My First: 1939 Army S/42 5555p
 

Greetings, all.

I've already posted this on the luger board at Gunboards, and it seems there is significant cross-membership, so apologies if this is a repeat for most of you.

As noted, I've acquired my first, an 1939 Army S/42, sn 5555p, all matching save the mags (two modern repros came with it).

I have a follow-up question posted on the other board to Frank about the acceptance marks - to my eye it appears I have a 63M and a 63S, but I'll leave the final determination to more trained eyes.

What I initially thought to possibly be holster wear now looks to me to be the result of overzealous cleaning with naval jelly - I ended up with a very similar result on a modern repro blued gauntlet that had gotten rust spots after a ceiling collapse last year - but would appreciate opinions. The worst affected areas are the forward top and right side of the receiver, with some possibly on the barrel, but that may very well be holster wear.

I'll be posting in both board's "WTB" area, but, if anyone can point me to an appropriate tool, period holster and (fingers and other things crossed) magazines, that would be spectacular! Currently bidding on a 1939 holster on E-bay, but having little luck. And, since I'm new to this, what are reasonable prices for such items? It appears an "honestly worn but intact" 1939 military holster is generally in the $300+ range, but, like I said, I'm new to this.

And, as I noted on the other board, I do kind of dig that the sn is all "5"s. I'm a numbers geek - shoot me! :)

Additional pictures
 

Couldn't attach all of the pictures to the original post - here are the rest. The wear/cleaning discoloration photos are in this post.

I would agree that someone damaged this gun's finish with Naval Jelly or other compound.

I hearby dub thee: "Old Spot".
dju

My first impression of the finish condition was that someone used a motorized wire brush(bench grinder with a steel brush) to remove the rust, and took the finish with it. It is a shame, as there are obviously better methods for rust treatment.

Looks like a great candidate for a nice re-blue by our very own Thor!
Bob