhawk1]

Lloyd, I got with Pat from Grashorns Gunworks Friday, we discussed a good hard set of grips for my Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt, he suggested the base of the moose antlers. He said they were hard as a rock and practically non-porous. So he made me a set today. They do not have any bark, but look real good. I can't wait to put them on my blackhawk. I think I will buy another Blackhawk in 357 Mag to put them Elk stag grip on.