Light Salt Bluing - Almost Translucent
 

My 1939 42 code Mauser Luger has a finish that is quite a bit more thinly blued than my other salt blued Lugers. The appearance is almost translucent.

Were there periods when the Mauser factory produced more thinly blued pistols, or is this likely the result of someone trying to clean it and removing the bluing?

I've attached a representative picture of the receiver top and toggle. The tone of the bluing darkens depending on the angle of light...

Marc

I would vote that there is a pretty wide range of bluing finishes on the WW2 guns, some with purple parts, some not, some with a very dark blue, and some lighter. And I'm not certain if it is a matter of wear, or cooking time, or how "used" the salts were, etc.
More pictures would help, but I'm not scared, yet.
But, do I see a strawed extractor?
dju

More pictures
 

The extractor isn't strawed... it just caught the light that way.

Here is another picture... The tone changes as the light angle changes... \/\/\

This was sold to the prior owner by Ralph, and Ralph had apparently added the bakelite grips... I've since replaced them with correct period wood grips. I should take some new pictures...

Marc

Marc,

There could be a couple or so different reasons. Salts were weak (used too long) , temperature was too low, or the duration in the tank was too short. Or possibly a combination of these factors.

The tank temperature being too high will result in a plum color, as will high nickel content or leaving it in the tank too long.

Ron

Ron and David, thanks for your thoughts on this...

This one actually looks better in person than in photographs. It is unique among the Lugers I've examined. I am confident that it is the original finish. The blue-black color shifting toward purple/plum would be consistent with the process variables mentioned.

It was, after all, 1939 - and I am sure Mauser was under pressure to produce these in greater quantity.

Marc

I always found it interesting that it's possible to tell at what point, the urgency and reality of war has struck a waring country.
You can tell from their weapon production techniques, and see exactly when the reality set in.

Don't want to steal this thread, but would like to jump in and ask is this the plum color discussed above?
Cliff

That is not what I had in mind. Sometimes you will see 2 different pieces of metal showing a distinctly different finish, such as toggle vs. barrel extention, or the ejector strips, etc.
That is an interesting phenomenon on your gun, however I have no explanation other than "stuff happens".