any of the "sambar" whether 'Ajax' Eagle whom ever those came out of India or some such S.E. Asia locale with a deer ( stag) horns that were totally different due to the diet?? whatever ,more lighter, (paler)? NOT a darker older "aged" look like the old Colts and the early Rugers, so many vendors made them the factory as far as I know never "invoiced" the gun shipped with the grips, did see a few "orders" for 'service work and extra charge for "accessories such as "stag" grips,,,not a lot were around in the old days when we had our first shop in the early 70s stag grips from the factory were $7.50 and $8.50 had seen them 'penciled on the back sides, brass grip frames , the frame, trigger and grips was $12.50 and yes we bought many of them back then but seldom ever saw them on guns at any given gun show, the shooters did NOT care for or like the "stag", hurt their hands when shooting, and much like the plastic often broke when used or abused......the "custom "stag" grip makers did NOT make them like the Ruger ordered grips, they usually had a "palm swell" fatter on one side or the other ( thicker more rounded in the middle) they did NOT put Ruger medallions in them as they were NOT licensed to do so by the Ruger Co. and on and on,,,the proliferation of the "stag " grips started when many of the Ruger collectors started displaying at Ruger (RCA) them shows in the late 70's and through the early ,mid 1980's then low and behold Ruger "factory " stag grips started to come out of the woodwork,,,I personally knew of quite a few guys mainly, out west that "faked" them , and as we often tell folks if they look TOO GOOD , they ain't right.........lots of things to look at in their make up, medallion location,staking, the actual "drilled hole", and yes this changed at various times of the company making them available, set back , set down, on the flat, .the bark taking up too much room for a "flat spot" to even mount a medallion properly.........I knew quite a few grip makers back then, did Stag, ivory ,pearl and they always told me of all the challenges involved so again, it is subjective, there is NO "one stop, ONE book" that explains it all or covers it in "detail" is as I said "subjective" ask 10 people you WILL get 10 different answers, I have looked at MANY, MANY stags over the years, in fact at one show near Bowling green I had Lee S., bring a whole box of stags and Don W, and myself and Lee measured checked out each and every one and many different variations, when I went to the display shows and with Doris C ( Bobs Wife) we would go and look at and compare some of these as Bob C., loved to see them , wanted them for his Blackhawks,,, but hard to find still....years later at some of the Tulsa gun shows some displays every Blackhawk had either stags and ivory???? damn,,,,the factory never made or sold that many I believe.....goes back to just who had them, who was selling them or who wanted to buy them......caveat emptor baby......you want them you have to have them ( pucker factor) and you get a chance to get some,,,,,,,take your chances, you'll be told all kinds of stories, and to me I say buy the item (grips or the gun) NOT the story................
Old stags I like, fit has to be good, but the newer 'Sambar' I could take them or leave them and the last "retail" of AJax before they went out of business ( for the second time) was around $250-275.................ALL the stags and ivories my wife has and she ONLY has two pairs of each ,came on guns that we had bought and they came on and as I said above the only two pairs I ever bought at a Ruger "theme" show ( or as I noted above at the NRA convention in Salt Lake City from an "officer" of the then RCA, were both "questionable and I fact one pair I will never forget Jeff Munnel the Ruger collector and author ,sold them BACK to the guy we got them from and Jeff wrote on the back side with a 'sharpie' "Fake" ....true story
about the ONLY tow guys today I believe who may know a bit more and may have seen ,had, bought and sold more are my friends 'jussbad' and 'splitz' they BOTH been around the block....just wish we ALL had taken pictures, measured, or saved every pair of stags that passed through our hands.....maybe do a "hold your hands up " and tell us how many you have and we can do an inventory, again, the factory NEVER made as many that are out out there, and thus cannot "be proven" beyond any 'reasonable' doubt............