It really gets messy when you think of a Luger being bolstered or altered by a professional counterfeiter. I would think that a common army Luger like, oh say, a 1915 DWM would gain anything by rebluing and restrawing it. At todays prices, maybe the same could be said of a 1917 artillery. By the time you bought a barrel and the sights (front and rear), bought or altered the rear toggle and then reblued and restrawed, altered the serial numbers, you just have not gained that much, if anything. You have just spent a lot of time creating a fake.
On the other hand, altering a 1906 Russian army Luger can result in a big increase in price. Maybe the same could be said of a Kreighoff Luger. What was gained by the famous Ralph Shattuck Krieghoff where the chambered date was altered from one rare Krieghoff to another rare Krieghoff? Just some idiot fooling around.
Nazi Era lugers are a different story because small proof marks can change the value of a Luger. Counterfieting a Totenkoff head on a chamber can change the value of a Luger. This is a fine example of how a counterfieter can ruin the collectibility of a fine gun.
There is a guy on the forum who spent a lot of time and effort making an Ideal Stock and holster, including grips for a 1900 or 1906 Luger. Gosh, for the time and effort he spent making it, he could have gotten a part time job and bought a real one.
When a Luger is restored by a skilled craftsman such as Thor or the guy that I sometimes use, Ken Karsted, then I really have a hard time berating the gun. These people restore a Luger to its original beauty without otherwise alterating the gun to increase its value. What has given restoration a bad name are the hackers and the counterfeiters. Hackers because they permanently have destroyed a historic artifact. Counterfeiters because they have committed a fraud for the purpose of cheating someone. Do-Do on them.
This could be a long topic for me because, at heart, I am really a purtist. 99% of my lugers are (I think) original. Even an original (?) Wiemar era navy that I have that has a small cap hinge pin and an army frame. It would have a hard time passing a Tom Armstrongs inspection if it weren't clearly proof marked as a commercial Weimar Era navy Luger.
But the two or three Lugers that I had restored would have been religated to the trash heap if I did not do it. I saw the beautiful swans beneath those ugly ducklings. Someday, somebody is going to happy to have them. Ken Karsted did a fabulous job on them. The only comments that I get is that "they are too perfect".
Well, enough of my ramblings.
Big Norm
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