An arty that needs rehab
 

Just picked up this arty from a neighbor. Heavy corrosion due to improper storage as far as I can see...

right side slightly better than the left...

showing hard use

surprisingly the barrel has a lot of original blueing. I suspect the gun was resting on its left side, explaining the unusually heavy corrosion.

closeup of left side with heaviest corrosion.

frame...

a decent '36 era mag - anyone looking for a match?

disassembled

the gun is entirely matching, down to the grips and the firing pin. This gun just had to be brought home for some cleaning and oiling. It will make a heck of a shooter!

I like it!

Obviously stabilizing the gun is your first stepâ??but afterwards, oh that will be a hard decision. I love project guns; you get to play with them much more than the perfect ones.

What is the year of production?

Vern

Nice find. Now the hard part. Do you restore it, or just clean it up and shoot the fire out of it?

Looks rode hard and put up wet ! :)

Any pictures of the toggle top & chamber date??

Nice find, maybe an example of a arty in my price range.

Fritz.

Clean it up thoroughly, then cold blue it and enjoy yourself. You will have done no damage to the pistol and will have nothing more invested in it. One of the problems with "restoring" a tired but correct Luger is that when you decide to move up to a more collectible piece you play hell getting out of the other what you have invested.

I agree with George and others, its an original artillery and fun to have! congrats!!

ed

A lot better than the one I was just offered. It was literly buried in the back yard. Very heavy corrosion. To the point that part of the ridge near the safety is gone. The strange part is, the bore is good and it shoots a treat.

Unless he gives it to me, i think I'll pass. It is a 1916, all matching.

Finally, the top of the chamber. The toggle train retains good amount of blueing...

side of barrel showing high degree of original blueing dramatically compared to the rest of the gun

grapppa

I would just clean it up the best that I could and not try to reblue it. Leave it as it is, but cleaner. It is still a history piece, even in that condition. Should look a lot better after you work on it.

Good luck with it.
Joe