Replacement Grips for Rodeo II

[Old Doc]

Picking up my .38 spl Rodeo II tomorrow. I think we can all agree that the brown plastic grips don't cut it. What would be your favorite grip on this gun, ivory, stag, one or two piece walnut ? Open to suggestions and any photos of your Rodeo II.

[jdpress]

Old Doc:

Congratulations on the procurement of a new USFA Rodeo II revolver; you will love it!

Ordinarily, I prefer one-piece ivory or Tru Ivory by Bar S Grips on a nickel plated revolver, however, in the case of the satin nickel finish on the Rodeo II, I believe that one piece, straight grained walnut grips look best.

Paul Persinger in El Paso, Texas does a beautiful job of fitting one-piece walnut grips on a USFA revolver and so does Joe Perkins in Tucson, Arizona.    http://www.outlawgrips.com/index.htm

Both craftsmen do not charge much more for fancy walnut but again I feel the straight-grained walnut matches the satin nickel best.

Whoever you pick for making your grips, make sure they fit them to your actual grip frame and don't select any ready-made grips for your USFA revolver.  They just will not fit properly unless they are custom-made.

My digital camera is not working so I can't send you any photos at this time - Sorry!

Good luck on this fun project!

J.D. Press

[jdpress]

Old Doc:

The following photographs are Paul Persinger's one-piece walnut grips installed on a USFA Pre-War model revolver.  You will have to visualize how they would look on a satin nickel finished single action like your USFA Rodeo II.  These photographs were taken from Alex Hamilton's Ten Ring website.

http://tenring.com/FirearmsSingleActions.html





The following two photographs are Joe Perkin's two-piece and one-piece fancy walnut Outlaw Grips on an USFA Single Action and an USFA Pre-War model:





Both of the above photos were taken from Joe Perkin's Outlaw Grips website:

http://www.outlawgrips.com/index.htm

and:    

http://www.outlawgrips.com/index_files/Page694.htm

J.D. Press

[Old Doc]

Thanks for the ideas. I picked the gun up today and when i got it home, I installed an extra pair of black plastic USFA grips that I had lying around. Despite all the "every grip frame is different" that we hear, I had 3 extra pair of USFA grips and all three gave a good fit except for one where the pin on one side was a problem. I have a Gunslinger with the two piece aged TruIvory grips that I like very much. I like the idea of walnut but in a way, I prefer two piece as the one piece make it look too much like all the clones with one piece walnut grips. I'm thinking also of the faux stag Franzite style grips made by Bob Lescovic. They give it the B-Western look. I have them on a Beretta Stallion. If I ever figure out the postring pictures routine, I'll post the finished result. This gun, by the way, has a very smooth light action unlike my USFA Cowboy, which is pretty stiff.

[jdpress]

Old Doc:

You are most welcome and all of the grip options you identified for your new Rodeo II sound excellent.  I think it will look great with any of the grips you suggested and most important it will be what you want.

I sent you a personal message with my contact information; please call me when you are ready to post photos for your new grips and I will talk you through the process.

It sounds like your Rodeo II is a winner with a nice trigger job already installed!  The black grips will certainly work well until you get the new models.

Happy shooting!

J.D. Press

[Old Doc]

Thanks, JD. Got your PM, much appreciated. I already have a Photobucket account with a few pictures on it. The gun I bought is second hand but appears to be unfired and mint with box and papers. As the action was pretty smooth at the dealers I couldn't wait to pull the grips and see if it had a coil instead of a leaf spring . I thought maybe it was a Longhunter gun and I think he puts a coil spring in the guns he supplies but it had the stock leaf spring. In fooling with the several sets of USFA grips I have, I noticed that each pair has a three digit number scratched on the inside of the grips but the number bears no relation to the gun's serial number ?

[jdpress]

Thanks, JD. Got your PM, much appreciated. I already have a Photobucket account with a few pictures on it. The gun I bought is second hand but appears to be unfired and mint with box and papers. As the action was pretty smooth at the dealers I couldn't wait to pull the grips and see if it had a coil instead of a leaf spring . I thought maybe it was a Longhunter gun and I think he puts a coil spring in the guns he supplies but it had the stock leaf spring. In fooling with the several sets of USFA grips I have, I noticed that each pair has a three digit number scratched on the inside of the grips but the number bears no relation to the gun's serial number ?

Old Doc:

Long Hunter Shooting Supply replaces the mainspring with a narrowed Lee's Gunslinger flat spring, not a coil spring, but it is significantly narrowed on the sides so you would be able to tell if it has been replaced.  Jim and Brad Finch at Long Hunter replace the flat hand assembly spring with a coil spring but you can't see it unless you remove the backstrap first.  They also replace the flat sear & bolt spring with a wire-type spring.

The three digit numbers scratched on the inside of the USFA grips are probably assembly numbers, similar to the three digit assembly number found stamped on the inside of the loading gate on most USFA revolvers.  They are different from the serial number which is added to the revolver frame of the Rodeo II later in manufacturing.

J.D. Press

[Tascosa Joe]

Does anyone have an address for Paul Persinger?  I looked on the net, but did not find a website etc.

Thanks,

T-Joe

[jdpress]

Does anyone have an address for Paul Persinger?  I looked on the net, but did not find a website etc.

Thanks,

T-Joe

Paul Persinger does not have a website.  His address is:

10441 Mackinaw Street
El Paso, TX 79924

J.D. Press

[Tascosa Joe]

Thanks

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

Tascosa,
I have purchased several sets of ivory grips from Paul Persinger and have always been extremely happy with his work.  His phone number is (915)821-7541.
CJF