[mrerick]

Jack, Congratulations on a beautiful Luger and Holster and welcome to the forum.

It's hard to judge finish on photographs, and particularly difficult when the pictures are taken with flash or direct light.

Looks like you have a pre WW-I imperial Luger in very good original condition.

As it's in the original finish and all matching, including the magazines, it's particularly collectible and rather valuable. The matching holster adds even more to your "rig".

Take good care of it by keeping your Luger clean and wiped down with a rust preventative gun oil. Don't store your Luger in the holster. Get one of the silicone "Gun socks" or a zipper case that allows proper air circulation.

If you take off the grips, be particularly careful with the left grip near the safety lever so that you don't chip the grip. Avoid letting oils soak into the grips.

If you fire it and break a part, you'll cut it's value down considerably. It is more risk than I'd take with this grade specimen.

It looks like mold has developed on your holster. Jerry "lugerholsterrepair" has excellent background on restoration of leather holsters. After cleaning it's likely that you'll need to treat it to prevent recurrence of the mold.

I have used "Lexol" (which is commonly available at auto parts stores) in spray form to help restore dried out leather. This is a controversial area with a wide range of experiences. I'm satisfied with the results, but others (including Jerry in particular) have more experience than I do.

Finally, I'm not well versed in Imperial German unit markings, but I think that it's possible that "B.3.J.D." refers to the Third Bavarian Jaeger-Battalion Division HQ. Again, others on this site have much deeper experience.

Marc