1936 S/42 Reblued ?
 

I just want verification to what I think I know, I believe this piece has had an older restoration done to it, It is one of the pieces I got back from The ATF 26 years after it was stolen from me. I do not see any evidence of the halos around the barrel serial numbers and the overall condition just seems too good.

Regardless it is an all matching pistol minus magazine and I still wouldnt consider it a shooter. Would like to hear from others on this though.

Wayne

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Wayne,
congrats on its safe return.
I do not think it has been refinished; the markings are just too clear and the finish looks as it should after 80 years.

Hi Wayne,
There are at least three strikes against the original finish theory. One, no barrel serial halos. Two, the L shaped lever inside the side plate is blued, it should be "in the white". Three, so too should the S shaped connecting link attached to the rear toggle. You know what they say in baseball....
Regards, Norm

Wayne,

You finally got it back! (I read your earlier threads about this gun)

It is not unheard of for SOME rust-blued early Mauser S/42 Lugers to not have a halo on the barrel SN, but I would expect to see some bit of halo, or wear on the raised areas of the barrel witness mark, or the numbers (8.81 or the SN). But then the rest of the gun looks original to me. The lower frame has what I like to call the 'classic black & white' bluing scheme used in 1936-37 Mauser S/42 Lugers.

- Geo

Norm, I am in agreement with you on this. It is no surprise to me I just wanted some other opinions.
This was the first luger i ever purchased I was 15 at the time and had alot to learn. I recently had it returned to me ( Im 41 years old now) So I am not disappointed as this will never leave my sight and has a special place in my collection refinished or not.

Norm is correct, but it is a dang fine job, the markings are perfect or nearly so.

Wayne,

After looking more closely, I notice that the sideplate trigger transfer bar is blued, as is the mainspring hook hanging down from the receiver. I just checked my all original early rust-blued 1937 S/42, and it does not have these parts blued - they are in the white. It is my understanding that all rust-blued Lugers had these two parts in the white from the factory, so I would have to say something happened here.

- Geo

Norm,

You type too fast for me - or maybe I'm just too long-winded!

Anyway Wayne you can see I agree with Norm - it is reblued.

- Geo

I was ready do argue with Norm, however after getting out my own orig. 1936 S/42, I'm afraid he's right on all 3. But whoever did that work certainly did a nice job, and it is a very nice gun not to be quickly dismissed.
dju

So Wayne, is it nicer now than when it walked away the first time?
dju

This pistol started it all for me and I thought about it alot over the years wondering what happened to it, I am just tickled to have it back, I wouldn't take 10K for this gun if someone offered it to me. I am not disappointed that its a reblue i am just happy it was returned, It was a fine job whomever did it and is still not a shooter for this guy,

Wayne

Just to be clear, the L shaped transfer lever and the S shaped connecting lever were left "in the white" on ALL Mauser Lugers until the end of production in 1942. Here are photos showing these two parts on a 42 byf.
Norm

So the guy who stole it had it re-blued??? And now you have it back...

So, you're wondering if it's worth more now than when you owned it originally??? :p

Wow...What a conundrum... :D

No I Think it was reblued when I had it. It came back to me in the exact same condition it was in 1990. I was a novice and my eyes lit up when I had the opportunity to buy it in the late 80's.

Its still a special gun to me and I wouldnt trade it for the world. Well maybe a cartridge counter, lol

I would doubt the thief had it re-blued.

The pistol, without any doubt in my mind, has been through many hands, some of whom did not take care of it.

Finally a caretaker had it re-finished( I'm still not 100% convinced of a full refinish, in spite of the evidence!)

The last owner would have taken a bath when it turned up "stolen".

I'd like to hear the "rest of the story". Please!

Don Here is the Story
http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=35593

I would say based on the evidence, the entire upper (barrel, receiver, sideplate) is almost certainly reblued and then either fired a lot or someone took great care to make the receiver look like it was, due to the worn condition of the upper rails.

The lower frame parts may not be reblued - it looks fine to me, including the straw which looks original and the grip straps. Whoever tampered with (touched up?) this gun did an amazing job - no buffer used here!

- Geo

Also the extractor looks a little purple, which is not normally seen. I've read that later salt blued Mausers can have some purple (especially the ejector spring), but not a 1936 rust blue.

- Geo

Some of the Chicago "strip and dips" have fooled not only collectors, but dealers who should have known better. These are usually the later salt blue Luger finishes but whoever did this upper knows his business. Thanks for an informative thread!

Why "Chicago" strip and dip?
Why not most anywhere?

This Luger's side plate shows an interesting anomaly...

In 1936, they were uniquely numbering side plates within the entire suffix letter groups. This gun is serial 4955n. The outside of the side plate has "55" as you would expect, but the inside has "5" instead of "50" which is what you would expect...

Looks like the worker forgot to stamp the "0" digit.

My 1936 also has a serial number stamping anomaly (overstamped first digit). There must have been some worker start-up issues at the factory at that point...

These problems could have extended to finishing issues...

Wouldn't rust bluing have required carding everything that was coated with chemical (including the recoil linkage and trigger lever)? The finish of this upper looks uniform to the lower. For the parts that are normally in the white to be blued, would this have had to be salt bluing?

I have a 42 dated Mauser Banner Luger that is as close to factory as anything I have ever seen. Sharp edges, uniform appearance. These normally in the white parts are blued on this gun... It's been discussed here:

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...ilitary+banner

Wayne

I'm glad you got it back, consider yourself very lucky.
I'm not a expert but I'm almost sure that it has been refinished, as you correctly said it's a bit too good to be true... :rolleyes:

Most I have seen are in the Chicago area, just ask the guys who have been burned. I guess it's an honor of sorts, but the best work seems to come out of that area. There are also some well known Colt SAA magicians in that region. In one case, I recall who bought the gun from me as an honest but gray, and who was selling it as a convincing 90%er six months later. Of course it's highly likely that fakers in other locales have joined in the fun.

I should have added that a gentleman in the Chicago area who does this refinishing keeps a serial number record. The problem is that one or two owners later, the refinish is marketed as being original.

So the question on my mind is "shooter or non shooter?"

Hi Wayne,
Since this gun has been refinished I think you can shoot it with little downside risk.
Regards, Norm