Ruger factory stag?

What is the best way to tell Ruger factory stag grips?

no..

....very 'subjective' and can depend on who you bought them from and how much you paid for them,,,or the other way around, who has them and how much do THEY want for them.....those look EXACTLY like a pair that I bought from an "officer" of the RCA back in 1991 or 92 at the NRA convention in Salt Lake City ,Utah,,,they were " polished down" to remove some of the rough bark on the outside when they shot the gun, and we paid like $275 back then, all those years ago......they went on to our friend the 'late' Don W. from Bowling Green ,Ohio he liked them "smooth"...........

Thanks Hitman

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............

Lucky for me I'm not a big fan of stag grips. Don't care for the look or the feel while shooting.
Because of that and the controversy / confusion / questionable authenticity of them, I'd only buy a set if the price was really really right.

So if the market adjusted to me, they'd all be in the $100 range.

hittman said:

Lucky for me I'm not a big fan of stag grips. Don't care for the look or the feel while shooting.
Because of that and the controversy / confusion / questionable authenticity of them, I'd only buy a set if the price was really really right.

So if the market adjusted to me, they'd all be in the $100 range.

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because we ALL know your cheap! take that old friend....

Dougan discussed these elusive devils in his last big book!

Thank you Dan "rugerguy" and to the rest that replied, but Dan's reply was very informative and still leaves me wondering and I guess one will never truly know. I think these are cool and I bought the gun because of the stags and they fit really well to the gun. It's to bad there wasn't some kind of marker like the brass grip frame to legitimize them but oh well that's the way it goes. Thanks for the information and the knowledge that comes from this site, it is awesome.

Vern, as I said ,when you buy the gun , if there are stags on it and NOT 'bloating the price of the gun, ( the gun NOT the story) if you get them and it did NOT influence the price, cost of said gun, then no harm you done GOOD hopefully later on you find one way or the other, and then its a go , good deal or "so what" ...I bought a flatgate 22 some years ago,.(NOT that long ago) came to mne at the Medina OHiopo gun show and it had stags on it, family just wanted to move it was ent to me , I told them what I thought is was and what it was worth,,,they ONLY wanted a couple of hundred dollars for the gun ( per their neighbor and the local gun shop????dun....I gave them DOUBLE and it was a steal, and they were "tickled"... the year before Bob C passed away he was sitting with me at the Berea ,OHio gun show and a DEALER brought me a 357 flatop, with "plastic grips on it, wanted a pair of original hardrubber I gave him a price and asked "why" as he was only going to sell the gun anyway, said he had to get $700, I said why put more money into it, so we bought,it "as is",,I took the "plastics" off the gun, turned out to be REAL Ivory, and Bob C gave me the $700 for this MINT 357 flatop I still recall it was in the #17,000 range and we BOTH were tickled............ works for me, my wife has turned down well over $1500 for the grips, was only the 2 nd set she has ever bought, and BOTH "pairs 'came on guns and the total price paid was $350............for TWO pairs of ivory grips........and yes BOTH are different in their own ways..........

VernTMG said:

Thank you Dan "rugerguy" and to the rest that replied, but Dan's reply was very informative and still leaves me wondering and I guess one will never truly know. I think these are cool and I bought the gun because of the stags and they fit really well to the gun. It's to bad there wasn't some kind of marker like the brass grip frame to legitimize them but oh well that's the way it goes. Thanks for the information and the knowledge that comes from this site, it is awesome.

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The problem is.... too many unscrupulous folks have produced stag or ivory to look exactly like the factory originals would have looked. There were companies back then that advertised in such places as the American Rifleman who offered, stag and ivory (and pearl) which wouldn't have had medallions in them. But grips that were sold by them back then have that "patina" of a set of 50+ year old grips, so those that have the knowledge of what the genuine article looks like, can easily add a set of correct medallions. As far as I'm concerned, "buyer beware" on any set of XR3 stag or ivory.

yes, at least with "converted" Colt SAA stags, the "extra" bottom, front 'locating pin ' hole is the dead giveaway....as Chad notes, these 'exotic material' grips were found in many magazines, even comic books back in the day, same with low cost "government surplus" pistols.......

chet15 said:

"buyer beware" on any set of XR3 stag or ivory.

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^ ^. THIS! ^ ^