I recently picked up an old set of grips for my Chief's Special that work really well. They add bulk but really give you control of the firearm and absorb recoil like a sponge. I recall years ago seeing a write up about these, but the details have passed into the black hole of memory. Anybody have any idea of who made these?

......similar to, but not exactly the same as a style Herrett offered, the name of which escapes me. Troopers?

Otony

Every set of Mustang grips I have seen have finger grooves.

MANY DID NOT HAVE FINGER GROOVES. I BOUGHT A BUNCH OUT OF SHAPEL'S SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND HAD MYY LOCAL GRIPMAKER REMOVE A LOT OF EXCESS WOOD. MY FRIEND THE LATE DAVE WAYLAND DESIGNED THE MUSTANGS.

The Troopers were enclosed in back, per Bill Jordan. SimplyRob has a few nice sets of Herretts like those.

I have a few of the Herretts Shooting Stars for my Kit Guns and I like them. The earlier ones are checkered nicer and wrap around in front, where the later examples are paneled and coarser.

.......a feller used to be able to pick those up pretty easily.

Always felt like it was the Herretts loss leader grip, er, stocks.

Otony

the Trooper model and the Detective model were the original designs of Steve Herret. They were similar, but the Trooper had a closed back and the Detective had an open back. They could be had either checkered or smooth in either an oil finish or some kind of shiny stuff.

Later, Herrett added the Jordan and the Roper models. These four models we all "made to measure".

Somewhere in the mid-60's Herrett added the Shooting Star grips, which were off the shelf grips made for either right or left handed. When they first came out, they also could be had checkered or smooth and for a few extra dollars made from fancy walnut. These proved to be a popular item and they are regular fair on Ebay these days.

The Shooting Star design is no longer offered as an off the shelf item, but can still be had as a custom "made to measure" grip and what is now a pretty big price.

I pick up Shooting Star grips on the cheap when I can find them as they can be made into pretty decent grips by removing the thumb bulge, coarse checkering and have the taper at the bottom rounded off. Here are some Shooting Stars so modified.

As an aside, I have about decided that the grips pictured on my Chief Special are indeed Mustang. I am going to keep my eyes open for another pair. They really do turn these little five shooter into a manageable handguns. I fired 100 rounds through the one pictured Saturday and did so with comfort and control. I like em.