1858 grips

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kameron454ci

New member
I have seen a few 1858's with black grips how does one do this? with paint or stain ? of so whats the best paint/stain to make my grips black
 
Obviously BLACK paint or BLACK stain. Any other color is not going to make them black. Duh
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Wow, make a newbie to the site feel welcome why don't ye..:(.?

Anyway, the last 1858 I got from cabelas has rather dark grips. Just a dark stain or twice stained, then oil finished. I like the aged/used look it has.
 
yeah thanks for that... well I didnt just want to spray paint my grips i want something that wont chip, leave black crap on my hands and not look like a painted toy gun does anyone have any advice on this?
 
Black Powder Smoke Here You Go

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yeah thanks for that... well I didnt just want to spray paint my grips i want something that wont chip, leave black crap on my hands and not look like a painted toy gun does anyone have any advice on this?
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If you thoroughly degrease the grips, then fill in the grain, you can use a high quality spray flat black lacquer (such as Sherwin Williams) which will give you a pretty durable finish that's not going to wear off anytime soon. (And when it does, you merely repaint.)

Edit: I'm wondering if the guns you saw had either custom ebony grips or some aftermarket epoxy replicas which are cast in black, usually.
 
If you are looking for an antique look/finish. Then I beleive that leather dye or even Vinegaroon leather dye would give the best antique style finish... The Dye may rub off a little to begin with but the Vinegaroon will not.

Vinegaroon is just rusty nails soaked in Vinegar for a a few weeks.. then when it is applied to leather it reacts to the tanic acids to form a jet black/charcoal finish to leaher... One of the original formulas is from the 1850's army manual..... This should react to the tanic acid in the wood exactly the same as a nail in a fence will turn the board black... You will have to sand the grips down a little if they have a varnish on them... But if you are after a real antique look this should work great for you...

Oh and welcome to the North Corral,, pour some coffee set a spell!! ... glad to help and please share pics of your pistol... really like to see how it turns out...
 
thanks for the help guys with black grips and the Kirst my 5 1/2 inch 58 is going to have a whole new look. this gun is new and the blueing is dark i think I,m going for clean black more than a antique look
 
Kameron

I have a Pietta Lawman, which is a 1851 Pattern Colt in .44 with black grips that are made from a composite material and screwed to the revolver just like Remington grips. The material is essentially a plastic. You can buy slabs of material such as this from various vendors. It might take a phone call to verify the characteristics of the material you order because in general the description of the material is not sufficient.

I have never examined the faux ivory grips that they sell for 135.00 a pair with the eagle carving. I would not be surprised to learn that they are plastic too and the eagle is not carved but injection molded and then roughed up to look carved. That means it costs about 50 cents to make them. If the eagle is actually carved it would probably be done on a machine, which means the cost of manufacture goes up exponentially (to a buck a pair) I want to emphasize....I have never seen a pair in person (only the photos) and I could be terribly wrong about them.

BTW...Welcome to the forum.
 
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I've done some wood staining with home made vinegaroon and the results can vary quite a bit.

In musical instrument making, they often use Fiebling's Professional Oil Dye to stain non-ebony fretboards and fingerboards on stringed instruments to look like ebony. Heck - since pure black ebony is so hard to find these days - they even use it on real ebony.

Google StewMac Black Fingerboard Stain

You're probably going to have to strip whatever finish is on the grips now - but as for a quality job, I'd say iff'n it's good enough for banjos, it's good enough for gun grips.
 
If you are looking for an antique look/finish. Then I beleive that leather dye or even Vinegaroon leather dye would give the best antique style finish... The Dye may rub off a little to begin with but the Vinegaroon will not.
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The leather dyes are what they call "Spirit" dyes. Whenever I want to get that deep dark look, I use a spirit dye. The more costs you apply, the deeper it gets and will stay even if you get a chip. Then you can apply a coat or oil, over the dye. After applying, Let it dry a few minuted and rub with a cloth. This spirit dye is basically what you have in a Sharpie, permament marker pen. Once you get the darkness you want, you can never go back to whatever you had before as it does go that deep and permanent.


Be Safe !!!
 
There are a couple of companies making replacement grips in just about any color or finish you want.
I got these in fake ivory but you could get black "horn" or something similar. The color is built in to the polymer so it wont peel or scratch off. They do take a little final fitting, but its easy to do. Prices vary with options but start at round $50.00, I added the "Pewter bear claw footprints" medallions to match my bag & holster for example.
"www.TombstoneGrips.com"
was the source & they have a brazillion samples at the website for you to check out.

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replaced the original wood which I wasn't thrilled with.
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freedom475 - on leather, when you use vinegaroon to dye it, you have to neutralize it afterwards with baking soda slurry. What about when you use it on the wood - do you still need to neutralize it afterwards? Thanks!
 
kameron454 - forgot to say "welcome" to the forum. You'll meet a lot of good pards on here. Lot's of good information and help - don't be afraid to ask.

As far as the rude remarks - let it run off . some folks don't know any better.

Enjoy! :)
 
hmm a steel triger gaurd would be sweet to if you could blue it to match the gun I'm thinking of carring this gun when i get my ccp. tomarow my kirst will be here along with 50 200grn flat nose 45lc rounds I'm so excited!
 
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