I have an A1 pistol grip that shows 35-or-so years of  scuffs and scratches, but no chips or deep scratches.

The grip is glossy instead of matte like my other A1 grips.

Right hand side:



Left hand side:



The thing that I have a question about is that when viewed in bright light, it has swirls of brown, almost a "tortoise shell" effect.



It's not dirt, paint, or scuffing, and appears to be molded into the material.

Could this be an original 601 grip???

Any body have an opinion or advice?

Thanks in advance,

uxb

How interesting... tagged


- BG

Normal there are tons a the gunshows. Yes they are the oldies.

What is a 601?

Steve sent me these pictures this morning.  I think it is a grip from a Colt/Armalite 601.


Scott

Quoted: Steve sent me these pictures this morning.  I think it is a grip from a Colt/Armalite 601. Scott

Or early M16.  While you don't see them every day, you'll probably find a few here and there in the junk parts boxes at gun shows.  All the shiny grips I've ever seen got to looking that way after some wear and tear. The dull finish M16 grips I've seen don't seem to get that way, so I suspect Colt changed the composition  when they went to the dull type.

The grip didn't start out that way. The swirly pattern seems to emerge from age and use.

My first post. Great board. The grip you have appears to be made of a substance called bakelite. It was used up to the early sixties in the USA. It is impregnated with a natural fiber for stability, common fibers used were wood, jute or like substances. Bakelite was quite brittle therefore no longer used. You still see it commonly on foreign military weapons. If memory serves bakelite was a product ot GE. But dont quote me on that.

That is an older grip, but nothing that can be considered as "rare".

It is not bakelite, even though it has the appearance of bakelite items. It is actually the flakes of woven fiberglass that were not completely covered by the resin. This is not the result of wear, just the manufacturing process then in use. Early no trap buttstocks and handguards also have this appearance to varying degrees. Of the furniture on original rifles I've observed, this was in use on XM16E1 and the earliest (700,XXX-800,XXX range) A1 rifles manufactured by Colt. It also shows up frequently on H&R produced rifles that used the no trap buttstocks. A1 furniture then became the more commonly encountered semi-glossy solid black that did take on a certain shine the more it was used, followed by the later matte black that was actually produced from a stronger material.

Hope this helps,

Wpns Man