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Why are wood grips so expensive?

DocsMachine

Titanium
Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Location
Southcentral, AK
I was looking for a set of plain S&W N-frame grips for a non-firearm project, and so I checked eBay.

There's lots of those kinds of grips, but some are selling for over $150! Have they suddenly become collectible somehow? S&W made a hojillion of them for years- it's not like they're rare. And they came on every gun S&W made, so I have a hard time seeing them as being a desirable, specialty model.

So what's the deal? Why are those old grips suddenly worth in some cases over $200? And a "coke bottle" set- whatever that means- worth damn near $600?

Doc.
 
Several things happen.

Somebody needs a set to complete his (Dad's, Grandpa's, etc) revolver and doesn't much care what they cost. Other sellers see that auction and start theirs +25% for good measure hoping to catch another desperate buyer.

Grip styles changed over the years so a correct set for an early revolver might be cokes or double diamonded or etc. People will pay for correct style even though most grips that era were serialized and won't match the frame number or the shape.

Many people chgd to rubber grips or etc and tossed the old ones. S&W revolvers have greatly increased in price the past few years and closer to original brings the most and the easiest to sell. Putting $150 grips on a revolver you bought yrs ago for $250 but could sell now for $750+ if "original" drives up the price.
 
Older the better as far as craftsmanship and aesthetics go. However, older pistols had grips fitted before bluing so were serialized to the frame (some stamped and some penciled) and installed at the end. Enough differences in final frame shape it's usually obvious if mismatched.

Are you looking for just functional or ??? If just functional sometimes singles can be found cheap at gunshows or auctions but two loose singles won't look very nice, most likely.
 
Don't want to put words into Doran's mouth, but...

...what he might be saying is that it's not the bluing itself that changes the frame shape - it's the fine sanding and polishing done in preparation for a good bluing job that change the frame shape. For the very best grip/frame fit (as seen on a S&W revolver) the grips need to be installed during the fine sanding stage and ID'd for that frame for final assembly and a perfect fit later on. The fit of those grips on a different frame probably won't be as good due to the minor differences between the frames created during the fine sanding/polishing step.

Regards
 








 
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