"Aging" Luger Repro Grips ???

[Olle]

Originally Posted by Sieger

Hi,

What is the purpose of all of this?


Sieger

Since when has Rich needed a purpose for what he does? Seriously, brand new grips will usually look out of place on an old gun, so aging them is a good way to make them blend in better.

I have aged several repro grips, and what I usually do first is to put them on the gun to determine where the wear would occur. I also look at pictures of worn original grips to see what they look like, how/where they wear etc. Some places wear a lot and some won't wear at all, so you need to need to plan the work for it to look convincing.

Then I start by sanding with fine grit paper (like 400 or so), a little bit at a time, eyeballing inbetween, until it looks good. Then some light taps with misc tools (don't use the same tool for every ding!) to add some character, and when it looks good I follow up with a fine scuffing pad or steel wool to remove the sanding marks. With the distressing done I apply some Formby's to seal the wood and apply a "wash" of diluted stain to highlight the places where dirt would accumulate, and maybe sand through the stain in some high wear places to look like more recent wear. A few coats of Formby's will seal them and give them a "greasy", hand worn look.

IMO, the eyeballing and "step by step" distressing are important, especially when you highlight with the stain. If you add too much it can look too artificial, so do a little bit, check it out, then a little bit more and so on until it looks convincing. The pictures show two sets of my reproduction Colt grips that have been distressed to look old and worn.