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Thread: New to me 1951 Commercial

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    21st October 2007
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    50
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    New to me 1951 Commercial

    I had been looking for a decent condition early post war gun for several years. I scoured the auction sites and bid on a few that went higher than I could go. I was looking for an all original gun that wasn't too nice to shoot regularly, possibly a lot.. I had bought a new series 80 as a shooter to keep my pre war guns in the safe. Too be honest I just couldn't warm up to it.
    Anyhow after talking guns with a fellow coworker I found this one lurking right under my nose. Ive already put several hundred rounds through it and am very happy with its accuracy considering the original sights and my aging eyes.


    I do have one question about the grips. I am quite aware of the issue of shrinkage of grips from this era. These show no sign of this and appear to be made of the same material as the grips on my 1943 Ithaca. A Bakelite type material. No marble color at all, just identical color as the wartime "Keys" grips. Were these made in more than one type of material? This type and a more rubber type material that was prone to shrinking?

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    Last edited by gunslinger1971; 29th May 2017 at 21:38.


  2. #2
    Join Date
    4th June 2004
    Posts
    2,829
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    185
    The early post war commercial grips made of material similar to the wartime grips which didn't shrink appreciably. Later grips used different material that did shrink over time. I saw a pair on a slightly later pistol at the last Tulsa show actually cracked into two pieces at the top screw.

    Some have indicated the early grips made of a thermoset material and the later of a thermoplastic material. Whatever the later material it loses volatiles at a much higher rate causing the grips to lose volume and shrink.

    Appears you also have a correct period magazine for this pistol.

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