WWI grips?

[deltaheavy]

Awhile back, I picked up a 4-digit U.S. Property M1911 that had been overbuffed/polished and reblued. Was originally planning to use it as a shooter due its condition, but after sending it to Mr. Bill Adair for some minor lettering work, I think he may have talked me into doing a restoration. The original barrel being in poor condition and not having original grips are the major stumbling blocks here. I've about given up finding a decent barrel for it, but I'll keep looking. I've never really researched correct grips for the pistol. Can accurate reproduction WWI-vintage grips be readily obtained, or better yet, are there original grips still out there to be had? I'm pretty new at this, so if anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd like to do a little research before I buy. Looking for suggestions on where to start... TIA.

[Hawkmoon]

Original grips can be found, but they're rather pricey. WAAAAY out of my range, but they are available.

I'm sure some of the forum members can fix you up if you post in the Wanted (No guns) area of the Flea Market. If the price of the real thing is too high for you, a fairly close approximation can be obtained from Brownells -- part number 647-025-001. They are mahogany rather than walnut, and the color (at least of the ones I received) is a bit too light, but they can be darkened with judicious use of some wood stain. And at $18 a pair, they're cheap enough that you can buy two pair so you can experiment with one and still have a back-up if you muck up the first set.

[Scott Gahimer]

Bill Adair has a nice accurate 15-row Colt repro grip at a fair price. No, they're not original...but neither is the pistol. I wouldn't worry about using Bill's repros. He sent me a photo of them about a year ago. They looked good.
Buy the repros. Apply your savings on original grips to the cost of the restoration.
We'll look forward to seeing photos when Bill gets done.

[danf]

Just to throw my .02 cents in here... Cylinder and Slide makes a good 1911 grip repro. A little pricey at $60. but good quality. Good luck with your project.

[bigredc]

The gun will look brand new when it's done. Original used grips wouldn't match the rest of the gun. Just to give you an idea, I paid almost 200 for a set of original that had initials carved on the inside. You can pay well over 200 for nice one's. I'd love to see before and after pics when it's done.

[OD*]

but after sending it to Mr. Bill Adair for some minor lettering work, I think he may have talked me into doing a restoration.
It would be hard to do better than Bill, I have 2 pistols he's restored for me, the man does terrific work. I will second Scott, Bill used a set of full checkered stocks he reconditioned on my 1940 Colt, they look great. He didn't offer stocks when I had my 1913 done, so I used a set from Cylinder & Slide as DanF mentioned, they are very nice authentic copies too.