[cburd]

Yes, Mr. Sabato is totally correct! I would make sure it has no collector value, before I did ANYTHING to it! You can get a piece of steel at a Lowes, machine shop, or scrap metal place, to practice on, first. As I said, I have experience, but it came with a few "foul ups"!!!! Your Luger doesn't want to be your practice piece.......If it is to be just a shooter, a good start would be a "cold blue" kit, to give it a decent finish, and to keep it from rusting. Afterwards, you will still need to have a light coat of oil on it when storing it. It cost's a lot to have a firearm blued, or browned, by a pro, and it is not an easy task, mostly due to the cost of chemicals, and such. but the cold blue is an easy fix, if the weapon doesn't have collector value. The main thing is, to remove as little metal as possible, and to try to leave as much of the markings as possible. Do not strip it yourself, and then send it to be refinished, as a lot of factors affect the process, such as the humidity, etc, and it can rust very fast while waiting to be done! Mine was purchased as a shooter, so it didn't have any value other than as a normal firearm, although it still has all of it's markings, as precise as the day they were stamped.The best way to remove any rust spots, and the remaining finish is with 000, or 0000 steel wool. Anyway, once you touch it, it loses any hidden value. I would make certain of it's value, first, before starting on it!