Thank you, folks!

I shall proceed accordingly.

As it stands now, the mystery is solved----sort of. I retrieved another black, hard rubber grip panel(one of one) from my drawer of generally useless stuff---------and dropped it in a Dawn/water solution. Now, 12 hours later (+/-), black is brown. (Black is brown on the outside, but still black on the inside.) The SS grips were soaking for longer than that. I have no clue how much longer, but very possibly long enough for the de-bonding Gary noted to begin---and hence the appearance of "mottled" and "the very thin coating that seems like it could almost be peeled off" I mentioned. Bottom Line: I screwed the pooch.

The good news is I now have a Guinea Pig for possible solutions/improvements. I shall proceed accordingly.

Right now, I'm yanking those grips off the gun! Gary's "Maybe when all the moisture is dried-----" got my attention!! It never occurred to me moisture could soak into these things. Live and learn!!

Ralph Tremaine