Found a good deal on some unfinished 51 colt grips.

[Brutuskend]

For the pietta 51 colts that take the side screw type grips. Though I'm sure you could mount them on other makes and models if you don't mind mounting them that way.


I saw these listed on ebay as unknown grips. 2 sets for $16.00 shipped and they sure looked like Colt grips, so I took the chance. They just showed up and sure enough they are. Nice wood maybe walnut but darker than what you normally see. They just need to be sanded and shaped and a little fit work and you got yourself some grips ( I think ) alot nicer than the stock ones.



9 sets left.
New to this, but I'm guessing they fit other models as well?

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

Those are beautys there! Great find.i have a 1851 "44 brasser" best shooting pistol i got. Even better then the steel twin 1860's

 

[Brutuskend]

Yea, I just bought the pistol shown with the grips, and it came with the "Gun Fighter" grips. ( cheap, poor fitting plastic) So I'm happy to have found these and glad my crap shoot paid off?

There will be some work involved, but I hope it will be worth it. And heck, you can't really go wrong at THIS price!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174201175510

The wood seems alot denser than walnut. I'm thinking they may be some "exotic" wood?

 

[Brutuskend]

Here is one after maybe five minutes of filing and a little lite sanding.
Pretty sure this is NOT walnut. Much harder and much denser wood. Heavier wood by far, which would maybe help balance out a longer barreled revolver.
Possibly Gaboon Ebony or maybe Kingswood.
This stuff is so dense that at first glance I thought they were plastic! Would be hard to scratch and imposable to crack these guys.

 

[expat_alaska]

They might be for an 1873 SAA because they are 2-piece wood. The 1851 Navy grip is one piece. It appears from the one photo you show that it is a brass-framed "Navy" .44, and I am guessing Pietta.

Looks like a good "Covid-19 project". Looking forward to seeing the end result with plenty of photos showing the entire revolvers.

You do understand photos are mandatory?!

Regards,

Jim

 

[Brutuskend]

I suppose I should have said Colt CLONE. Yes the gun shown is a 51 pietta. These grips are longer at the butt, but other wise pretty much a perfict fit ( other than the minor fitting of course).

 

[Brutuskend]

First set after maybe 1/2 hour of filing and sanding with 320, then rubbed down.
Still a bit to do and then fitting.

The other set has less blonde grain in it. Not sure which set to use first.

Just for fun, I decided to see if I could scratch them with my thumb nail. NO GO!

These are HARD wood!
I have worked a lot of walnut and oak, these are harder than oak and MUCH harder than walnut!

If you want to upgrade your grips, or think you might want to in the future, I would jump on a couple sets of these while they last!

 

[Brutuskend]

I decided to use set #2.
Less grain showing.
One side is a bit darker than the other , but I can live with that. The lighter side is the side that will get more contact with my hand, so it may darken up over time.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

You can't see both sides on the pistol at the same time!

 

[Brutuskend]

All four grips shaped and sanded and paired up.

 

[Brutuskend]

You can't see both sides on the pistol at the same time!

Actually when I got all four done, they paired up better.

 

[Brutuskend]

These are going to be sweeet.
Now I wait for the hardware to mount them and do the final fit, trim down the butt to the right size and finish that "end of it".
These have no sealant or finish of any kind, just 600 grit sand paper and a quick wipe down with cotton.


Here is a comparative shot with the stock grips showing how much needs trimmed off of the butt.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Some folks like to make their grips oversize for bigger hands but what I've seen when they do that usually have enough wood to wrap around the bottom of the grip frame to meet.
I'm guessing you couldn't do that with those grips but you might be able to fit a piece of brass in there if you had any interest in going that route.
Might be worth thinking about before you cut them down.

 

[Brutuskend]

Good idea, I might do that. I do have big hands. Last night I found a 1851 silver half dime I am going to inlay over the top of the screw holding them together on the left hand side. It's a bit worn, but should look pretty good I think.