A lot of thanks
 

To begin I want to thank virtually everyone who has, or has had, anything to do with this forum. Not only because I recieved such helpful advice in reply to my first two posts but also because of the amount of extremely accurate and helpful information I have picked up in browsing the site. It's better than finding a ten year collection of "Guns & Ammo" to look thru. Especially since it's all related to the pistole I hungered after for over sixty years.

Thank you, guys!

That said, I'd like some more advice:

I just bought my Luger at auction. It's a recent Interarms Mauser American Eagle (?) serial 11.008834 and I'd like to know how to determine date of manufacture.

The grips appear to be raw wood. Is there something that they should be dressed with? In the service we were told to treat the grips of the .45 with linseed oil. Needless to say I'm not going to touch them until I get more information.

Thirdly, I have had a bit of a problem with jams because one of the mags is somehow defective. I discovered most improper ejections could be cleared by holding the breech open and turning the weapon upside down but another form of jam involves a cartridge partway out of the mag and partway into the chamber. That's a bitch to clear as I hate to pry on anything and don't see any other way. (And thank you ugluk! The thong, sinew, lace, rawhide and/or leather string worked great)

And last, I have a holster (didn't come with the Mauser) that I always thought wasn't worth much but it seems maybe it actually does have some value. Until I can get some pictures of it on here, Is there anything I could dress it with to help preserve it? It is marked bml/41, has no mold and is not dried out but needs stitch repair.

Thanks for reading, I'm looking forward to your replies. Lliam

Liam, yes and yes and you're welcome / although from the forum, not me, I am afraid I probably did not help :(

Anyway, if Mauro or Vlim sees this, they can tell you exactly when it was made! I have an American eagle model 4 inch, I hunger for the 6 inch now. Darn things :)

There is a tutorial here on the forum, explains leather well.

Personally, some saddle soap (always go light on everything) will clean it up, then I use leather conditioner, do NOT use anything you'd use on boots as it softens the leather. You must use something made for it. Some use Pecards, but it leaves behind a gooey residue and I won't use it anymore. I use Connolly's and bought it off of ebay, it is used for Rolls Royce seats (made of leather) to preserve them, us it light and sparingly and then rub it shiny after an hour or so.

It WILL darken the leather, that said, it evens out the scuff marks and always makes it look better, but if it that really nice lighter tan or brown, it will make it darker.


Ed