[ithacaartist]

Since it's a shooter, you have many options. Since it's yours, you're entitled to your choice of action--that's what that previous owner did when painting the grips, presumably a fanciful attempt to gain the "black widow" look--which appellation, itself, is a post-war marketing ploy, and a totally made-up term.

Stripping the grips is not difficult. Buy a quart of Zip Strip and put the grips into a plastic bag overnight, with enough stripper to coat them. Next day, remove the crud with a soft-ish natural bristle brush and acetone. Brush in the two "grain" directions established by the pattern of the checkering, to avoid knocking off any more material from the diamones' tips.

With the goo removed, your grips may display enough relief to be both visually satisfying and provide a feel that you like. If so, you're done--enjoy. If you wish to refresh the checkering, you can do it yourself after obtaining the specific, proper tools from Dem-Bart or other supplier of checkering tools and supplies...or send them to Hugh Clark or me. I forget his price for this procedure, but it's pretty minimal, considering...and I would charge the same.

Cleaning one's grips and refreshing the straw colored parts are the two biggest bangs for the buck when trying to improve the original-type look of a Luger! And they're just about the easiest of remedies going.