What's up with ORANGE grips on Colt 2nd, 3rd gen BP revolvers?

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ClemBert

ClemBert

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I've seen so many orange looking grips on Colt 1970's through 1980's BP revolvers. Is there some sort of history behind the orange-ish color? I personally like the darker mahogany and even the red mahogany or red cherry color grips that have the same color as you'll find on furniture.

It's just a personal preference so no one take offense....I just thought there must be some history behind the orange color stain someone decided to use....but they don't all seem to have them...Bad stain lot?
 
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High Standard produced some BP revolvers that were light colored, but without a photo I don't know exactly what you are referring to.

Pietta has produced some in European walnut and also a hardwood of some type. The walnut ones are fairly dark, whereas the hardwood ones are usually stained a dark red/cherry color.

I personally like their hardwood ones as they seem to have more figure to the wood as they seem to be flat-sawn. The walnut ones are more of a quarter-sawn straight grain.

Jim

Hardwood:

Pietta_1851_Navy_Second_Model.jpg

Walnut:

Pietta_Griswold_Gunnison.jpg
 
Those are definitely orange, and I don't like. I have never seen any grips like that before, but I may be a babe in the woods.

The wood on the fourth one looks nice but I gag on the color.

The first appears to me to be a replica 1862 Pocket police .36 5-shot. Nice gun except the grip.

The second appears to be a replica 1851 Navy 2nd Model with the squareback TG. Nice gun except for the grip.

The third appears to be a replica 1851 Navy squareback with a steel TG and backstrap. London model? Nice gun except for the grip.

The fourth appears to be a replica 1851 Navy 2nd Model squareback with silver plated backstrap and TG, and is period correct in that the rammer screw enters from the right side. Nice gun except for the grip.

What are the manufacturers? Date codes?

Not trying to be an a$$ but where do you come up with this stuff? I am not doubting you a bit but I have never encountered those.

Just curious...

Jim
 
Those are all Colts made in the 70's/80's I believe. If you shop around for those "Second Generation Colts" you see a fair amount of them. I was just trying to understand if they were trying to mimic a stain color from the 1860's. Google "Colt 2nd generation blackpowder revolver" and see quite a few...not all. They are gorgeous products with the color case hardening...I'm just trying to learn about the grip color...they don't all have them and maybe it's a bad reaction of the stain to the particular wood that was used on a particular run of them.
p.s. And when a Clemson Tigers grad tells you he doesn't care for "orange" :cuss:....Maybe if they had put a white tiger paw on the sides of the grips I'd think it was da bomb. :D
 
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Just got my '62 pocket navy(1974) out to compare against the '51 pocket(1978), I never noticed the "orangeish" shade before I read this grip2.jpg .
 
Here's part of Madcratebuilder's collection...I don't know which are 2nd and which are 3rd gen Colt branded but it looks like 10 out of 13 are close to the orange grip thing I was talking about. Beautiful collection he has!

mycolts0709-jpg.jpg
 
Clem, that's a very nice collection. I could not even keep up with all of them at my age. I see the orange and the blonde wood.
 
ClemBert said:
p.s. And when a Clemson Tigers grad tells you he doesn't care for "orange" :cuss:....Maybe if they had put a white tiger paw on the sides of the grips I'd think it was da bomb. :D
Click to expand...
ClemBert, although I am not a Tigers fan, I work just a few miles from Clemson, I definitely agree on the grips.
Please as said earlier, no one take offense. I have seen these before and thought these beautiful pistols would be more suited with darker grips. Just my personal preference though.
 
I like the orange grips on the Colt 2nd Gens. I've never seen any originals with that color but I like it because it just looks good to me.
 
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It’s a natural tint for a lot of older shellac finishes. We don’t see it so much anymore because woodworkers and furniture makers have moved on to more durable “modern” finishes. You used to see it a lot on older cheap furniture like children’s bedroom sets, rockers, etc...
Some of it gets more red with age but some was like that brand new.
 
Well, there you go...Looks like in the 70's and 80's they either purposely tried to follow the recipe used 100+ years ago or the shellac/varnish was not as stable as products today and you got what you see. Interesting stuff! Maybe it could grow on me. ;)

TigerPaw1.jpg

TigerPaw2.jpg
 
Shellac is a somewhat weak finish by today's standards - it dissolves in alcohol, it's sensitive to moisture (turns whitish when exposed to), wears easy... It's not for everyone, but if you want a period-correct finish then shellac is your only option (for the lacquered grips that is).
 
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maint1517 said:
o_Oo_O
Those pictures are just wrong ClemBert
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:neener:

Well, I suppose it would not be period correct as Clemson as an institution didn't exist until 1889. Interesting factoid, Thomas G. Clemson was actually a northerner (PA) but the son-in-law of John C. Calhoun. Clemson sits on Fort Hill, the plantation of Calhoun.

Enough of Clemson orange....but take a look at THIS LINK. It just might explain the variation in the shades of the Colt grips. QUOTE: 'Historically, the most commonly sold shellac is called "orange shellac"......'

310px-Shellac_varities.png

986px-Shellac_board.jpg
 
ClemBert said:
Well, there you go...Looks like in the 70's and 80's they either purposely tried to follow the recipe used 100+ years ago or the shellac/varnish was not as stable as products today and you got what you see. Interesting stuff! Maybe it could grow on me. ;)

View attachment 783602

View attachment 783603
Click to expand...

Clem,

The first pic appears to be an original cased Colt 1860 Army 4-screw cut for shoulder stock. Very nice!

The second pic appears to be a replica Colt 1862 Pocket Police .36 5-shot which looks like new, but I see no proof marks or date code. The case colors are to die for! Also very nice!

Many years ago I bought an 1862 Pocket Police kit as a Christmas gift for my Dad. He was ecstatic about the kit and proceeded to finish it to his whims. Just before he died in 2010 I visited him and he really wanted me to have it.

It was so poorly done that I told him to have his wife (not my mother) to just sell all of his guns and use the money. I think he was a bit miffed by that but that is what they did.

What is up with the paw prints? Is that an identifier for an auction site?

The orange will never grow on me. I would have it look like a MacIntosh. ;)

Jim
 
Ha! Expat, Clembert has ties to the Clemson U. Tigers, he was making a joke by putting a Clemson tiger paw on the orange grips!
 
Happily for you, Jim, Colt seems to have released it's C&B revolvers in every (shellac) color variation possible - from almost blonde up to dark red and brown. I'm quite fond on the dark red finish, BTW - makes those revolvers look rather dandy I think!
 
Brad_Bradsher said:
Ha! Expat, Clembert has ties to the Clemson U. Tigers, he was making a joke by putting a Clemson tiger paw on the orange grips!
Click to expand...

I have no interest in college anything so the joke is on me. That's good by me!

I am an NHL guy and most of you are probably not. Did you guys see the Chicago Blackhawks game last Thursday? A game to be remembered for all time. Never seen a game like that. Most of you don't have a clue what I am talking about, but we are off topic.

Jim
 
My Colt Model 1860 Gen.3 complete with it's orange grips. Don't know how authentic this particular shade of orange is but it doesn't really bother me or detract from the overall quality and stylishness of the gun itself..

xbjGj5k.jpg

My new Pietta Colt Model 1860 definitely has a more reddish hue to the grips that may or not be correct but I still like the way they look anyways. The color case hardening and the bluing on this gun are first rate and the action is super smooth!

A0d5wpn.jpg
 
expat_alaska said:
I have no interest in college anything so the joke is on me. That's good by me!

I am an NHL guy and most of you are probably not. Did you guys see the Chicago Blackhawks game last Thursday? A game to be remembered for all time. Never seen a game like that. Most of you don't have a clue what I am talking about, but we are off topic.

Jim
Click to expand...
Yes I watched it, Accountant laces up skates for Blackhawks , Scott Foster , got the phone call to “fill in “ since the other 2 goalies were out. He stopped all the shots at him. Hero of or for the day. Will be a great story for his grandchildren.
I for one hopes he does well.

Ok now back to the original post.
I for one do not like orange grips.
Have a large day.
 
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