In the previous thread, I had mentioned that, on reflection, the cutting of
the front corner of the frame appeared to be an effort to make the front
grip-strap more like a round-butt frame. These next three pictures look
at that idea, in more detail. They show an early round-butt grip
mounted on the frame. While the cut takes the frame further back
than a true round-butt, it is close. Had round-butt K-38's been available
back then (1950), it probably would not have been necessary to cut the
frame corner.
These next pictures were a real surprise to me. While the corner of
the frame has been cut off, these Walter Stark grips were apparently
made for a frame without the cut corner. I guess I had forgotten that,
or never paid any attention to it.
The interesting point is the amount of wood in back of the trigger
guard. It is massive, as it the amount of wood hanging down below
the bottom of the butt. It's as though this is the second pair of grips
that Chief Davis had made for this gun. Presumably the first pair utilized
the cut corner. This pair lowers the entire hand about a half-inch, or
more, down the grip frame. Clearly, this grip would work equally well
on an uncut frame !
Regards, Mike Priwer