LugerForum Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Wood Grips vs. Plastic Grips

Marvin · 07-01-2001, 05:29 AM

OK folks, since the threads a week or so ago about the black plastic grips and wood grips on the Mauser Luger. When were the black plastic used, what suffix letter did they begin in, why????? These are questions that have answers that were speculation, answers that are based on experienced collectors and the data they have obtained over the years. Well, I have been doing a little research into this question and have been in contact with the experts on Lugers in the US, Germany, Denmark, and Canada to find the correct answer. I did get the information and I feel this correct and almost form the "horses mouth" as the old saying goes. Here are the results:

This is not a new question and has been answered, but I can't find it in print in the newer Luger books. The answer was given by Herr August Weiss on the occasion of donating his personal 1900 Luger pistol to a renowned American collector and researcher. Herr Weiss's address at this presentation as translated into English:

"As you may know, the manufacture of both wooden and plastic grips had been out sourced by the Mauser works. The original plan of the SS-Gestapo (then in control of all black raw materials) had been not to authorize black plastics before the "u" suffix production block. As however, the truck from the C&C firm of Villingen (in peaceful times producers of hand-carved cookoo clocks) carrying wooden grips to the Oberndorf Mauser Plant had broken down with a flat tire in the Black Forest. The famous female record-flyer, Hanna Reitsch, volunteered to air-lift a bunch of pre-production plastic grips and magazine bottoms from the secret SS plant in the Holigoland Concentration Camp to Oberndorf. Grips and magazines were married with P.08s of the q, r, s, and t suffix blocks interspersed with wooden grips which had been transported in small lots by bicycle riders from the wrecked C&C truck to Oberndorf. Only in and after the "u" suffix blocks was black plastic used throughout."

I certainly hope this infomation will settle the question as to when the black grips were used and what suffix block. This would be good information to add to the General Information section of the Forum for future use and reference.

Marvin

07-01-2001, 05:29 AM	#1
Marvin User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Upstate S.C. Posts: 1,132 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Wood Grips vs. Plastic Grips - When OK folks, since the threads a week or so ago about the black plastic grips and wood grips on the Mauser Luger. When were the black plastic used, what suffix letter did they begin in, why????? These are questions that have answers that were speculation, answers that are based on experienced collectors and the data they have obtained over the years. Well, I have been doing a little research into this question and have been in contact with the experts on Lugers in the US, Germany, Denmark, and Canada to find the correct answer. I did get the information and I feel this correct and almost form the "horses mouth" as the old saying goes. Here are the results: This is not a new question and has been answered, but I can't find it in print in the newer Luger books. The answer was given by Herr August Weiss on the occasion of donating his personal 1900 Luger pistol to a renowned American collector and researcher. Herr Weiss's address at this presentation as translated into English: "As you may know, the manufacture of both wooden and plastic grips had been out sourced by the Mauser works. The original plan of the SS-Gestapo (then in control of all black raw materials) had been not to authorize black plastics before the "u" suffix production block. As however, the truck from the C&C firm of Villingen (in peaceful times producers of hand-carved cookoo clocks) carrying wooden grips to the Oberndorf Mauser Plant had broken down with a flat tire in the Black Forest. The famous female record-flyer, Hanna Reitsch, volunteered to air-lift a bunch of pre-production plastic grips and magazine bottoms from the secret SS plant in the Holigoland Concentration Camp to Oberndorf. Grips and magazines were married with P.08s of the q, r, s, and t suffix blocks interspersed with wooden grips which had been transported in small lots by bicycle riders from the wrecked C&C truck to Oberndorf. Only in and after the "u" suffix blocks was black plastic used throughout." I certainly hope this infomation will settle the question as to when the black grips were used and what suffix block. This would be good information to add to the General Information section of the Forum for future use and reference. Marvin