When was the extractor strawed?
 

I've seen some Luger refinish work where the extractor was strawed - which looks really sharp. But according to the Luger Handbook, only extractors on models up through 1902 were strawed. The rest are said to be rust blued. The Luger Handbook is not always correct on the strawing though.

Also when blued the blueing sometimes looks different as if it is either fire blued, or perhaps the part is just more finely polished than the rest.

Thanks,

-- Dan

Dan,

The extractor was strawed on Lugers with the old-style breechblocks--1900 and 1902. They were rust blued up through the middle of 1937, when production shifted to salt-blue.

Any visible difference is likely due to finishing; different hardness of the steel compared to the surrounding breechblock; or refinish of one of the parts.

--Dwight

Dwight is correct. Some late 1930 and early 40s PO8 extractors will have a reddish purple color due to the temperature of the bluing salts. TH