I was walking down 47th Street in Manhattan last week. In case you don’t know that New York street, it is commonly referred to as The Diamond District. It’s a one-block strip where dozens of gold and jewelry businesses have display windows that are jam-packed with gemstones and all kinds of jewelry.

I happened to be walking down the block anyway, so I was stopping along the way to look. Then in one window, I saw some items I had never seen before. There on display were three pairs of jeweled pistol grips.

What Are Pistol Grips?

If you, like me, don’t own any guns, you might not know. (I didn’t know either…)

Shown: 24 karat gold-plated pistol grip found on eBay.

Pistol grips are panels that are screwed onto both sides of a pistol’s main handle, which is the part of the pistol that you grasp in your hand when you point and shoot. In many cases, the manufacturer’s original grips can be easily unscrewed and replaced with decorative new grips like the ones I saw.

And what did I see? Three sets of replacement grips...

The first pair was made of sterling silver that had raised gilt panels showing the flag of Texas.
The second pair appeared to be made of gold-plated silver, encrusted with about two dozen small red and blue gemstones.
The third pair was made of silver, embossed with a design that seemed to show Darth Vader. (I couldn’t be sure... maybe it was Santa Claus.)

From Now On...

I have never been on the lookout for pistol grips before. But from now on, I will be looking for them in jewelry stores, gun stores, pawn shops and other places where guns are sold.

And another thing. If you go online and search for pistol grips on eBay, you are going to find more of them than you expect. Should you be looking for rifle grips too? Sure, why not. But so far, my research has shown that most rifle grips are made of plastic, hardwood and other non-metallic items, rather than silver, gold and gold alloys like pistol grips.

If you get your hands on some grips and think they might be made of silver or gold, call our precious metals consultants at 800-426-2344. We will be glad to test them for you to determine their metallic content. If you send them to us for testing, discounted or free shipping might apply – be sure to mention today’s blog post and ask.

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There’s Gold in Them There Pistol Grips...

What Are Pistol Grips?

From Now On...

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