Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Gratuitous Gun Pr0n #79...

.44 Hand Ejector, 2nd Model, c.1921
.38 Safety Hammerless, 3rd Model, c.1893
.32 Safety Hammerless, 1st Model, c.1900
I detest mother-of-toilet-seat faux nacre stocks with a vengeance. On the other hand, I've grown rather fond of real m.o.p stocks on old nickel Smiths, even though they're much more for looking than shooting when they're that old. Those N-frame stocks are worth purt near as much as the gun to which they're bolted*, and would likely crack to flinders under the recoil, being as how they're probably pushing ninety years old.


*If not more. I haven't checked to see what vintage stocks are bringing, vis-a-vis new ones, and that's not the nicest 2nd Model .44 H.E. on the planet, either.

20 comments:

Scott J said...

Check out my book of face timeline this afternoon.

I have plans to take Blingy the pre-10 nickel .38 out for a spin at lunch (unless we get derailed) and plan to post my own gun pron.

Knucklehead said...

Is it just the grips that are unsafe or do you believe the handguns themselves are unsafe to shoot?

Ancient Woodsman said...

Yet another reason to come here - the vocabulary lessons. I'd had a semester on various invertebrates of the sea a long time ago at UNH and never remember hearing the term "nacre". Mind. Blown.

On the post, I'd love it if Smith would make that .32 with modern materials & methods and maybe in .32 H&R magnum. Sure, it would never sell - or maybe would sell the two that I'd buy - but things like that are fun for mental exercise.

Dwight Brown said...

Ancient Woodsman:

Make that three.

Tam almost certainly knows better than I do (since she's forgotten more about Smiths than I'll ever know) but what's the minimum production run for something like the Lew Horton specials? 500 or so?

497 to go...

Commander_Zero said...

My dream gun is a .44 Triple Lock.

og said...

Real MOP is not as rare as one might think, but it is bloody hard to work with. And yes, older= brittle. Swap to some nice hard rubber or imitation ivory ones for fun shooting, and save the MOP ones for show.

NotClauswitz said...

Wanted some bitchin' fossilized mammoth clappers for my Ed Brown, but the feeling passed for the same splintery reason. Got some rough grips made from the old tree that used to be in our front yard instead. Wood grips for the M1909 Colt are also fragile and spendy.

Will said...

Is that concrete?!!

Tam said...

"Is that concrete?!!"

Yes. It's not like I'm dragging them around on it. :p

og said...

NotC: You can buy bonded ivory with or without COLT logo, they age, discolor, and do everything like real ivory EXCEPT break easily and cost a fortune. I like shooting mine. You can even get them scrimshawed to look like aged toofuses.

Matthew said...

Dwight, 496...

NotClauswitz said...

Og thanks! I was just thinking about that, or Stag grips!

will_1400 said...

Now you just need to lose the pimp grips and get you some proper ivory stocks for those guns, especially that .44. Good looks and durable enough to shoot.

Tam said...

will_1400,

You put whatever stocks you want on your .44 H.E.s and I'll put whatever ones I want on mine. ;)

('Sides, I've got wood stocks for using, should I care to fire the thing.)

Matthew said...

Mother of pearl grips ain't for eatin', they're just for lookin' through.

Old NFO said...

Pretty, and you're right worth MORE than the guns... sigh... And sadly stag grips pretty much do the same thing. But that IS a nice little triple! :-)

Skip said...

Guy that made my 10,000 tr old mastodon panels and knife handles is not too pricey.

staghounds said...

I should probably stop shooting mine...

Who is that, Skip?

Anonymous said...

"Mother of toilet seat," nice. I'm gonna file that one away.

That .44 fairly begs to be fired. Vision of big slow lead slugs cutting closely adjacent holes.

Goober said...

Matthew; see, this is why I read the comments. Random Josie Wales references that make me guffaw halfway through a sip of kokanee.