Grip question
 

I have what I believe to be a DWM M1920 commercial chambered for 7.65 mm Parabellum. On the inside of the left grip I find G.J.R. in characters larger than those used for a chamber date. They appear to be die struck using a seperate die for each letter. Does this ring any bells for anybody?

Unspellable,

What you have stumbled upon is the rare garter Luger that once belonged to Genalolita Jenara Rosabottom, famous madam of the roaring twenties. I believe she plied her trade at the Red Gulch Saloon in Silver City Colorado. I'm sure that Wes will have more intimate knowledge of this famous Coloradan and can can give further details concerning her. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

She is my mother.

Terry, please read your private email - under "my profile" at the top of the page!!

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

I had hoped that the letters G.J.R. might provide some indication of the firm that manufactured the grips. Am I to presume that Madam Genalolita Jenara Rosabottom kept the girls busy during slow periods by having them whittle out grips?

tacfoley,

Hail, fellow, well met. I do not know why we ruined unspellable's perfectly good thread. He has peaked my curiosity on the grip quite a bit. The initials are in the inside of the left grip and not corresponding on the right. If the grips were mismatched, unspellable would have mentioned this. And his statement implies that the initials are struck.
tac, following the genealogy that you have set out for Genalolita Jenara Rosabottom, I do believe that you are your own grandpa.

[img]biggrin.gif[/img] <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" /> <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" /> <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />


Now is there anybody who can answer unspellable's question minus the geneology lesson?

just take a little steelwool and it will come right off.....

and I thought the humor in this thread was at an end Howard... [img]biggrin.gif[/img] I hope you had a successful hunt.

I have a 1906 Navy with a name carved in the back of one grip panel. My guess is that it is the name of the person that liberated the Luger, or some previous owner. In the case of the initials, I would also guess that they belong to some previous owner.

By request I thought we had dropped the steel wool issue. ...lets drop this subject. OK?

I won't rule out the initials being those of a previous owner, but in such a case I would have expected them to have been written with a stylus of some form. The initials on the grip are die struck. Looks more like a factory thing.

At this point I won't offer an opinion as to whether they are original or aftermarket grips. This pistol was one of those "many years in the vault" things. It had half a box of Winchester corrosive primed hollowpoints with it in a red waxed box and a DWM owner's manual in German. The pistol itself shows no wear and appears unfired or close to it.

An extra question: When did Winchester discontinue the hollowpoint load in the 7.65 mm Parabellum?

Unspellable. My undated 1920 era 7.65 mismatched P08 had initials stmped on the left grip panel. I do not recall what they were. Alas I no longer have it so I cannot check for you.