Dall Sheep and Walrus Ivory Grips

How much can I expect to pay for a custom fit on a Super Blackhawk. I have heard both are on the heels of elephant ivory prices.

Thanks

I don't work with Walrus but I do work with dall sheep. Bisley with such is in the mid $900 area. Pricey yes, but a wonderful material.
Rob - Rowen Custom Grips

RobertR (Rob Rowen) made these Dall sheep grips for my .480 Bisley. The pictures don't even come close to doing them justice.

Here's an OM Blackhawk in 41 Mag with Grashorn Bighorn grips. Cost was $300 or so a couple of years ago. I sold it here last summer.






A 30 Carbine OM I sold last summer also. Bighorn grips by Grashorn. All the knives are bighorn by Bark River. Fire striker from Knives ship free.



Ruger Old Armys with smooth moose antler and a moose antler Bowie from E-Bay:



Colt Signature Walker with a Mike Leach Bowie handled in Hippo Ivory:





Just some ideas of alternatives. Grashorn grips ran $250-350 each (set). Mike Leach Bowie was $200 at Nordic Knives in Solvang. Knives Ship Free periodically has Bark River in the low to mid $200s. Prices are mostly about 2 years ago.

Thanks for the info! And the pics you have produced are quite nice. Ram horn grips sure are something sweet! Really loving the hippo Ivory.

Ryan

I was on Rowen's site the other day and he gets like $600-700 for a set of grips, with horn and exhibition grade wood costing a premium over that. But the fit of his grips are superb and he can shape them however you want. MaxP's grips were made wide to accomodate his hands if i remember his talking about them.

http://www.rowencustomgrips.com/page28.html

I have personally owned Grasshorn and Sack Pererson's grips and they are really nice as well, and a little more in my price range.

MaxP said:

RobertR (Rob Rowen) made these Dall sheep grips for my .480 Bisley. The pictures don't even come close to doing them justice.

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Thanks Max! Those are beautiful grips. Bear Bio thank you for your pictures too. Kind of gets a guy to lusting. :shock:
gramps

Bobby Tyler is putting together a 38-40 Vaquero to honor my maternal grandmother (She was Chickasaw and Cherokee) and I have another set of bighorn grips for it (It's due to be completed any day now). It will have a John Wayne holster and money belt (deconstructed and re-dyed and laced with sinew), It has copper Mexican coin conchos (real) and a matching Bark River Bowie (also bighorn).

Mr Rowen, which material would you suggest for a 475 Linebaugh? Dall or Bighorn?

Thanks
Ryan

Ryan, I bet Rob says it is all a matter of which color horn you like. Both are good and tough and will work fine on a 475.

Hello Ryan - really sorry for no reply until now but this is my first time back to the forum (obviously need to rethink my priorities??) since Jan. As Robb says it's personal preference. Both are fully up to the task in terms of durability.

Rob

$900.00 for a set of grips? Gimme a break!!!

pruger45 said:

$900.00 for a set of grips? Gimme a break!!!

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The waiting list is long and nobody is twisting our arms to get on it.
I anxiously await the call to send my gun to Rob.
Tim

pruger45 said:

$900.00 for a set of grips? Gimme a break!!!

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I understand pruger45. What I do isn't right for everyone. Like most markets there are various price ranges to choose from, whether we're talking about beer, guns, cars or watches. There are many fine craftsmen making grips at all levels - I just happen to be working my rear off to please those in the segment I've chosen. It's a true joy having someone come back for a second, sixth or tenth set.

Folks need to keep in mind that there are custom grips and there are truly custom grips like those from Rob Rowen, meaning they are made to your exact specifications. Expensive? Yes. Among the best? Absolutely. Maybe not for everyone, but they are at the top of heap.

pruger45 said:

$900.00 for a set of grips? Gimme a break!!!

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There are aftermarket grips, there are semi-custom grips and then there are full custom grips. There are $15 grips, $50 grips, $100 grips, $200 grips and then there are $300+ grips. Carved ivory would be well over $1000. I've seen ivory grips over $2000 including $1200 worth of scrimshaw work. I've had quite a few of each and there is a difference. One tends to get what one pays for. Aftermarket grips are made to reasonably fit every hand and ever gun. Which means that a set that perfectly fits the shooter and/or his sixgun are rarer than hen's teeth. Semi-custom grips are typically fitted to the gun to varying degrees but your options are usually limited in fitting them to your hand. Some makers offer different standard shapes, many do not. Fitment to the gun tend to be better than aftermarket but still less than perfect. Full custom grips are what you get from Rob Rowen and there is nowhere to go from there. They are perfectly (and I mean perfect!) fitted to your sixgun, often covering up imperfections in the grip frame to receiver fitment and they are either fitted to your hand or made to your specifications. If you want the best, you want Rowen, his mentor Roy Fishpaw or Jack Huntington. Paul Persinger also does excellent work but my experience with him is limited to one secondhand set of ivories. They are absolutely worth the expense, if their level of service appeals to you. They are the utmost not only in beauty but also function and comfort, a work of art in and of themselves. These are your top tier single action gripmakers. There are a couple others like Dustin Linebaugh and Alan Harton who may do similarly spectacular work but I have no experience with them.

Material cost is also a factor. Up until last year's ban on the domestic ivory trade, it was your most expensive raw material and impossible to obtain for less than $500 a set, with many well over that. Dall and bighorn sheep are not the mytical creature that is the African elephant but grips made from their horns are difficult to obtain. Like ivory, sheep carry their horns for life and most trophy sized horns end up just as that, a trophy. Horns of sufficient thickness and quality are hard to come by and must be processed before they can become handgun grips. So there is absolutely a premium on them.

The above reasons are why Rob Rowen did the ivory on this Bisley .44Spl, which will eventually become a full custom gun. Also have two more sets on the way in Dall and bighorn sheep horn. For the guns that will wear them, they are absolutely worth the expense.






Same for the ivory and micarta grips I had Jack Huntington do on my custom .500JRH. Worth every penny.

I got a smoking deal on this sixgun but the Persinger ivories would have been about $700 when new.

I recall saying something one time about a little puppy staying on the porch and watching the "big dogs" run by. Seems I'm still on the porch! 8) :wink: But I enjoy the parade! :lol:

First off, one doesn't just come across Dall Sheep horns. I've been fortunate enough to have been on 12 sheep hunts here in Alaska and hope to do number 13 this August. Let me tell you, it's a ball buster. It will cost a non-resident about $15-20,000 for a Sheep Hunt by the time it's done and I guarantee you that hunter, if successful, is not going to want to cut up his "once in a lifetime dream hunt" trophy! If you keep your eyes peeled you can buy some horn for 5-600 but then it needs to be cut and prepped properly.

Then you add the craftsman, the custom gripmaker who makes the magic happen. Rob Rowen is one such individual. He made this set of grips for my custom 500 Linebaugh from a ram I shot and packed out of the Brooks Range here in AK. I've killed a few others so decided to memorialize that particular hunt/ram with grips. Rob will only make grips if you send him the complete gun. That along with a tracing of your hand and he carves perfectly fit grips that are shaped for your hand. I can shoot this gun much better with the palm swell in these grips. The 500L lets you know when it goes off and a guy needs to be able to control the beast. Custom grips make all the difference in the world.

Guys will spend 600 bucks on an iPhone or more on a scope for a rifle. Custom grips not only look great they serve a very functional purpose.

Here's my sheep horn fashioned into functional art by Rob Rowen on my 500L. Pics just don't tell the whole story.

Rob's price for a finished set of Sheep Horn grips custom fit to your gun and hand is a bargain.

Rob does the same quality of work with very nice pieces of wood as well. Exhibition walnut, one piece construction, custom sized to fit the shooters hand and mated to the metal just like requested and yes the price does go up but it is well worth it to me.


That is why my name is one the list for a set of bighorn sheep grips sometime in 2018 or whenever the material is ready.