New Owner ?
 

I'm new to Lugers and after reading "Lugers at Random"
and "The Luger Handbook", I purchased a 1916 DWM. The pistol
has a 4" barrel, military proof markings, matching sn's including the mag (wooden base). Some bluing wear on the barrel and trigger plate. Strawing is OK.

I am thinking of having it restored. Should I leave as is? What effect will restoring have on the value?

Depends, if rare and a 1916 isn't, then it might be worth it to do so. If your gun is a fun shooter, then it also might be worth it. But a nice restore will cost $400-$600, so cost of the gun, plus $400+, is it worth it?

To many colelctors, once you "reblue or restore" value as a collectable is dropped in half to a third.

WELCOME to the forum Chuck!! :cheers:

Can you provide pictures of both sides?

Ed

Zeke -

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new Luger.

If it is a truly authentic 1916 DWM with all matching parts and a matching magazine, and has minimal wear, having the gun refinished would not be a good economic decision. Ed points out the probable math.

For what it's worth, IMHO, I would hold on to the gun, buy a copy of Jan Still's "Imperial Lugers" if you can find one, read everything you can find, and wait a while. You can always refinish it in the future, but you can . . . never. . . un-refinish it.

Also, it would be helpful if you could post good, detailed pictures.

Hope this helps.

Luke

The sn ends with a c. The scribe(?) marking where the barrel meets the receiver lines up indicating the barrel is original(?). Geischert has white paint left in etching. Grips do look good. The mag is discolored I assume from handling. The wood base has a small nick in one of the finger depressions.

What is the best way to and what oil/solutions to clean up the pistol. I am having problem with uploading pix as the upload never finishes.

I have uploaded pix. How to attach with reply?

you need to upload them one at a time... If you know the jpg's name, you can type each one in, otherwise, each time you upload one to this forum, you need to copy and paste to the thread under add reply. You can also do one photo at a time, but that takes a lot of space, when you could put 6 or 7 photos in one posting.

Ed

I'll try again

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/luger005.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/luger006.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/luger008.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/luger011.jpg

Sorry but don't have full view pix yet. The one I have is of poor quality.

Looks as though this could be a nice gun in good condition, more pics would be great. Refinishing would probably reduce the value significantly if you ask me.

zeke 1312,

Before you send this gun off for restoration, please contact me. I am a great proponent of restored Lugers, but (due to recent events) I would have some definite advice for you to consider prior to committing to a restoration.

DougT

Under no circumstances should you consider restoring this gun, it is of far to great of value to screw up. Looks like you got a real collector piece there, and I bet well worth over 2k.....please do not mess his one up with even the finest of restorations.......please let me know if I can help.....

DO NOT have it restored. It is a fine original example. You would ruin a nice Luger.

Restoration is only for pieces that would be worth more restored because they were in such bad condition to begin with. Severe deep pitting etc. Or other damage that would relegate them to the parts gun or shooter catagory. This one is way too nice.


Ron

Gee Ron, didn't I say that.....how is the wife?

No matter what, don't have it restored.... sorry PL, ron made me say that :D

I will post side view pictures as soon as I get my new digital camera figured out. Thanks for all the replies!

I want to clean up the pistol in question. What is the best solvent and oil for use? What method do you use to "scrub" areas such as corners or grooves that have buildup of material? I assume you would use the solvent for such a task?

Trick is to not use anything caustic... Hoppes or CLP or some other gun oil will work just fine. Just give it a good cleaning without going nuts. Don't force anything, if you take the grips off, be very careful, it is easy to snap end pieces off. Go from under by the mag well and gently push up.

Ed

Here are the additional pictures of the 1916 DWM:

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc00002_copy1.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc00003_copy1.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc00004_copy1.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc00005_copy1.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc00006_copy1.jpg
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc00007_copy2.jpg

Zeke,

It's a beautiful gun, and I agree with our experts--clean it up and leave it alone. Congratulations!

DougT

Thanks for the replies. After your input, I plan NOT to restore or use.

A really fine example. Glad you are going to maintain it in its quite lovely original condition. Restoration would reduce it to 1/3 to 1/4 of its current value. Congratulations.