S&W Grip?

rballi

I recently purchased a pre Model 19. The gun had full size checkered grips with the diamond around the screw and small S&W emblems on the stocks. The checkering on the grips was OK, but the finish was terrible. It looked like someone tried to refinish them before.I took them to a wood worker / refinisher that I know, and he could not get the stain to absorb. He thinks they are not wood. The 'butt' area of stocks are too smooth to be wood, but the inside of the stocks has a rough fiberous woodlike grain to it. They don't 'sound' like wood when you tap them together.What are they?

rballi

The inside of the stocks do have a grain to them and really looks like wood. I'll see if I can srape down some more. I'm thinking about the plastic stain you mentioned; maybe they were really soaked or dipped. The refinisher tried some chemical to get everything off and they still do not absorb. I'll post closeup pics soon.Roy

rhmc24

I have a lot of gun-wood experience and use leather dye as a stain. Depending on the surface of the wood, it will or will not penetrate. I would take paint remover and carefully scrub the checkering with an old tooth brush, also the inside. Then try the stain on the inside to see how it works. Use alcohol on a rag or brush to lighten or even out the color. Once you get it looking how you want it, put on varnish and rub most of it off with your toothbrush before it dries.I buy a bottle of black and a bottle of brown Fiebings leather dye and mix a small batch, mostly brown with a little black to get the color I want. Most brown leather dye is a bit too red for my liking, therefore I recco Fiebings. Note that after you get your stain on and let it dry, it may look too light. The varnish will darken it. I recco you finish one inside till you get it looking how you want it. Then do the checkering. Note that the checkering will probably come out darker than the non checkered areas. Hope this helps. Robert