Eagle Grips

1205 Views 28 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Windsor Arms, 11 d ago

Hammerforged

Discussion Starter · 15 d ago

My wife found these Eagle grips for my SAA. She got them from the son of a local gunsmith who has passed away and the son is selling off the contents of his shop. I plan on keeping the "Gambler" grips that came on her put away so nothing happens to them. I had to do a bit of sanding but not much - man talk about a stink - that gutta percha stinks when it is sanded. Reminds me of working with Water Buffalo horn for knife handles. When did Colt stop with the Eagle grips? According to the archive letter my Colt was made in 1897.

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mrcvs

· #2 · 15 d ago (Edited)

The Eagle grips were completely phased out by 1896. Therefore, an 1897 production revolver would have not originally had gutta percha Eagle grips.

Edit: Not an original set, I got fleeced by the smell. The additional photographs provided proves these aren’t original First Generation grips.

Since the smell was mentioned, when you sand gutta percha, you cannot miss the distinctive burnt rubber smell. The smell you experienced, as these are later grips, wasn’t that.

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mrcvs

· #6 · 15 d ago

Mikebiker said:
Sorry they are not original 1st generation grips. I am not sure if any of the seconds had eagles but the thirds did.

Agreed, I wonder what the bad smell was as it sure sounds like gutta percha.

Yes, they look too good and too crisp to be First Generation grips.

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mrcvs

· #14 · 14 d ago

cascabel said:
Eagle grips are gone from 1st Gen SAAs around serial #142,000.

Yes, circa 1891, they were mostly phased out. But a few are found on some revolvers as late as 1896. Not as late as 1897, the date of the OPs revolver. It’s debatable if some of these fitted 1892 to 1896 are original to the revolver. Some are, but probably not all of them. There was no firm cutoff date.

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mrcvs

· #15 · 14 d ago

Here’s the thread I was thinking of when I posted that these Eagle grips might be as late as 1896.

The general consensus is they are not original to this particular revolver but there is a possibility they might be original.

Well Worn Nickel SAA from 1896

Ive been offered this 1896 SAA in 45 Colt. I think it was probably factory nickel plated but do not have a letter for it. Very little nickel is left as you can see. Terrible pictures. I know the seller and he is very honest. Any thoughts on what it is worth?

www.coltforum.com

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mrcvs

· #19 · 14 d ago

Mikebiker said:
The term used " Gutta Percha " would imply a set of first generation grips. That term is incorrect as they were mde from Hard Rubber and are not actual Gutta Percha. The recent grips are a form of plastic.

Yes, I get a little careless and use the term gutta percha when describing hard rubber first generation grips. Both are plant (tree) based materials, however.