Swiss luger on auctionarms
 

I'm sure someone out there checked out this luger. Any thoughts?

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/di...temnum=7156309

Ron Wood might check in on this, but I'd expect the barrel proofs on a c/BUG proofed gun with its original finish to be pretty heavily haloed.

--Dwight

It is hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like there may be light halos around the proofs and overall the gun looks pretty legit. The appearance of the proofs don't "bug" me, but that seems like an awfully high serial number to still have BUG proofs and I would expect it to have a short frame/receiver. Kind of an interesting gun. Wish I was rich, I would buy it just to check it out.

I have c/BUG proofs recorded until around 52500, lazy c/N proofs beginning to intermix around 51000 (to keep everybody in the loop, the gun under discussion is 37728). Hadn't noticed the long frame, thanks for pointing it out...

--Dwight

A general question on Swiss Lugers; and some other early guns too, for that matter.

I have been told that the Swiss liked to keep their guns in top condition and so had them refinished from time to time. I have heard the English gentry did the same thing. I guess what that means in the real world is that some early Swiss Lugers and some early guns which were in England (C96s and the like) may have been refinished a long time ago. That may account for the missing halo on some of these early guns.

The refinishing process used did not involve total immersion in a vat and so the muzzle end might still be bright and the interior of the gun might still be white.

That's just what someone told me once and I eagerly await edification by the experts!

Thanks in advance.

David Jackson

David, I ran this by Mike Krause, who I consider a Swiss expert, and he agrees totally with what you said. It is not unusual to see refinished Swiss Lugers. They are usually done well and are often proofed with the Geneva Cross to indicate such, but not always.