FYI: repro grips

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Major Tom

Stay away from repro grips.

There is nothing wrong with 'repro grips'. There is a problem with poorly fitting repro grips.

If your intent was to inform, then name the seller.

I have bought a set from Sarco and a set from Numrich. Both fit with no sanding or grinding. The only obvious difference was in the checkering - Numrich has fine checkering, Sarco has coarse.

It depends on when you buy. Some vendors change suppliers when stock is low/depleted, and they get a 'bad batch'.

Like anything in life, you pays you money and you takes you chances.

[4 Scale]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

There is nothing wrong with 'repro grips'. There is a problem with poorly fitting repro grips.

Yes, repros can be made to work. I purchased inexpensive reproduction grips from Numrich for a 1906 grip safety Parabellum. The initial fit was poor, but with a few hours of careful effort with a Dremel and sandpaper I was able to both fit them to the gun and accommodate the grip safety. They now look good and function perfectly.

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

There is nothing wrong with 'repro grips'. There is a problem with poorly fitting repro grips.

If your intent was to inform, then name the seller.

I have bought a set from Sarco and a set from Numrich. Both fit with no sanding or grinding. The only obvious difference was in the checkering - Numrich has fine checkering, Sarco has coarse.

It depends on when you buy. Some vendors change suppliers when stock is low/depleted, and they get a 'bad batch'.

Like anything in life, you pays you money and you takes you chances.

Yep, they definitely come in many flavors. Really, even original grips will often need fitting if you move them from one gun to another. This is one reason why I don't make reproductions of these, it would simply be impossible to make a "one size fits all" version.

The latest set I bought came from Numrich, they only needed minor fitting but had the usual gap at the top front corner of the left panel, and the checkering was laser cut. Had to clean up the checkering to make them presentable, but I would find them perfectly adequate for a shooter as they come. They actually fit much better than the East German plastic set I tried to use on this particular gun.

Like you say, they can change supplier without notice, so you're always rolling the dice. This goes for a lot of repro parts, and the worst example I have seen so far was a heat shield for the Win 97 trench gun. I bought one from IMA many years ago, and I was very happy with it. The next one I bought from them looked like it came from the Khyber Pass, it was so bad that I had to return it. So you just never know.

[rhuff]

I purchased a pair of repo grips from Numrich a number of years ago. They are nice, well made grips with the fine checkering. They fit quite snug on my shooter "Heinz 57" Luger, and work 100%. I am pleased with these grips. A pair that I got from Sarco did require some 'tuning" for a good fit on an alphabet Luger, but work just fine for shooter grips.