a variation on the "hard rubber" theme

[el chango pistolero]

Well, I didn't have much luck with my earlier post, where I was trying to find out what the "hard rubber" grips are made of.     What I am pretty sure of is that it's no longer gutta percha.     Whatever it is that the hard rubber grips are made of now, does anyone know when Colt stopped using gutta percha?

btw, I had assumed that gutta percha went out of use, for anything, long ago; but my Mexican girlfriend, whose father practiced and taught dentistry in Mexico, used gutta percha in his practice, in the recent past.     Which makes me wonder whether some of the current hard rubber grips might still be made of real hard rubber.

Happy weekend to everyone.

Glenn

[St. George]

First Generation Colts - and Police Positives and the like - had hard rubber grips up until WWII.

Post-WWII - and with the advanced applications of plastic - grip material changed, and the Second Generation Colts and the 'rest' of the Colt 'stable' featured 'Coltwood' (a sort of brown type of plastic with a 'woodgrain' look - like 'Bakelite') as well as the now-ubiquitous plastic.

As to an answer to your question - you'll have to ask the different grip manufacturers - and I'd start with 'Vintage Grips' - since they make excellent replacement grips and buttplates for a wide variety of handguns and shotguns.

'Gutta Percha' dried out over time - and when that happened - it'd break or crack, whereas the substitutes didn't, and proved more durable.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[el chango pistolero]

Now, that's what I call a perfect answer.    Thank you, St. George.     btw, I have checked w/Buffalo Brothers, who've provided several of my grips, and they use a polymer.     And USFA, I expect, gets their grips from a company like Vintage or Buffalo Brothers.

Anyhow, thank you.

Glenn