Another S&W pistol

[44-henry]

Hello, I have another S&W question. My friend (same one) has yet another S&W, this one is a model 19-3 with the 2 1/2" barrel. It's sitting in 95% or better condition, but there is one thing that I'm puzzled by. It is a round butt with ivory grips which are possibly real, but they have the S&W emblem in them. Did S&W ever make a run of pistols with either ivory (or micarta) grips? It is really a very nice pistol and the grips look good on it.

 

[el44vaquero]

I've seen a couple pairs on ebay. You can buy colt madallions or s&w by themselves and then have them recessed into the grips of your choice. Not saying this is what was done, but could be a possibility.

 

[Ron James]

S&W could answer your question. Most of the major grip makers offers grips with or without medallions. Just about any material under the sun.

 

[XavierBreath]

If you want to know for certain whether your grips are ivory, remove them and heat a needle to cherry red in a flame. Touch the needle to the back of one of the grips. Ivory does not melt. It smells exactly like hair burning.

 

[Jim K]

For many years, S&W offered both genuine ivory and pearl grips from the factory. They stopped using ivory when laws restricted ivory imports, but they still offer bonded ivory grips for their 1911, and black pearlite for other guns.

Jim