Hello Jim,
Mr. Don Hallock (a collector and fellow NAPCA member) posted the following info. on another Internet gun discussion board over the past year or so.
I saved the text to my hard drive, for future reference. Thought you might find the info. useful...
" Black plastic grips were authorized for issue in June of 1941 on the 41-byf Luger. Considering the 41-byf was made with the n, o, p , q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, ns, a and b letter suffix, Which of these represent June of 1941. Clue The - n - block was mostly 1940-42 and 41-42 Lugers with a few 41-byf. the - o - block was a 50-50 41-42 and 41.byf. The 42-byf appeared in the ns block so the 41-byf shared the ns a and b with the 42-byf. I know the answer, so lets consider it a quiz question and see who comes up with the answer (suffix letter) that most collectors like. "
" Actually, the black plastic grips appeared in June of 1941 and became standard issue in concert with the wood grips on 41-byf Lugers. What happened in the - u - block of the 41-byf production had to do with the numbering of Luger magazines. The records indicate that Mauser seriously curtailed the numbering of Luger magazines at this point. I suspect it was because the black plastic magazine bottoms were to difficult to number (They numbered a few) consequently, about 97% of the magazine numbering ceased. For what it's worth, I have recorded gobs of - u - block magazine numbers, None in the - v - block, two in the - w - block, four in the - x - block and two in the - y - block. The common magazine during this period was the C.G. Haenel magazine marked "fxo-SE37-P08" the P 08 was rightside up vs the earlier fxo magazines with the upside down P 08 mark. Just another opinion. "
I have noticed that other dealers (the folks at Simpsons and at FGS) are using the term "Black Widow" as well...and such guns, if in the legit serial range, seem to command $ 200-$400 more in their asking price...so maybe the marketing ploy has paid off...(???)