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2 comments

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  • RancheroPaul
    Saxon is "right on" and I would totally agree with his assessment of this gun's grips. If you look at the close up picture, you will see where whoever "sanded" the top of the left grip did a great job, but also left the "evidence" of that having been done. The Checkering sort of fades away leaving the lines and the diamonds just sort of being "blended" into oblivion. Also, there is a marked color difference, at least in the picture, between the top part, (sanded portion), which is apprently caused by a difference in the finish material used to "touch-up" the modification.

    The one point I would point out is the fact I have never seen a set of these grips which had one side modified before that were for sale. I personally wouldn't have any interest unless I had the other side panel and it was in original condition. Such a set of grips to me would be sort of like having "half a sandwich" with a "whole appetite!"

    Although you might be able to find a set of replacement grips for this gun, they are very scarce and generally when found, not in the best of condition,.....yet will bring a hefty price. It wouldn't be un-common to see a price of $150 - $200 for a set that was New and Never Mounted, if you could even find some that fit this description.

    I would drop the value of the gun some because of this defect, but I would not concern myself with replacing the grips provided they revealed the "pencil written" last numbers of the gun's serial number as they were marked on the back of the panels as they came from the factory when manufactured..... My 2 cents worth. It does appear to be a very nice gun from the pictures and the person does appear open in as much as he has described it as "having been fired" at some time. Too Bad about the grip modification but at least the past owner didn't "inscribe his Social Security number" on the side of it or some such thing....... Not sure why some folks do such things, but when that gun was new, it would have been easy to purchase a new grip panel for probably less than $10 so it wasn't a big deal......then, at least!

    A little added trivia for you: In 1952, these grips, (stocks), first appeared on the Officer's Model Match and on the then "New Colt .357," (of which about 15,000 were made), and were also advertised as optional "Tournament type Checkered Walnut Stocks" on the new Trooper and if ordered as an option on a Factory ordered Trooper, the cost was $5.50 extra. If you wanted to purchase a set of these from your local gun shop, they were priced at $7.50 per set........ How times have changed!

    I Miss The World I Grew Up In!
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  • manderson
    Thanks for the response. I obviously have no interest since I am collecting NIB or LNIB Pythons. Once again, very interesting and educational information.
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