Anyone Remember Jean St. Henri?

[COILSPRING]

There is a series 70 Combat Commander that just appeared in the Private Firearms For Sale section. One of the pictures shows the inside of one of grips clearly marked "Jean St. Henri" along with his Malibu address. For those of you not familar, Jean St. Henri was a local custom grip maker. I learned about him from one of guys from B&B Sales (sniff, sigh) in North Hollywood. This was about 25-27 years ago. I was looking for some wood grips for a couple of Walther PP's & PPKS's. I was obviously a much younger man back then & Jean was extremely kind to me. He took pride in the fact that narcotics agents all over the world used his Walther grips. He asked me what kind of wood I wanted him to use and I in turn asked for his advise. I remember he said "I like Macassar Ebony, its elegant like a pin-striped suit". So Macassar Ebony it was, I ordered a couple pairs for myself as well as a set for my Dad. Jean St Henri was pretty old himself back then and it took a really long time to finally complete them. He was pretty tall as I remember, and he had trouble with his knees. He would go out to his workshop and the old guy's knees would just kill him. I was patient and used to stop by his home as I'd ride my motorcycle to Santa Barbara. He was always gracious and kind to me. I remember he liked my then girlfriend Jeanette quite a bit. Eventually, I received a call informing me that my grips were done. When I picked them up, they were "elegant like a pinstriped suit". I still have them and they are special to me because I was lucky enough to know Jean St. Henri. I hope you guys don't mind me being so long winded here, I really enjoyed writing my memories down. I remember he had a bucket of 1911 grips, I wish I would have bought a pair.

[Exiledviking]

Pics?

[Blademan21]

1911 Zebra wood grips

Coilspring you brought back some memories. Mr. St. Henri made a pair of zebra wood grips for my Colt 1911 back in the late 70's as I recall. They had finger groves that came together and looked to be one piece. They were beautiful.Sold the Colt about 10 years ago and the guy that bought it still has the St. Henri grips. Thanks for the memories.

Blademan21

[COILSPRING]

I'll try...

Pics?

I have a new camera I have yet to remove from the clamshell. They really are pretty grips... I actually found another pair at the Orange County Gun Show. I was really surprised and ended up getting them. I couldn't remember if they used the same screw as the factory plastic grips, no such luck. At least I can match the fastener from another pair. I thought I'd check with one of the grip vendors at the next O.C. Gun Show. I guess I'll need to check it with a thread pitch gauge as I don't even know if the insert in the receiving side is metric or SAE. The threads are pretty fine, I've never tried to ID something so small. Hopefully the correct pitch will be somewhat obvious. Maybe I should have started this thread in the Handgun Section, Oh well... I'm hoping to find some of his 1911 grips someday (the panels, not the wrap-arounds). I'll try to figure out the camera and post a pic.
Coilspring

[westcoast362]

I have had three pairs of his grips. I bought his prototype S&W M-59 grips that were made out of plywood because I liked the laminated look. I have a pair of his rosewood 1911 grips. He was a nice guy, and always had time to talk. Yes, he was very tall and thin with a grey goatee.

[BigPimping]

Back from the dead...

[surplus-addict]

Back from the dead...

And completely worth it.
I've been reading about this guy now, and WOW was he talented!

[1911Crank]

I met Jean at his house a couple of times. He was a good friend of my first employer, Jim Hoag, an early noted 1911 smith who still works in Canoga Park. Jim was good friends with Jean, and had a chunk of the teak deck off the USS Bonhomme Richard (aka "Bonny Dick") that Jean made into some grips.

I also remember his kindness and he made me two pairs of 1911 grips. He offered on the spot sanding to finish for me on them, which was incredibly nice of him. One pair that I don't have any longer was his three-angled "coffin" shaped grip out of Makassar Ebony, while the other was matching grain Cocobolo made a bit wide that I still have.

He was an elderly man already by the late '70s and early '80s when I knew him, and somehow I knew that I wouldn't see him much longer. Used to see him at local gun shows occasionally up to about '83 or so.

Anyone who has his stuff should be very thankful for the loving guy who made them.

[bsg]

thanks for the heartfelt story. i've never owned any grips that were made by Jean St. Henri, but you've peaked my interest.

[M1NM]

Here in my area Fuzzy Ferrant was the grip maker of choice. My Colt Trooper came with a pair. The guy I bought it from also included the grips from his new Python in case I didn't like the Fuzzy's. He also gave me the Python box (cardboard not wood). Gotta dig those out they're worth some $ today.