I am sure many of you have become aware of a grip maker named Rob Rowen who works out of the east coast. Rob has spend a considerable amount of time at the sop of Roy Fishpaw and it is obvious he was an astute and attentative student when working with the "Dean". Recently I stumbled on to a little USFa Shopkeeper in 4 Colt that had a bisley spurred hammer so I decided it was time to have Rob do his magic on a set of grips for the little gun. At first I thought of ivory but with the looming ivory restrictions and more that a few sets of ivory already in the safe I told Rob to pick a piece of wood that he would be willing to say represents his artistry, taste and skills. I did not even ask to see a picture of the blank before he started but just gave him free rein to pick the material. He told me had had a piece of walnut that he had been saving for several years and he decided he wanted to use it on the little USFA.

To say Rob is an artist in grip making is a serious understatement. His work on this gun is on par with Roy's, Paul Persinger, Dustin Linebaugh or any of the other fine gripmakers out there.

His website is rowencustomgrips dot com and a visit to his site will let a person see the type of work he does.

Here is a couple of pictures of the little 45 he did the walnut grips for.