after market ivory grips/08

[axel]

If they are to be found....what would be a reasonable price, one would expect to pay for a pair of ivory luger grips; uncheckered and checkered? Thanks for any replys...Axel

I bought ivory grips for a Colt single action and had them fitted. I think I paid $300 about four years ago. There were uncheckered. I guess luger grips would be in the same range.

[Oberleutnant]

Hello Alex, check the follwing adress. www.wmummert.de Very high Quality. He made a pair of beautifull amboina grips for my SIG 210 for me. The ivory grips for your Luger costs amount 350 Euro. Thomas

[Pete Ebbink]

Photos of luger grips on the web site mentioned, above :

http://www.wmummert.de./griffe/pistole_08.htm

Also a magazine bottom :

http://www.wmummert.de./griffe/mag_08.htm

Really nice work !

[G.T.]

I am quite impressed by the mag. bottom work, It is a very difficult bottom to make, and he has captured the fit and look nicely... In my opinion though, the grips leave a bit to be desired as far as fit & finish... But, I understand why completely... there are four major factors when working with ivory, especially elephant tusk... the first concern is initial materials cost... Very, very high!! Before you ever touch it with a tool... it's almost a one shot deal... Second, Accuracy of the part, Luger grips are both difficult to make correctly, let alone fit them properly.. so almost without exception, the set will differ greatly from an original, in both form and fit..... The Third factor is difficulty... not just in the making of the part, as i have mentioned above, but in making all the fixtures, forms and tooling to do it right.... and finally last but not least, the "Fear Factor Issue"... this is evidenced by how thick, or overbuilt the part is when compared to an original, or, just how far do you want to go on a project before you make a very visible mistake!! ... ideally you want to stop just before you screw up!! Almost all real Ivory grips that i've seen are both poorly fit and almost always extra thick.... When ya get close to the end, ya get kinda nervous!!! They're still nice if that's what you like... but If your going to plunk down that kind of cash, you'd probably like the fit to be a bit tighter... No disrespect intended, I am certainly aware of the difficulty of the task at hand!! Best to all, til....lat'r.....GT

[Navy]

Just curious...what are the legalities involved in importing ivory? Used to be damn near impoout many, many certificates attesting to the origin, age and the animal committed suicide in the wild.

Tom A

[G.T.]

Hi Tom, I think it's always been tough, but in the last few years it must have become a bunch tougher!!! As the price for even a small tusk tip ($50.00 to $60.00 dollars, 5 yrs ago) exceeds several hundred dollars now!!... I see it for sale from time to time but not in any sizable chunk.. A lot has been done lately in mammoth, but to get a nice clear piece of this stuff is practically impossible... and, pretty hard to sell something with a big check running right down the middle.. The only two mag bottoms I ever wanted to keep were standard ones I made out of elephant ivory... I wanted to learn about ivory in order to distinguish between fake and real, further down the collecting road... when I was done I held one of them up and said,"Yup! Looks just like white plastic!" Actually the stuff is increadible to work with, cuts easily, is strong, and polishes up beautifully! BTW, It takes a sizable piece to make a mag bottom, for my tooling a puck sized piece, approx. 2" in dia. by 1" thick...
Grips, I can't even imagine... Best to all, til....lat'r....GT

[Pete Ebbink]

In some of the offerings, the word "mammouth" is used to describe the ivory.

I wonder it that is of an archeological-origin ???

[thegundude]

When I was in Alaska this past year there was plenty of Mammoth tusk ivory for sale in all variations. It could not be exported from US soil though...

And I didn't see any Luger (or other) grips carved from it either...