My New Grips

by
posted on March 28, 2013
wiley-clapp.jpg (4)

To my admittedly prejudiced hand and eye, the classic handguns are great examples of the saying that “form follows function.” Shaped for completely practical reasons, they are as efficient as they are beautiful. Like many tools, they exist for immediate but specific needs and are more often carried than actually used. As such, it is not surprising that some shooters decorate their tools. Some employ the services of artists who engrave the handgun’s surface, others like to use various forms of etching. I personally like to take advantage of a classic handgun characteristic that is fast disappearing. For me, fancy handles, scales, stocks or grips are the thing. In a world of very nicely shaped butt sections of moulded polymer, my eye—and hand—turns to the pistol or revolver with custom grips.

I’m always looking for new and exotic woods in pieces suitable for a known or as-of-yet unknown craftsman to turn into gems. Plain black walnut is excellent, as is Claro, French and English walnut. I have also used African Blackwood, Holly, Bocote, Myrtle, Cocobolo, Purpleheart and others. Recently, it has been some of the flashy North African wood—Amboyna and Thuya. It has all been a great deal of fun and not terribly expensive. On a few occasions, I have been able to put together the bucks for (legal) ivory and pearl, as well as stag, sheep and elk grips.

But recently, I have received back a pair of grips that are so beautiful that I have to share them with you. They are on a USFA SAA revolver in .45 Colt with the short 3 ¾-inch barrel. The gun is full blue and grips are in the one-piece style. The material is musk ox horn, which is exceptionally rare, especially in pieces big enough to make SAA revolver grips. In color, the material is a light cream with slightly darker streaks of butterscotch and off-white. To some degree, you can see the remains of the growth rings in the animal’s horn, which leads to the real beauty of the grips. Apparently, the horn grows in such a way as to produce wild swirls and streaks that are completely random. To the everlasting credit of the craftsman, he matched the curve of the Peacemaker grip to the grain curve of the material. He then cut and fitted them to absolute perfection. The artisan who did the work was Aaron Pursley of the Little Sharps Rifle Company of Big Sandy, Mont. Craftsmanship is alive in America, and one old musk ox did a pretty good job of growing these things.

Latest

NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta
NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta

The Rifleman Report: New Developments

Our official coverage of new products for the current year is set for next month, but we included two substantial new developments in this issue that have the potential to make significant ripples in the firearm business even before then.

Arkansas To Begin Mandatory Gun Safety Lessons In Schools

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law requiring public and open enrollment public charter schools to provide age-appropriate firearm safety instruction beginning during the 2025-2026 school year.

Adams Arms Set To Relaunch

Alexandria Pro-Fab, a contract machine shop based in Minnesota, announced that it has purchased the assets of Adams Arms, along with all of the company’s intellectual property, and it plans to relaunch the company in the second quarter of 2025.

I Have This Old Gun: Bayard Auto Pistol

The Herstal, Belgium, firm of Anciens Etablissements Pieper was apparently expecting big things when, in 1908, it named its new semi-automatic pocket pistol “Bayard.”

The Armed Citizen® March 31, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

New For 2025: Benelli USA Nova 3 Tactical

This latest update to Benelli’s pump-action shotgun gives users a few upgrades over previous generations, making the new NOVA 3 the most exciting pump-gun yet to come from the Italian maker.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.