Many German handguns were brought back by American GI's after WWII, and many of the owners wanted to improve the appearance of the guns to make them more valuable. Today, that idea is sad/funny, but remember that in 1946, Lugers and Mausers were selling for $10 and P.38's for $5, low even for those days. So having a "bringback" pistol nickel or chrome plated and plastic "pearl" grips installed seemed like a good idea to many ex-GI's.
Jim
|