Bone grips for a 1911?

I had some elk antler grips on a Remington 1875 repro. They looked great, felt fine in the hand. I didn't love the revolver, so sold it. FWIW, I understand it's somewhat hard to work with, can be brittle.

I dont make them, but I got these water buffalo panels off Etsy from a boy in Thailand (I think). He does nice work, prices were very reasonable ($30-40) and the grips feel great.

They look and are "smooth", but they arent slippery. Kind of have a slight tackiness to them.

I made a bone handle for my patch knife. It was brittle to work with. I think i cracked one. Iirc.
It is pretty primitive but thats acceptable among bp enthusiasts.
A very good blade though. You can shave with it.

I've had a few Case knives with jigged bone scales, I like them.

Aside from possible technical problems in the making, why not? I've seen some giraffe bone grips that are beautiful.

Go for it!

Cow bone (typically femur) is reasonable nice to work with. It carves like a softer hardwood and has very fine "grain."

Aficionados argue over whether or not to seal the finished work (and, then, with what material). Natural Lacquer will give a golden tinge which can be pleasant.
I've always left mine natural, free to pick up skin oils and the like from the environment. They also develop character from the dings and nicks, too.

But, that's personal preference. Your Mileage May Vary.

I like the stories of mystery author Raymond Chandler, and he mentions automatics with bone grips on a couple of occasions. As I learned more about guns, I realized that I never seemed to see grips that were described as bone, except for "jigged bone", which did not seem to be what he meant. (The bone-gripped guns he mentioned were usually the property of weatlhy, high-society types.) I began to think he may have meant ivory, and not literal bone. I am glad to learn he could very well have been right.

I believe this is jigged bone on my Case 3 bladed Stockman knife.

An older picture, I put bone grips on mine awhile back and really like them as they give a good hold on the gun. I opted not to seal mine and they have aged nicely. It gets a fair amount of edc and they have picked up the oil from my hands and cleaning as well as some powder stains. They have yellowed and stained more since the pic. I took a chance on eBay and paid between $30 and $40 shipping included.

I like unsealed, unpolished bone (especially water buffalo) on guns and swords because it provides a raspy, almost gritty sort of grip which is not overly abrasive, sort of like the feel of sodium bicarbonate on a surface.