refurbished or a replica?
 

Hi!
I'm looking around for a new Luger, I found this one in a gunshop but I'm puzzled aboutt the gun.
The owner said it had been refurbished in 1998 by Mauser factory but I can't see stamps on it.
look at this photos, let me know your opinions

I believe that it has indeed been refinished. The year 1937 was a transition period for Mauser made Lugers and the early ones had the straw colored parts and are known among collectors as "Type 1". At some point in 1937, Mauser began bluing all parts and are called "Type 2".

IMO the color of the pistol is too black to be original and it actually looks too good, showing no signs of ever having been used. The engraving on the front grip strap suggests that it was refinished by Mauser and, as no parts were replaced or repairs done, a re-proof wasn't necessary.

whoa - is this one of the first ones done by Mauser before they made their own. If vlim was around, he would know.

BUT, I am almost positive, its not just a refurbished one (no such thing as a replica like this).

The whole pistol looked very "70's Mauser-y" to me from the get-go. This link from Jan Still's forum came up in a search. https://www.lugerforums.com/threads/...ser-p08.27321/

Excellent catch and I believe you've provided the correct answer to the OP's question.

Thank you so much!
I’ll keep looking for an original one, maybe in .30 luger.
This kind of ammo are very expensive and uncommon here.

Very cool story - all new to me, too!

Ed is right. Mauser done pistol. John

Mauser was making their own new Luger pistols beginning in the 1970's.

By the 1990's it was no longer cost effective to produce completely new pistols, but they did acquire some original Mauser pistols and factory refurbish them. This is one of them.

The work was well done, and done to high standards. They are somewhat unique, with the high quality metallurgy of the original Mauser wartime Lugers and the finish quality of the later Mauser made pistols.

I'm not positive, but by 1998, these pistols may have been acquired from Russian or East German captured wartime sources for refurbishment at the Mauser Oberndorf factory. Along with the commemorative pistols done in Oberndorf toward the end of the 1990's, these were some of the last ones done there.

Mauser Oberndorf Refurbished Lugers
 

I got in touch with Mauro from the Paul Mauser Archive, and he has some of the original marketing material from Mauser for these Oberndorf refurbished pistols. I'll post what he sent me from the archive here.