Wilson ButtonBack Shaft Caps

[Duper]

Just removed what appear to be the original 52yr old grips off some buttonback irons. They had a cap on the ends that was not part of the grip  or so it appeared. When I removed them they are about 1" long . Any idea what the purpose of these is ?

Don't have my catalog handy so will have to check later and see if they are mentioned .

[LeftyMac]

May have been for weights.  I restored a set of Spalding Bird and Ball irons and each iron had a weight attached to the cap.  It was how they adjusted the swing weight of them.

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

They are just shaft plugs for cosmetic reasons. All original wraps were wound on over bitumastic type paper. In earlier days the shaft plug was a length of driven in hickory and the top of the grip secured with a tack.

Correct about the Spaldings. First set of those with the grip weight system was the cast MV2 iron set about late '60s from memory.

The MV2 irons were a heel-toe weighted cast club of some beauty, almost feminine. Similarly feminine, they were late into production (some say two years late). Rather than spoil the head cosmetics, Spalding decided to adjust Swing Weight intolerances by weighting the shaft butt with a centrally threaded recessed butt plug into which a bolt was screwed, the bolt being of varying lengths/weights. Spalding didn't say much about this in their promotional blurb.

Edited March 13, 2023 by The Aspidistra in the Hall

[Swingingk]

You're right, those are the stock original plastic caps for the topless grips Wilson (and Hagen) used back then. They are hard to get out in one piece so good for you. This style is two pieces where the black part was inserted into the shaft first, then the white piece with the logo that acted as an expander, holding the assembly in place. The logo was actually cast into the white plastic so that it wouldn't disappear from wear as the clubs rested on them in your bag. Pretty neat really. Too bad they don't make them anymore.