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Cylinder & Slide 1911 Grips By: Charles E. Petty In the GUNNY SACK part of the November/December 2004 issue of American Handgunner While there's absolutely no shortage of replacement grips for 1911-style pistols, real originals are scarce and dear. I know these things because I have a pretty decent U.S. Army issue gun made by Colt in 1918. It's not a super-rare collector's item and since it wears the "AA" (Augusta Arsenal) rebuild marks, there's no telling whether any of the parts I have were actually together when it left the Colt factory so long ago. They probably weren't. And that doesn't really matter too much because it's still a good example of a World War I issue pistol. One of the flaws were the grips which, while they were right for the period, obviously had a hard life. So, when i ran into Bill Laughridge of Cylinder & Slide at the SHOT Show, I was happy to see a pair of reproduction 1911 grips faithfully copied from his 1913 issue pistol. They are made from American Black Walnut, sharply-checkered in the correct diamond pattern and finished with linseed oil. They really upgraded my old gun. Actually, they'd be cool on a new one, too. For information, contact Cylinder & Slide Inc., 245 East 4th St., Fremont, NE 68025, (402) 721-4277, www.cylinder-slide.com.