Luger Grip Grief-Replacements

G.T. · 10-24-2001, 07:33 PM

Hi Ted, & other forum members! It's been a while since I have posted on the forum, but this subject is, and has been, on my mind for the last couple of years! Ted is quite correct, the difficulty in accurately reproducing a set of grip panels for the Luger is many fold, but these three problems are probably the most difficult to overcome. The first is accuracy....as Ted has discovered, kinda close, might just as well have never been made! The last 5% of the Lugers manufacturing operations, take 95% of the time! As anyone in any kind of production will tell you, anytime you reduce the number of tooling and fixture changes, quantity goes up. Unfortunatly with Luger parts, reducing or deleating any of the machine or hand operations, will have a drastic affect on quality....it will go down. The second is equipment, tooling and fixtures! I have studied Luger grips for a long time, and I believe the grips were originally made in a large quantity on many dedicated and varied machines and fixtures, I estimate aprox. 20 seperate operations per panel, and perhaps 5 shared. and that leads us to the third problem....cost effectivness....and this one is tough...To go through and address all the above, and still attempt to be competative with other manufactures...is just about impossible! I know that there is a dedicated bunch of Luger fans that will appreciate and pay for quality work, and I would like to produce a quality set of grips at an affordable price to fill this niche, but unless something changes in my present situation, I have neither the time or resources to undertake this quest! So, it is not really in file 13, but it is on the back burner for at least the time being......I appreciate all of the fine friends and customers I have met through producing mag. bottoms....hopefully I will have more to offer in the future! Thanks to all....till...later...G.T.

10-24-2001, 07:33 PM	#4
G.T. Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Chandler Arizona Posts: 3,541 Thanks: 1,342 Thanked 3,742 Times in 1,020 Posts	Re: A Tough nut to crack!!! Hi Ted, & other forum members! It's been a while since I have posted on the forum, but this subject is, and has been, on my mind for the last couple of years! Ted is quite correct, the difficulty in accurately reproducing a set of grip panels for the Luger is many fold, but these three problems are probably the most difficult to overcome. The first is accuracy....as Ted has discovered, kinda close, might just as well have never been made! The last 5% of the Lugers manufacturing operations, take 95% of the time! As anyone in any kind of production will tell you, anytime you reduce the number of tooling and fixture changes, quantity goes up. Unfortunatly with Luger parts, reducing or deleating any of the machine or hand operations, will have a drastic affect on quality....it will go down. The second is equipment, tooling and fixtures! I have studied Luger grips for a long time, and I believe the grips were originally made in a large quantity on many dedicated and varied machines and fixtures, I estimate aprox. 20 seperate operations per panel, and perhaps 5 shared. and that leads us to the third problem....cost effectivness....and this one is tough...To go through and address all the above, and still attempt to be competative with other manufactures...is just about impossible! I know that there is a dedicated bunch of Luger fans that will appreciate and pay for quality work, and I would like to produce a quality set of grips at an affordable price to fill this niche, but unless something changes in my present situation, I have neither the time or resources to undertake this quest! So, it is not really in file 13, but it is on the back burner for at least the time being......I appreciate all of the fine friends and customers I have met through producing mag. bottoms....hopefully I will have more to offer in the future! Thanks to all....till...later...G.T.