Double Date DWM Disaster
 

Will be posting some BEFORE pictures soon! YIKERS! Got my work cut out for me on this one!:eek:

Can't wait for your photo essay of the process for your transformation from Disaster to Delicious! :)

Before pictures
 

The idea on this one was to create a nice shooter from a mass of pitted mess. No welding, no engraving, change out the take down and sideplate and clean her up good. Here is the first look at this 1916/1920 DWM Luger with no grips or magazine. Poor old war horse, looks like the surface of the moon with all those craters.
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD3.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD4.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD5.JPG
more links to more pictures of this sad Luger. Notice the weapon number on the front grip strap is different than the one on the back of the frame. 13.2 vs 12.2
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD1.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD2.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD6.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD7.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD8.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD9.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD10.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD11.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD12.JPG

This should be fascinating!

Yes sir, for sure. Gotta make my elves made and have to buy some more bondo!
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DwarfMrGrumpy.bmp

Wow, that pistol has seen better days. It does rather make you wonder what its story is. Mr. Green, may I ask how functional it was before you got it?

I, like the others, can only wait with bated breath to see how this restoration turns out (though I know it will be gorgeous).

Thor:
So I assume that it will be ready to ship on Monday?
dju

Thor:
Do you know why this pistol is in such lousy condition? Was it dredged up out of a river? Was it dug up at a battlefield?

Neil

Neil, I do not currently know why it was so bad, I will ask and let you know if he client knows. Most Lugers have been through so many hands in almost 100 yrs that the stories have been lost in most cases, I would think. But, it is worth a try to see what, if any, the story is for this poor example.

Yeah, I'd almost be tempted to use Bondo and Duracoat on something like that. Is a gun in that condition really worth the effort, or are you doing it just for the hell of it?

Ollie, I have done several about like this and really feel good about stopping the damage, because we are not doing any thing with engraving it will always be a shooter looking Luger, but at least it will look good when he shoots it. I enjoy the transformation that occurs. I have already spent a couple of hours on the Luger but I was also finishing a Tokarev pistol, that is really nice, so I was going back and forth on these two pistols.

Will be real cool to see the after photos once completed.
Please let us see.
Mike Z.

Spit and Silly Puddy won't help! I wish you a miracle!! Maybe a trip to Fatima or Lordes!

Mike Z, nice car sir! I plan to post some afters. Thor

Do you have any guesstimate about how long this transformation will take? Looking forward to the after photos.

Charlie

Charlie, I am not working on it full time yet, still a lot on the Tokarev I am finishing. I did get about 80% done on the barreled reciever and probably 50% on the frame, looks better. Probably a week or so. :typing:

Comparing with the following S&W, that Luger was in exceptional great shape. Indeed.

This S&W is in this condition mainly due to storage in a cave for many years.

Alvin, why don't you see what Ted can do with that one?

I don't know Don--you think it might be loaded?:p

Neil, your eye sight is unbelievable. You're right!

After soaking this gun in oil and brushing it hard,,,,,


====

Sorry. No intention to hijack this thread. Just saw that S&W and found it's interesting.

Wow! Are you trying to get that S&W back up and running?

I will say a prayer to Saint Anthony.He is the Saint for lost causes. It always seems to work for Debbie! We have been exchanging prays for years!

Not mine. It's Chinese police guns, stored in a "borrowed military storage cave" in the past 30-40 years. Recently, they returned the cave back, and planned to dump those guns into blast furnace (including some exotic guns). The picture poster saved those pieces and planned to setup a museum.

I don't think they are going to restore anything. They also found some Lugers, including a 1906 commercial, and a few WWI & WWII German military ones, probably carried there by Soviets in 1945.

I love topics like this one!
I'm looking forward to see the "after" photos.
Douglas.

Ted, I agree with Olle, this looks like a candidate for a bead blast and hot dip or gunkote. TH

Oh, you guys are talking all the fun out of this challenge.

Well, I wish you good luck on the Luger!! I can't wait to see it when your done!!

Thor,

Either you'll be charging an arm and a leg for this restoration or you'll be doing it for the feeling of accomplishment. My guess it will be a little of both. Can't wait to see the final result!

Good luck and don't stay up too late!

Dave in TN

FOR his work sometime an arm and a leg just isnt enough. Ive know Ted for over ten years and its his passion and his God that drives him!

The old girl is looking better. I should have some DURING pictures tomorrow showing the damage clean up. It is ready for me to rust blue it. These tough ones are satisfying but they do require patience and perseverance. I have to remind myself of the line from "The Outlaw Josey Wales" I must "Endeavor to persevere." :cheers:

I must say, I can't wait! I always enjoy seeing restorations on the forum but yours, Mr. Green, are always breathtaking!

Thank you sir for the kind words. I am having fun doing these restorations. And please call me Ted or Thor if you like.:cheers:

Here are some in progress DURING pictures. That camera sees more small pits than I do usually. Remember I am trying to salvage as much as the markings as I can while addressing the pitting WITHOUT doing any welding or engraving. Put a pair of ill fitting cheap grips on it to make it start to look like a nice shooter Luger. There are also several links under the first DURING picture of other pictures of this Luger.
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/Dur1.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/Dur2.JPG


http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD4.JPG

http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/Dur3.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/Dur4.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/Dur5.JPG
http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/Dur6.JPG

Ted, your progress on the project is amazing. The pics help me to appreciate your process.

Charlie

It already looks 100% better!!! I can't wait to see it when your done!

Thanks for the photos Ted. Not many folks appreciate the hand work that goes into your metal prep. Perhaps this will let them see the difference between craftsmanship as opposed to buffed and blued.

http://members.rennlist.org/lugerman/DDD4.JPG
bring forward

I wonder what you could some fish a forty loafs of bread!

Wow, I know you're not finished quite yet, Ted, but that pistol already looks far more beautiful than it originally did. The sideplate and other parts on that left side of the pistol look amazing compared to the way they did in the before photos.

Michael, I cannot take credit for the sideplate. If you look at some of the first posts I said we were going to REPLACE the side plate and take down lever, they were BEYOND my talents. "No welding, no engraving, change out the take down and sideplate " but thanks for the kind words.