Dwight,
You have said nothing from your point of view I disagree with. I don't like to think in terms of agreement or disagreement. I agree the matter of Luger identification is a daunting jumble of misinformation leading only to confusion for folks wanting break into this field of gun collecting. I say "break in" because no doubt the present convention is a barrier.
I am part of that convention, probably to my detriment, because I grew up in it, so to speak. Things developed slowly over the years, so were easily absorbed. Take my 63 years of accumulation, it goes back further than that, and dump it on an aspiring individual today, it's no wonder they give a blank stare and just move on. It has to affect the future of Luger collecting, the subject of a Thread on this Forum.
If convention could be changed, I'm for it. But, what can one person do? I think you'd have huge support for what you want to do but without your depth of knowledge what can anyone do other than agree with you. (I'm being rhetorical, these are more statements than questions.) How do you change the status quo? How do you change the thinking of such a dauntingly diverse number of folks?
Dwight, I know I probably sound antagonistic, however despite what you might think from our discussions, in me you have a supporter. But, what more can I do but agree and then fall right back into the status quo. I, like so many others on these two Forums, would like to see things as you envision, but we're the choir. Thousands of otherwise interested people don't even know we are having this conversation, and won't. I see them as the status quo. They are the unknown quiet majority that keep things the same. I see them as unreachable.
I hate being such a pessimist when you are so optimistic. Is it ok to ask for a general outline of a proposal to effect a change to the current thinking? Or not! I don't want to hi-jack ithacaartist's Thread. I wrote this before seeing spacecoast's Post #26 above. I like his proposal.
In closing let me say the first conventional identification I would like to see fade away is "Black Widow". I hate that term and won't use it. I saw it light heatedly mentioned that the ones with wood grips be "Brown Recluse". Things like that, though unintended, can catch on.
Jack
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