Wood or Stag or Giraffe Bone S&W 66 Grips?

F

FLChinook

New member
I've finally added a very nice S&W 66-3 3" to my pre-27 and 36 nickel flat-latch. It has rubber Pachmayr grips that handle nicely but look, well, like rubber Pachmayr grips. I'd like to dress this little beauty up a bit.

I will sometimes carry this so (big) target grips may not be not so good. Choices I see include S&W (original type) wood grips, stag grips and giraffe bone grips. I actually like the look of the giraffe bone which looks a lot like ivory but I have no idea how durable giraffe bone is.

What say some of you who have more revolvers than I've had hot breakfasts.. :D
 
Why Giraffe bone? Why not cattle? Is there a noticeable difference?

Bone grips are durable, they tend to be easy to work, and you can use a variety of finishes.
Bone does tend to stink when you work it.

If you can't get ivory, bone is an excellent substitute.
 
I don't understand why Giraffe bone is used for a pistol grip. Other than wanting to be completely random, I would just go with stag.
 
I suppose the molecular makeup of bone and stag are similar. But thinking about it, bone lives its life in a more porus environment than stag. I wonder if bone has to be sealed somehow to keep oily rags from gradually affecting them...
 
I've had bone grips, that came installed on a revolver I bought online, and can only say they have no character, show pores, and will stain readily from whatevr (sweat, spliis, solvents, etc.)

I can't say the same for stag, and would readily recommend it over bone - but on a stainless Smith, I would also strongly suggest a peek at Eagle Grips Heritage grips in checkered (also available w/o checkering) Rosewood, which IMO look killer on SS.

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These are my small bore guns, all with Eagle Grips Secret Service grips of rosewood. The one Model 19 still has original factory grips.

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Bob Wright
 
These are my small bore guns, all with Eagle Grips Secret Service grips of rosewood. The one Model 19 still has original factory grips.
Click to expand...

I think of small bore as .22 :) Do you set the bar at .38...
 
Giraffe, due to the animal being so big to start with, is thicker and stronger than almost any other bone. Stag is scarce and expensive.
Some like the aging effect bone acquires. If you don't, it can probably be stabilized. I do stabilizing but have never done bone. Ye got me to thinking, maybe I should experiement.
 
I've settled on the stag. I'll send a picture after Christmas since this is a gift to me from my wife (she doesn't know about this yet, of course)... :D
 
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These are elk stag by Patrick Grashorn /aka/ "The Executioner".
Note how the barkless Colt Diamondback grips look quite a bit like bone.
 
These knives have Giraffe bone scales. They are dyed and stabilized, I like the looks of them so much that I tried to find some bone large enough to make grips for my 44 special, but had no luck.
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