Navy Luger build - from scratch to finish
 

Like many of you, I have always wanted a Navy luger shooter, but with costs as high as they are, I decided to build one. I had a .30 cal commercial luger (barrel shot out) that was in good condition with non-dated chamber. After searching for close to two years, I picked up an original Navy two-postiion rear sight. I then found a 6" Navy barrel (new). Now that I had all the parts, I stripped the entire pistol down, removed the old bluing and rust blued it by hand. The rust process took me approximately 7 weeks to do the entire luger. In addition, I took a new projection magazaine, aged it and installed a Navy wood bottom. Lastly, I took repo grips, aged them and installed them. This Navy was not build to be a counterfit, but rather an inexpenive shooter. I have had many complements on the nice rust blue finsh - sometimes that does not show well in pictures.

I wanted to share my restoration with you guys and I certainly hope you like it.

Mark

very nice !!!

so presistence does have its rewards
congratulations

bluing looks sort of like a matt finish - which I like - what grit polish did you use ?
did u use the brownells rust blue solution ?

Bill

Mark:

I really like what you did to this old-timer. You did a fantastic job, in my estimation.

Neil

Mark,

I had one just like that built on a 1939 S/42 Mauser. Wish I hadn't sold it now.

That's nice...

Ron

Very Nice work... and I am sure far less expensive than buying a working shooter class original Navy Luger... Congrats... How does she shoot with the new barrel?

Nice job! I'm curious too about which solution you used, I've been messing around with 4 different types,experimenting. I've found the degree of glossiness depends on how long you rust between boiling and carding....if you wait till you have a solid orange coating of rust, you'll end up with a more matte finish- if you end each cycle when just a hint of red/orange is visible under bright light, you'll maintain more sheen. (using a 320-400 grit finish)

Very nice work !!! Bill

Guys:

Thanks for the compliments on the gun. To answer John's question about how it shoots - it is a tack driver. Before I refinished the gun, I put it all together and tested it out completely. I had to shorten the recoil spring a couple of turns in order for my reloads to feed, but other than that, it went together well and shoots well. This is definitely a better option than having an original for shooting. As a side note, I did not serial number the barrel as well as the Navy toggle to insure that this one never gets confused with an original.

Mark

Very nice Mark,

i sold my navy to a fellow collector and have regretted it.

Also have had a couple 6 inch shooters and sold them, again regretted it :)


Ed

Outstanding!!! :thumbup:

WOW!! Very nice results.....I would be proud to own and shoot that piece. You are a patient person, as it takes time to get the rust blue to produce those results.

Mighty handsome job.

Charlie