Gentlemen-
Thank you all so much for your thoughts. It's not a decision to be made lightly with a piece such as this.
Mr. Burney, your skills are legendary and your opinion on this particular subject carries quite a bit of weight. The collector in me agrees with you completely. There is no way to be sure when the damage was done and the holster certainly wasn't used much afterwards.
With four generations of veterans in my family, my heart agrees with MikeP. Our boys saved the world twice in less than 30 years and they did what was necessary to get the job done. My grandfather gave his life fighting the Japanese in the Pacific in WWII. The Luger that his brother, my great-uncle, brought back from Europe is what sparked my interest in the world wars in general and Lugers in particular.
That beat-up old P.08 was THE COOLEST pistol my 10-year-old eyes had ever seen...
|