One of my favorite USFA's is a 5 & 1/2", .45 caliber, nickel plated SAA. Kind of odd, because when comparing the 4 & 3/4, 5 & 1/2 and 7 & 1/2 barrel lengths, I find the 5 & 1/2 the least attractive of the three. Don't know why, I just do. So why did I buy it? Simple! I didn't have one.
I also wanted a SAA that best represented the guns used by our "heroes" in all of those "B" westerns from the 40's & 50's and most of them seemed to carry the 5 & 1/2" models.
One childhood hero of mine, back in the 50's, was Roy Rogers. He was often seen on his TV show carrying a 5 & 1/2" SAA with stag grips. So... I set about making for myself a "Roy Rogers Gun." Sent the grip frame off to
www.elenhunting.com and purchased a set of their "presentation grade" stag grips. Absolutely beautiful and probably the best money I have ever spent on a pair of grips (see a picture on page 6 of our picture pages)!
But here is the question...
Recently read somewhere that stag grips were unheard of in the 19th century. Wasn't until after 1900 that stag became popular as a grip material. Can anyone here refute that? No one in the 1880's saw it's potential?