Frame repair
 

I picked up a mismatched luger last year and the frame had the stock lug ground off.

Then a few months later at an auction I picked up some parts and a frame was included, this frame had the stock lug area cut off - the frame was a very well used Dutch Luger - I thought, I wonder if I could have it fixed. Well, I mentioned it to a friend of mine and member here :cheers: and he said he knew a guy named Jim French who does micro-welding. I also talked to a friend of mine who had a couple of cut up frames that I could have.

So, with one newer but cut frame that had a stock lug and another that was the front part we made two good frames. Cost wise it probably wasn't smart, although Jim was not excessive in price. But I brought a Dutch frame back to usefulness.

I realize that they will need to be refinished or coated. Maybe powder coated? Thoughts?

The Dutch frame was starting to get pretty rotten, so Jim welded in two areas, the rear stock lug area and almost the entire front grip!

Overall, I am very pleased, as I have a couple of projects for fun in mind.

Very cool.
Do you really need another project?

Ed,
Rust blue should cover the steel weld.
In for a penny, in for a pound!

Makes no $$ sense, but I do it all the time. ;)

Nice! I take my welding to a local machine shop, they have a guy who can do a phenomenal job with regular TIG. They use some kind of hi-tech TIG welder that has a seemingly unlimited range of adjustments, and Jimmy has a steadier hand than a brain surgeon. He can weld up rust pits smaller than a pinhead, so he's a great resource when I'm working on old basket cases. :cheers:

Edit: There is also this guy who can add stock lugs from scratch: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=549810328 . Has anybody used him? It's obviously an expensive option, but it might be worth it on some guns.

Eric, I like Hickock but he's not repairing any frames :)

Olle, great to know, will bookmark his name.

Dick, no, not really, but its in my nature - okay, and sometimes it just happens. I had started the process months ago, then backed away and then it started again :)

Ed

Thank you my friends. I'll slow down some!!

Ed, Stay away from powder coating. It can chip and crack..also it can be too thick for Luger tolerances IMO.

Plus powder coating on a Luger is, at least for me, an instant turn-off.

For an incorrect finish, parkerizing would be better than any coating

I agree with both, neither finish I just love, but I will see what goes on it andon covers it, might be able to hide the fixed stock lug on the nicer one by slight sanding and bluing

The other, I have to decided, the Dutch, rust frame is already that weird gray color, so parkerizing might be okay, we'll see.

As it is, I bought an upper off of ebay and yesterday I made a 'shooter' just have to try it out :)

Ed

Ceracote is another possibility. It comes in many colors, and matte to glossy. It seems to function very well on handguns. Just a thought.

1916 Artillery DWM luger frame
 

Very pleased with the rework of my Artillery. I can't spot the stock lug replacement between 4 other original stock lugs, when laid side by side.

There was misinformation spread on the west coast regarding the legality of a Luger with stock lugs, that they were illegal. Therefore, quite a few had their lugs ground off.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=33252

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=33310

That mis-information was not confined to the west coast!

It was spread over the whole country, just "common knowledge", but in error.

Same reason that lots of Mauser stocks lost their lugs, and frame slots were "filled".

Nice job on the 1916! Good save.