Factory Ruger Stags 101

[Tucsonite]

With the recent post regarding Stag & Ivory grips, Factory or Non Factory being the issue, I decided it would be a good thing to start a new thread hopefully that will fill with great insight from our Ruger experts out there.

1st I want to say I do not consider myself an expert, but a mere student of those here on this forum and the gunshow experts (Tulsa) that have shared thier knowledge with me.

So lets start this thing off. over the next week or so I will post some pictures of various stags I have owned or taken pictures of over the past 5 or 6 years. Lets hear your opinions. Lets see if we can enlighten some of the newer members with that same knowledge that was shared with me. After the post is complete I will take all the postings and combine it all and write an article for the next RCA journal. this needs everyones experience to work so please don't be a a lurker,

Let her rip :shock:

This 1st pair was bought off of Ebay several years ago, they came from a small sporting good store in New England. The owners recieved a small box of gunparts from a deceased customers widow. In the box was these grips along with almost a complete, torn apart 44 flattop.

Whats your opinions

 

[BC Mike]

This is a great idea and I hope it becomes a sticky. This is one that "got away" from me last year because i was a bit slow on the button. I leave it to the experta to comment on the medallion looking a bit turned and what appears to be a red mark in the middle of it.

Mike

 

[americal]

Tucsonite--great idea 8) I hope members will post there grips :!: If yours are not correct I do not know how A person could ever tell :? every thing looks right according to RCA members grips I have looked at through the years

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

I'm no expert, I got snookered on a set that came on a RSSM that I found at a gun show and noticed too late that one medallion had a fat neck eagle:

My opinion of the grips Tucsonite posted is that they are not right due to lack of bevel at the bottom.

The ones BC Mike posted on the flattop look pretty good. Medallions do turn on these due to not being staked as tightly as wood/plastic grips. You can hold the medallion with your thumb on one hand and rotate the grip with your other hand to turn them back.

 

[Tucsonite]

Nice looking grips Bob even with the Fatneck. the Stags I shoed have a slight bevel that you cant see in the flat pic because I was leaning over the stags. here is a pic on a gun.

 

[flatgate]

I second the "bevel" angle comment.

I've not seen any Factory Stags without a "standard bevel", but,
I'm a New Guy and have only been collecting since the late 1980's
and I've not seen very many Stag Grips.

Shucks, I believe I have more Factory Ivories around than I do Stags....

flatgate

PS I've seen a few pairs like this:

Dull finish Medallions set back too far and they usually have a "good sounding story" to go with.......

flatgate

 

[radicalrod]

Hey Dan, I would "own" these with no hesitation.....they look good to me......I am usually more concerned how they look on a gun rather than how the back side looks.....these appear to have proper ledge for the staking.....the only thing that does bother me is when the staking is "smushed"....just a personal thing.....I just checked 5 sets of Hard Rubber grips and several had the "smush" so I guess I shouldn't let that bother me as I don't think anyone is "FAKING" them YET!!! BUT price is the determining factor....for me to pay BIG BUCKS I would need to "AWED" when I see them.....these are nice but I'm not "AWED"....gosh I hope that is a real word......see ya RR.

Hey FG, sounds like you have a STAGGERING GRIP SITUATION......one many would love to have.....I feel your pain.......RR

 

[chet15]

This is a great idea and I hope it becomes a sticky. This is one that "got away" from me last year because i was a bit slow on the button. I leave it to the experta to comment on the medallion looking a bit turned and what appears to be a red mark in the middle of it.

Mike

Turned medallions should not be a criteria for determining whether a pair of grips is factory or not. I'd say the same for the red you claim is in the medallion....hard to tell what it came from, but we all know Ruger's medallions were originally black on stag and ivory.
Chet15

 

[chet15]

the only thing that does bother me is when the staking is "smushed"....

I don't think this should be a criteria either, although the harder you stake a pair of stag or ivory, the more likely they're going to crack. So generally, most of the factory grips should have been fairly lightly staked.
The staking tool has been described to me as a hand riveter for assembling brake pads (confirmed from two different sources 20-30 years apart)....the medallion gets pushed from front and back, with staking occurring on the stem end.
Chet15

 

[lovemydals]

Tucsonite,

Does my OM BC-4, s/n H989, qualify to be in this post? Purschased off Gun Broker in July 2008.

lmd

 

[El Numero Uno]

They look right in the picture to me. The bevel is not that big of an issue to me, if all else looks right and the story/source is OK. Notice how knarly the bark is; standard bevel on this grip set would leave a pretty rough bottom. I have a simialr set, that I believe to be correct; there is very little bevel due to how rough the grips are at the bottom.

 

[Tucsonite]

ENU, My thoughts exactly on the bevel. There will never be a set of stags that all will agree the same. I bought a set at Tulsa a couple years ago and during the Friday night bull session passed them around for several of the big dogs to look at. they all agreed they had to be wrong because they were too perfect :shock: :shock: :shock:

here is another set that I looked at buying with OM Crazy a couple years ago. what's everyones opinions on these

 

[El Numero Uno]

The staking on this pair do not appear to have the 4 hits at 3,6,9 & 12. That is always a + for me as it is a sure sign that they were not pulled from another pair of grips. Also an effort to just keep them in and not break the stag. I have several sets that are only hit 2or 3 times- and not a 90 degrees from each other.

 

[flatgate]

Tucsonite,

Does my OM BC-4, s/n H989, qualify to be in this post? Purschased off Gun Broker in July 2008.

I've never seen any reference to Stags for the Bearcat.

Rumors exist, however, that some Stags and Ivorys were made from "scraps".....

flatgate

 

[chet15]

here is another set that I looked at buying with OM Crazy a couple years ago. what's everyones opinions on these

Absolutely wrong. Ruger didn't receive any more stag panels from their supplier after 1962. There was good reason because the XR3-Red grip frame came into being.
And....those post 1966 black eagle medallions didn't come along until, well....1966.
Chet15

 

[Tucsonite]

Good Eye Chad,

tht was exactly the reason why we passed on this set. I was really hoping that some more of the Big Dogs would post some experiences here. We have a chance to put together a collective opinion.

Dan

 

[chet15]

Good Eye Chad,

tht was exactly the reason why we passed on this set. I was really hoping that some more of the Big Dogs would post some experiences here. We have a chance to put together a collective opinion.

Dan

That's one of the things after decades of looking at these grips that I'd always hoped to keep a secret. Most of the guys making them had no idea there were different styles of medallions. One thing I haven't seen yet though is a pair of stag or ivory being sold or displayed as factory with neckfeather medallions, which is kind of surprising actually.
I'd always had the opinion also that if a person gave out the measurements of the real deal, then everyone would know what the real deal looked like, with potential of having hundreds more pair showing up all of a sudden. Some did gain that info though and made some pretty good looking grips.
Chet15

 

[Doc44]

I bought these stag grips several years ago knowing they were not factory, but they are the nicest stags I have in my collection.

Bill

 

[chet15]

A nice looking pair, but what I see is that the medallion is too close to the front of the grip as compared to the distance from the top of the grip. Medallions on the factory stuff need to be "square" with the front and top.

Also, while comparing a pair of walnut or hard rubber grips, to me it appears the medallions with the measurements they have are not "square" with the grip itself. Yes, they are square with the top and front at 1/4", but they do not appear to be square with the surface area of that part of the grip. On a checkered hard rubber panel, it looks as though the medallion sits too low in the grip as compared with its front grip surface.
To me, the 3/16" measurement I go by for factory stag and ivory places that medallion more "square" in the surface area of the grip.
Chet15

 

[Tucsonite]

Nice pair of Stags Doc, Those are what I would call a late variation of Stag style also. They appear to be of the same vintage of the Eagle Stags that sold in the 70's or 80's. JMO

Dan