WTK: VOPO Grips
 

What are VOPO grips? I bought a pair, but don't know the story behind them.

Thanks,
Cincylance

OK Kid, VOPO is an acronym for Volkspolzie, the Peoples Police of the East Germans. The grips have a target on the sides and are worth $ about nothing. The magazines are marked 2/1001 and are pretty good magazines!

Hello Lance,

To add the Frank's good info; I would add the "value" a pair of VOPO grips would be to protect decent wooden grips you might have on a shooter luger. Lots of us swap out the wooden grips with VOPO's before we go down to the gun range...since wood can easily get marred/scratched/dented on the range tables...

Decent VOPO's can run around $ 20-35.00/pair...

The colour of the plastics used on VOPO's can range from black to greenish to reddish to brownish...I thought them a bit fascinating and cheap to buy, so I picked up 7-8 pairs to highlight all the colours available...

Regards,

Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />

Thanks!

Cincylance

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Frank:
<strong>OK Kid, VOPO is an acronym for Volkspolzie, the Peoples Police of the East Germans. The grips have a target on the sides and are worth $ about nothing. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">VOPO grips are one of the very few Luger items that currently have little value. Among collectors, East German rework police pistols are on the low end of Lugers worthy of acquiring.

I recall $25 - $50 Lugers...... Lugers that today would bring $1,000 or more in today's market. I see where one dealer in Atlanta is offering East German reworks for $700 and up.

My point is that while VOPO Luger grips are as common as dirt today, they are being used to substitute for and protect original wood grips. In years to come, they will become more valuable. Perhaps not as valuable as other Luger items but setting a few pairs aside may be a wise thing to do if you're a young, beginning collector. Anything Luger will only go up in value, IMO.

I have VOPO that is all matching and in excellent condition aside from the VOPO finish. It has a very crispy bore and zero wear on the VOPO finish, looks like a rack gun. It looks like the finish must have been pretty decent before it was VOPO'ized. One wonders why they refinished it. The bureaucratic mind at work I suppose. Any way, in this case I'll keep the VOPO grips on it.

I do have several sets of like new VOPO grips available for anyone in need @$20 per set or 3 sets for $50. TH

Lance,

Here is a photo of VOPO grips, in case you see some at gun shows...

http://boards.rennlist.com/lfupload/VopoGrips.jpg

Regards,

Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />

Hi,

VOPO grips are also easy to modify for use on a 1906-pattern grip safety gun, since they're actually quite hollow.

I use them when I shoot my Dutch '06 pattern.

Gerben,

What a great idea to modify a pair of VOPO's to work on a grip-safety gun (M1906). Never would have occured to me...

Thanks for the tip !

Regards,

Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />

That's a really good looking set, Pete.

I have picked up three sets at gun shows; the last one for $8.00; but none of them are quite this good.

I use them as substitutes when I go to the range, as they fit DWMs really well, and if they break it is no great loss.

Luke

I know that the VOPO grips are plastic with the bullseye, but what are the black plastic grips with coarse checkering and no bullseye?

Aaron -

I believe that you are referring to the crude copies of black grips which the Russians, and possibly the East Germans, used on some of their reworks. They are made of a bakelite material similar to the authentic black Luger grips, but the checkering is rough and at odd angles as compared to the real grips. I think I have a picture of some of these if you would like it posted.

Luke

Here is a pair that I forgot I had. They came on a Russian rework, I was thinking of them as VOPO, but are actually Russian aren't they:

http://boards.rennlist.com/lfupload/VOPOEBT.jpg

Yes Ed, I think that these are Russian in origin... perhaps someone else has a reference to substantiate this... I know they are definitely not "black widow" grips... although the oval positioning "islands" or bosses are quite similar to BW type grips... it is a shame that they didn't capture the molds for BW grips and keep them in production... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

Ed -

Those are exactly like mine, and I am pretty sure they came off a Russian capture.

Posted below is yet another (different) set of bakelite grips which I have been told are also Russian in origin.

http://boards.rennlist.com/lfupload/...LugerGrips.jpg (edited for display of the photo by Admin-JS)

Luke

Luke,

I have always wondered how those vertical grooves would look if someone with the right touch and the right tool were to checker them at an appropriate angle... They look like good grips to use on a shooter.

John,

Actually these don't fit the DWMs as well as the VOPO grips; possibly these were designed for Mausers or were intended as a compromise fit.

On a DWM this type fits poorly under the safety bar, and they are a little long in the front grip strap area and a little short in the rear grip strap area.

The only post WW-II plastic grips I have seen that fit under the safety lever properly are the VOPOs.

Luke

The set of VOPO grips that I have fit my byf 41 Mauser just fine... but are not a good fit on my Erfurt Artillery... I Think they must have been designed by someone who had a Mauser as a sample gun.

Hi,

The VOPO's fit the DWM's very well as well. (same machinery :) . My Dutch frame dates from 1913 and the VOPO's fit quite snugly. Of couse, as I said earlier, you need to modify them slightly on a grip-safety version.

I'll take a picture of it, with the VOPO's in place.