Aside from the HIDEOUS grips...
 

... what is the expert's consensus on this pistol:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=344911678

Looks like it is a good shooter. If all matching and original finish metal, it's a buy. Barrel might be replaced / refinished. Can't really judge that well.

Add a couple of hundred for a magazine and correct grips, and you're getting close to spending what you would for a medium grade collectable with mismatch magazine...

Marc

Just consensus, right?

Put gun's function aside, the grip style on this gun is uncomfortable. But that's personal taste. I guess current owner likes this style, otherwise, the panels would have been replaced for a long time. Who designed this ugly grip??

Beats me - I'm generally all for bling and fancy "stuff" all around, but the grip in question is just fugly! Good as targets though:roflmao:.

Good eye - now that you mention it, I don't see the usual stamp on the left side of same.

Consenses for what? Buying a shooter? I guess if that is your aim you must ask if it shoots reliably. Anything after answering that question is secondary.

fake grips have a tendency to look fake

real stag grips I like very much

These grips look fake to me Ed... can you spell F-R-A-N-Z-I-T-E? :D

I agree. Bbl. tone different from the rest of the gun. Toggle axle retaining pin appears in the white, properly, so it may be original finish, albeit kinda rough.

Franzite = forget it. Over time, they tend to shrink and warp. Warped grips can be flattened out again with gentle warming and forcing them to cool flat. Shrinkage, and you're screwed (At least I haven't figured out how to stretch them back.). This might explain the displacement/BAD fit of the right grip. I scored a couple pairs, cheap, that looked great in the pics--intact with little wear--but when they arrived, found out why they were inexpensive. Not one of the two pairs fits in a stable manner. These were faux-ivory, but I'd expect the same from any Franzite grip; they are ALL old and presumably shrunken. No wonder they are made from other materials, since!

David Parker

In the early 1960s my first Luger is a 1920 commercial that had "stag" Franzite grips and a white plastic mag knob. I thought this was the coolest gun ever. After taking the Luger to the range I realized that the grips would slip and move around when the gun was fired. The grips were quickly replaced with proper wooden grips. A few years ago I found the old Franzite grips that had shrank beyond usage much like the grips displayed on GB.

Dick,

I might be able to salvage these Franzite potato chips. I'm gonna try to straighten a couple of them first, then add some extra material in the form of epoxy tinted to match the ivory color, so that they'll snuggle properly into the top and be held securely by the screws. They're not far off, dimension-wise, and this just might work. I wonder, just now, if they could be kept in a sealed container for a time with something in it which would cause the Franzite to swell up when/if the mystery solvent/compound is absorbed. Not a lot of hope for this, though... I just want to have some beater grips that will look halfway decent at a glance, and not slip all around while the gun is shot, saving wear and tear on the originals.

D.P.

Considering that this pistol is in need of the proper magazine, a decent pair of walnut grips, and it appears to have a mismatched barrel and possibly the extractor I would think it should be priced more in the $600.00 to $650.00 range, just my two cents. Assuming that it functions properly as Jerry pointed out.

Lon