The grips you see are similar to the grips you will receive. They can be fit to most all Model 1873 Colt 1st. and 2nd generation single action army models. They can also be fitted to Pietta, Uberti and USFA Colt clones. I remember seeing grips like these around the gun shows in the 1960s and 1970s, they were often on 1st gen. Colt SAA. They have totally disappeared these days, because they are salted away on old collectible frontier era guns. Well, now here is a chance to have a set of highly decorative grips that look and feel just like the old ones, with all the grain and character of mother natures material. These grips are made of natural bone some may have crack lines, but are completely stable. No two grips will have exactly the same color or pattern. They are intended to give you Colt a vintage look. On the inside of the grip is a locator pin hole, it is positioned to match up with your Colt pin, but many need to be enlarged or moved slightly to fit on your particular Single Action Colt or copy. They are shown here on a 1st generation Colt SAA and may fit your gun slightly different, and remember they are natural natural material and will have some imperfections.
Most of the early 1870/80 "Hash Mark" bone gun grips and other bone items were made by individuals or small shops. In 1891 the Rogers Manufacturing Company of Rockfall, Connecticut started making manufactured bone products, and bone fertilizer. They began to make "Hash Mark" bone handles for knives and guns around the turn of the century. They made other bone products including combs, toothbrush handles, baby pacifiers, and one of their biggest sellers, corn-cob pipe bits. At first, all of the bone used by Rogers Mfg. Co. came from domestic cattle. By the 1920s, or perhaps even earlier, all of the raw bone was coming from overseas, mainly from Argentina. By the time of the first World War Rogers Mfg. Co. was the nation's largest maker of manufactured bone products. The bone used by Rogers during the war was all imported from Argentina, Brazil, and a new source: Australia. The Australian bone came mainly from old tough range cattle, and was very thick, dense and strong. This heavy Australian bone quickly became the preferred material for handles. The gun grips by Rogers Mfg. Co. were straight cut in a style that resembled hash marks and I now refer to this design as "Hash Mark". This unique style of cutting was, a long, straight cut with short dash cuts between.Though these distinctive grips are no longer made commercially, hand made " Hash Mark" bone stocks are still available from River Junction Trade Company.
