Are these Black Widow grips authentic?
 

I have read as much as I could find regarding the telltale signs of real vs. fake grips. These grips came on a w-block 41 byf. The pictures are the best I could do, hope they are sufficient.

The grips are black, shiny and smooth

http://www.plgcollectibles.com/images/image022.jpg

I have seen authentic grips and my grips seem to be (too) consistently black. What I mean is that there is no color variation...

http://www.plgcollectibles.com/images/image019.jpg

The other thing that I question is the smoothness. The bw grips I have seen on 1940 chamber dated Krieghoff and 42 byf gave you the impression of grittiness or black chalkiness...

http://www.plgcollectibles.com/images/image021.jpg

I have a 2 proposals on how one might verify true BW grips. First, is the "tooth check". What I think is that true bakelite grips should have some "grittiness", similar to the difference between true pearl and fake pearl. My grips are not gritty to the tooth... Can those of you who have BW grips try this test? Second proposal is to weigh the individual grips. It would seem to me that bakelite should weigh consistently in a given range.

While my grips "appear" to be genuine, they dont feel like the material that is one of the primary ingredients is coal-based. They are too shiny and not at all brittle. I would risk dropping it on the floor to witness the expected bounce, but then again...

Thanks for weighing in on this long debated topic !

Two references for you to look at:

This thread: http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...light=bw+grips

and this photo which is referenced in the message thread above...

http://lmd-militaria.com/page65.html

Your grips are plastic reproductions in my opinion... the message thread above is an excellent resource for comparing your grips to genuine grips.

I trust this has been helpful not only to you, but to others.