Black Widow Grips

[John Sabato]

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Despite the lack of documentation or other authority on the subject, the reason that Luke and I have come to the conclusion that there was only ONE style of bakelite grip put on the 'byf' series Lugers is that the grips that we have examined were submitted by forum members who had some form of provenance about the authenticity of the grips on their original vet bring-back Lugers...

These subject grips came from guns that spanned the production period for the 'byf' series Lugers and all had very distinct markings and features in common.

So without documentation to the contrary, we must conclude that without additional evidence that other types of grips were manufactured and issued with "byf" series Mauser Lugers, we seen no evidence to support such a conclusion.

Virtually all of the grips that we have seen (and I have examined about 20 pairs that span the production time) have marks so closely identical, and are made from bakelite that exhibits the same characteristics, that Luke and I stongly believe that all of these grips came from the same master copy, or possibly even the SAME MOLD. Reproducing lookalike grips is one thing, but to go to the expense necessary to reproduce these grips not only in the identical material, but to the point that they have identical mold marks, is not only highly unlikely, but improbable since there wouldn't be enough demand to justify the cost. That is why the reproductions are no where near as expensive as the originals.

Those of you who own shooters that wear original black bakelite grips are strongly suggested to get yourself some inexpensive shooter grips and preserve the originals... Bakelite cracks very easily, and the older it gets the more brittle it is.

VOPO brown plastic grips make good shooter grips.

If I can ever dedicate the time, it is our intention (Luke and I) to document our study as a web page addition to this website for all to read...