Hi Aaron,
I have a number of these TP Lugers and I do not think the barrel would be salt blued. Salt blue did not come into use until mid 1937. Is your barrel Simson Eagle 33 proofed? Had an interesting discussion with Garrison the other night and he suggested that these TP barrels were put on at the Police Armory and not reworked by say Simson, as I have always thought. Either could be correct as you do not see any Simson rework markings on the Lugers other than the barrel. He suggested that the barrel was shipped as parts to the police armory and that is why it is not serial numbered to the gun and that they put them on at the armory. Also, in my opinion, the barrel would not be TP marked if it was installed in 1937 or later. If this is a Simson barrel, it should be rust blued but is probably a different shade than the Erfurt bluing. 1937 or later would be the correct time frame for a salt blued barrel, but not the TP markings in my opinion, and if Simson was delivering parts such as barrels to the police armory, I'm sure the barrel would already be blued and not in the white. Without seeing the Luger my guess is that it is a different shade of rust blue. Just a guess. -- Bill
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