Small complaint about Uberti Schofield from Taylor's & Co.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Everything about my new Schofield from Taylor's & Company has been almost perfect and after cleaning the copious amounts of cosmoline out of it, lubing it up with Corrosion X and ATF, things seem smoother in the action and the blue finish is superb.  My only small complaint is the grips, as they seemed rather rough and lightly sanded with too lightly finished staining in many areas, so I lightly sanded them with 400-600 grit sand paper to open up the wood grain a little.  Next I used a bit of walnut colored Minwax stain to darken the wood slightly in the lightly stained areas and to darken the inspectors marks and date.  I let the grips dry, then I took 400 grit sand paper with some Arrow wood gunstock finish and blended it all in.  I let that dry and then used a very small amount of the Arrow wood formula on my hands to seal the grips and let dry.  I went down to my "Imperial War Museum" as my wife calls it this morning and could not believe the difference in how authentic the grips look now.  They look as good as the grips on my Navy Arms Schofield and the wood the Italians are using finishes up very well.  I am not sure why they are hiding it under all that varnish and red stain?   A small modification that has really made a big difference in how my gun looks that I thought I would share.  VG

[Virginia Gentleman]

After a couple of years and handling, the grips have darkened even more and look even better.  I am not sure why the Italians took such a short cut on the grips when the rest of the gun looks great.

[Pancho Peacemaker]

.  I am not sure why they are hiding it under all that varnish and red stain?   A small modification that has really made a big difference in how my gun looks that I thought I would share.  VG

Did the same with my Beretta Larmaie grips (also had them carved with fishscale).  Amazing wood under all the Uberti red varnish:

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[Virginia Gentleman]

I can't understand it either as almost any Italian revolver clone I strip the finish and refinish to a more period correct finish.  Some of the wood underneath is amazing and one example had the most beautiful curley Corsican walnut.  A simple oil finish made them look so much better it wasn't even funny.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I can't understand it either as almost any Italian revolver clone I strip the finish and refinish to a more period correct finish.  Some of the wood underneath is amazing and one example had the most beautiful curley Corsican walnut.  A simple oil finish made them look so much better it wasn't even funny.

Because neither Colt nor S&W civilian guns were oil finished in the 19th century. They were VARNISHED. Only the grips on military guns were oil finished. The Uberti grips as finished are actually very similar in color & finish to the alkanet root steeped varnish used in the 19th century. 

[Virginia Gentleman]

I prefer the military finish as the Italian varnish hides the beauty of the natural wood.