Alright, to start off I did some homework on Kimson Handicraft out of Vietnam and seemed they started out with a really nice quality product that was far superior to much of what one could get in North America. I found some conversations in Internet forums that caused some alarm. Most of which it seemed some wrong addresses or product was taking way too long to get to people and some were claiming product was not arriving at all. I also noticed how the owner kept responding to these accusations and trying to take care of the customer. If I had not seen a set of real buffalo horn grips on a Ruger Vaquero like mine I probably would not have bothered. I wanted a set like them and could not find the type of quality I wanted. I had often purchased Items from around the world including Russia, China and Korea and realize it takes right around 30 days to receive many products. Take into account the time it takes to hand make something vs. punch it out of a press. I decided to risk it so I placed an order.
Time went by and after a couple months I decided to follow up as the status had not changed. So I logged into my handicraftva account and went to send a communications inquiring about my order and that I’m worried I may have to cancel my order or call my credit card company to overturn charges. I quickly found out my CometBird (Firefox) browser does not like the help center portal that is available on the website. It worked fine however, with Internet Explorer. I sent off my communication and within a day or two I received a response back from Mr. Kimson himself reassuring me they had not forgotten about me and I had not fallen through the cracks. I advised I due to time I would wait another 45 days giving him two weeks to make them and 30 days to ship. I received a response back that said it may be difficult as it is a natural product and often difficult to keep up due to limited quality supply, but that I should wait due to the quality they select for their base product.
Ok, coming from a farm and ranching area I understand the idea of taking product if it is grain or cattle you generally take them to market certain times of year thus limiting available supply. I also talked to my better half beauty salon owner from Vietnam to ask him about what may be going on. He advised that Vietnam is not like the U.S. where we order it now, we get it now to fulfill our want for instant gratification. Especially with custom order like this is involved. He also advised me to wait but just keep in touch and advise on concerns. With this already done I decided to wait.
Here is how the timeline broke down.
3/2/2012 Placed Order
5/11/2012 Communication Sent through Help Center with concerns and that I would give 45days
5/11/2012 Mr. Kimson responds.
5/19/2012 Customer service responded back to inquiry
6/1/2012 Ready to ship
6/5/2012 Shipped
6/14/2012 Package received.
I just got these today and all I can say is they are gorgeous! They have a nice deep finish look with the grains hardly visible. I used a flashlight to show what I am talking about yet you can’t see the depth with a camera. I immediately put them on and they fit really well right out of the box. Though I could make them a little more tight around the hilt but the way they were made is really perfect in my opinion when it comes to fit. The only area that would be required to rub down with a little sandpaper and polished with a jewelers cloth is the area covered by the gun itself where the grip meets the body. Again It’s better that it come with a little much in that one area than not enough or and excessive amount of too much. I like them enough I may order a second pair with bone or abalone through the center or order a set of 1911 grips. They look that good. The screw that comes in it is a hex that works nice with a Torx head to lock the driver in good and keep it from coming out and scratching the finish unlike the original screw that came with the gun which is a strait tip.
Some people are not into the waiting game but to me it was well worth it and if your not the type who likes to wait or have to followup on your order then this is probably not for you.
1911 grips
http://www.handicraft-vn.com/shop/pistol-grips-c-101.html
Revolver grips
http://www.handicraft-vn.com/shop/revolver-grips-ruger-revolvers-grips-c-143_135.html
