[ithacaartist]

Haven't seen a post from you in a while, Rich...

Whatever it is in this barrel looks pretty bad (really?). Think some genius ran a tap through it? Is it rust that's blossoming on lands and grooves? This one might be a good test of the frequent claim that even a sewer pipe lookin' Luger bore is usually still remarkably accurate. What's its destiny?

Steve at Gunblack showed me a couple of Lugers not too long ago. IIRC, one was a Mauser military that just seemed to need a better refinish. The other had been deactivated by a plugged barrel at least. It had been diagnosed as lead at the time, so my recommendation to Steve was that since the fusion temp of lead is below that which would mess with the temper of the steel, he should just heat 'er up and melt 'er out...then scrub-a-dub-dub. Next visit, which tale I expect to install in its own post, he told me it turned out to be weld. Bummer. I think there is some other damage, too, but it sounded as if it might be able to be reclaimed, and a barrel change might just get the project home.