You can have a bubba job reblue pretty cheap from almost any run of the mill gunsmith. In order to do this he will heavily buff the old finish off, and in doing so he will round all the sharp edges and possibly obliterate some of the small numbers and markings. Then he will hand you a shiny, glitzy gun which will fool nobody and will leave you kicking yourself. Now a professional refinish would be entirely different, resulting in an authentic looking Luger. However, the cost of this will probably cost as much if not more than the gun is worth now. I would abandon the idea, as I consider it non-productive at best, and damaging to the pistol at worst.

Aaron,

Thanks for the advice. I'm coming to the same conclusion on a refinish. I think I'd still like to get more correct grips and magazine. My only hang up is that it is possible that this pistol was brought back wearing the current black grips and using the magazine I have now. With no way to know for sure, replacement of the grips and magazine would actually devalue this as an heirloom (to me anyway). So I'm torn between making this weapon more historically accurate and preserving what may or may not be it's war-trophy condition. A lot of folks have said they would leave it as is. Anyone else have an opinion?

Regards,

Sapper

Sapper; Since you can't decide about the grips. Why not keep them for a while, buy a pair of repro grips to make it look more original. Forget about the mag. If someday in the future you want to sell the black grips advertize them on this forum. I'm sure lugerdoc on this forum can fix you up with a set of represenative grips pretty reasonably. When dealing with family items take your time, then no regrets. Enjoy it. Bill

Another option is the strip the gun yourself and take it to a gunsmith for the reblue. You do the metal prep work so that the end result is similar to the gun when it was new (assuming that it was originally an all salt-blue gun). No over-buff, the right degree of polish. My local gunshop will cook a Luger for $50 when they are bluing. The end result is a gun with a similar finish as new, the value is not compromised as it is already rebarreled, and everyone is happy. A good investment of $50 in your case.
Food for thought.
dju

wlyon - The best advice I've received so far I think...

dju - I'm confused about the pistol already being rebarreled. The underside of the barrel is marked with the serial and 8,82. Is this wrong? I thought the only issues I had with this pistol was the Simson-marked hold open and the bakelite grips -- both of which could have been factory/field variations. Did I miss something else? :confused:

Regards,

Sapper

S:
My error. I couldn't see the #'s on the bottom of the barrel.
So to summarize, it basically is a matching gun except mag. and grips? In that case I vote that you leave it alone. Don't sweat the hold-opn issue.
dju

Hi Denny, There are two kinds of Luger collectors. There are those who want guns as close to factory original condition as possible, and others, like myself, who value Lugers that have "been there and done that" and bear the scars to prove it. This includes damage done by the well intentioned GI who brought it back, particularly if that GI happened to be an ancestor. If it were my gun, I wouldn't change a thing, just wipe it down with a silicon cloth after handling. Regards, Norm

THor is the best
 

If you want a correct restoration, not just a cheap buffing and reblueing, then check with Thor. I can highly recommend
Thor, he is a real genius in restoring lugers.:bowdown:

Sapper.... The original grips were walnut and most were numbered to the gun with the last two digits of the SN. I understand where you are coming from but IMO the very best thing you can do is leave everything the way you found it. If you want to sell the grips you could pick up $200 to $300 but if you have a feel at all for history the ones you buy to replace them will really have no connection to the gun.............