A journey in ebony

[ccdjg]

Steve,
As suggested to me by a fellow collector, this could be your gun, as pictured in an article by Robert Beeman in the first edition of Air Gun Digest (1977, page 228). The 'whiting in' of the lettering is evident, but unfortunately the poor quality of the original image means that no details of the grips can be made out. This would have been before he started to tag his guns.

[45flint]

Steve,
As suggested to me by a fellow collector, this could be your gun, as pictured in an article by Robert Beeman in the first edition of Air Gun Digest (1977, page 228). The 'whiting in' of the lettering is evident, but unfortunately the poor quality of the original image means that no details of the grips can be made out. This would have been before he started to tag his guns.

Bet you are right? I can actual see just a little of the grip looks like a standard grip to me. Maybe another tell is the rear sight when I got it was totally down just like the picture. Had to move it higher to shoot it. Only one of his 4 that I have with the whiting and the whiting certainly looks old. Does continue add to the mystery of where these grips are! I am also wondering if these 4 were the only ones he had? He could very well have lent them to another collector to copy as mentioned above, and never got them back? Given the pistol’s condition they probably were pristine and good ones to copy.

Thanks much for the info, can get a copy of the book pretty cheap off the bay adds to the history of the pistol

[Garvin]

Bet you are right? I can actual see just a little of the grip looks like a standard grip to me. Maybe another tell is the rear sight when I got it was totally down just like the picture. Had to move it higher to shoot it. Only one of his 4 that I have with the whiting and the whiting certainly looks old. Does continue add to the mystery of where these grips are! I am also wondering if these 4 were the only ones he had? He could very well have lent them to another collector to copy as mentioned above, and never got them back? Given the pistol’s condition they probably were pristine and good ones to copy.

Thanks much for the info, can get a copy of the book pretty cheap off the bay adds to the history of the pistol

Steve these grips in ebony are superb and even better than the originals. I think they could do with fine diamond chequering similar to the original if you can find a craftsman of a skill equal to Craig-P of ISP in the UK, whose work is astonishingly good:

[45flint]

Steve these grips in ebony are superb and even better than the originals. I think they could do with fine diamond chequering similar to the original if you can find a craftsman of a skill equal to Craig-P of ISP in the UK, whose work is astonishingly good:

I think you could be right but my goal was to reproduce the horn grips with the ebony? Those horn grips were smooth and the surface looks so similar to the ebony? Also I think this is the classic case where less is more. The Tell 3 is a Luger look-alike, so look is almost necessary. On my ebony grips the feathering curve at the end of the grip might be lost. Not easy to see in pics but is so cool. I like the way it flows with a smooth grip and its very WRHP?

[Garvin]

Yes, I see what you're saying. I love the matt look of the ebony. Very classy!

[ccdjg]

Interestingly neither the horn grips or vulcanite grips of the Highest Possible ever covered the whole of the grip frame. Having seen your grips in place, I wonder why?, as yours are a distinct improvement cosmetically.

[45flint]

Interestingly neither the horn grips or vulcanite grips of the Highest Possible ever covered the whole of the grip frame. Having seen your grips in place, I wonder why?, as yours are a distinct improvement cosmetically.

I think thats pretty simple: cost. I did it because the grip is so narrow for such a large pistol and I wanted to maximize the grip. I knew when I did it I would have to carefully hand fit the edge to follow that bevel, takes a lot of time. If you are manufacturing something you want to make sure you are back far enough that any slop will not go over the edge. In looking at many examples the horn grips get the closest to the edge, made a little more exacting. The vulcanite grips were really made so almost any imperfection would still work. Below is a picture of my number 1114 toward the end of production. The grips are numbered 1114 as well so they are original. The inner spacer is so far off that the grip is almost off the left edge. Grip is just not centered. The second picture is the other side which is much better. I think it’s called trying to make a profit? I know for a collector you want it all original but if I had the original grips they would be in the case not on the pistol.