Arsenal finish is quite nice. The pistol is covered with tiny bumps scratches, and nicks, but they are mostly under the finish. They certainly did not polish it before rebluing. I like it...
In the first description the seller had said "most parts" were matching. When I asked him to clarify which, he said all the ones he could see were matching but he had not taken off the grips or checked the firing pin. HA! The only parts that are matching are the slide and frame. Certainly doesnt bother me much, as I would have expected a finnish luger not to match, but I was secretly hoping I had an oddball that had somehow made it 90 years in one piece...
Frame and slide are 1834. Front trigger guard number also has a cursive "L". Slide is (SA) marked and nitro proofed. At least the seller was right when he said it wasn't import marked, I checked everywhere and nuthin'.
At first inspection there was some shiny goo all around the edge of the grips. My first thought was that some previous owner had epoxied the grips to the frame. When I removed them, they came off without any trouble. It turns out the whole inside of the gun was caked in grease. Not as sticky as cosmo, but same color. It had hardened in a couple of places to almost a tree-sap-on-your-windshield consistency, but came off easily enough. My wife chanced to poke her head in right when I had disassembled everything, and she asked "is that maple syrup?"
With all the goo I had to clean out, I suspect any previous owners must have not fired much if at all since it was imported. The barrel was really clean too.
Magazine is wood bottom with a chip and nearly illegible +280 with no SA marking and a small dent in the body. The grips have the standard chip, but look pretty cool otherwise. I'm happy with it as-is and wont mess with the finish. After I fire it and check the point of aim, I may have to hunt down a square front sight. If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. I would also like to know if anyone can explain what the most current interpretation of the laws are regarding reproduction stocks on 120mm Lugers.
I took some photos with my iphone. They came out terrible. I'll try again later when I'm less tired.