Fox Collectors

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone might know where i can find a front ivory bead for a 1932 SW 12ga. The current one has cracked in half and i cannot find the other half. I would have liked to glue the two half's back together. I was even trying to think of a way to mix some epoxy with some ivory color and try to fill in the missing piece. It's my brothers SW and i would like to help him out if possible??
Thank you for your time in this matter.....

Jim

I assume that's a press in ivory bead. Finding an original ivory replacement will be just about impossible. I think the most you can hope for is to get a replacement press in white bead which I believe is plastic. PS. Every once in a while you can find a replacement original bead on Ebay, but most of the time those beads that show up are the plastic ones. I do think Galazan or someone else has been doing some replacement beads out of warthog which isn't banned. PS. Your original bead was most likely a Marble or Lyman bead.

Thank You

I just received two genuine ivory beads, new production, manufactured by NECG. They are threaded 6 - 48, and are purported to be mammoth ivory. Sold through MidwayUSA, and seem to be very good quality.

I'd think they would work as a press in if your hole is somewhere around .118" - .120", maybe with a drop of clear Gorilla glue on the threads.

SRH

Stan Hillis wrote:I just received two genuine ivory beads, new production, manufactured by NECG. They are threaded 6 - 48, and are purported to be mammoth ivory. Sold through MidwayUSA, and seem to be very good quality.

I'd think they would work as a press in if your hole is somewhere around .118" - .120", maybe with a drop of clear Gorilla glue on the threads.

SRH

Mammoth Ivory? You mean like 10,000 years old?

I have installed those NECG beads on all my guns that didn't have an ivory bead to start with; I typically get mine from Brownell's. The shafts are threaded and I've found them too large for the holes so they require some turning down; not a major undertaking. As Stan suggests, a drop of glue (I use 5 minute epoxy)will keep them in place. The beads may be a bit large for some guns so I chuck them in my Dremel and use fine sandpaper or a small file to turn them down to the size I want.

Jeff S wrote:

Stan Hillis wrote:I just received two genuine ivory beads, new production, manufactured by NECG. They are threaded 6 - 48, and are purported to be mammoth ivory. Sold through MidwayUSA, and seem to be very good quality.

I'd think they would work as a press in if your hole is somewhere around .118" - .120", maybe with a drop of clear Gorilla glue on the threads.

SRH

Mammoth Ivory? You mean like 10,000 years old?

Some estimates suggest that 10 million mammoths still remain buried in Siberia.

Ivory beads for everyone!

Closer to home, I’ve seen many mammoth tusks along the banks of remote Alaskan rivers while moose and bear hunting. High waters from snowmelt in the spring will erode the banks and expose the tusks. Most I’ve seen are still relatively whole.

frank

Jeff S wrote:

Stan Hillis wrote:I just received two genuine ivory beads, new production, manufactured by NECG. They are threaded 6 - 48, and are purported to be mammoth ivory. Sold through MidwayUSA, and seem to be very good quality.

I'd think they would work as a press in if your hole is somewhere around .118" - .120", maybe with a drop of clear Gorilla glue on the threads.

SRH

Mammoth Ivory? You mean like 10,000 years old?

Yes. There is a lucrative business in Siberia where people run the rivers in boats searching the high banks for them, as Silvers mentioned seeing them. They even wash away high bluffs with pumps, firehoses and nozzles to unearth them. It is said that, in a region where the average wage is $500/mo, finding one large mammoth tusk intact is life changing, and can bring $30,000 to the finder. It is the equivalent of the gold rush in America.

SRH

One tusk should be good for about a thousand ivory beads.

I buy my ivory from Boone Trading Company, but they have no extensions. Maybe someone has an idea for constructing extensions. A good machinist could make a two diameter pin that would work. I would never suggest that purveyors of mammoth or plastic beads could possibly let an elephant ivory bead escape occasionally.