I have heard stories to the effect that from the late forties to the late fifties there were a number of small shops in Germany specializing in quick nickle plating jobs on what ever for the GI's. What ever meaning anything from a pistol to a paper weight to a letter opener to all the non-moving parts on a Panzer. I've seen nickle plated coal scuttle helmets.
Here in the US refinishing, either nickle or blue was fairly common in the fifties and sixties. I had a friend who had a mismatched Luger reblued in the middle or late sixties.
This week end I saw a nickle plated Luger at the gun show. Looked like a 1906 grip safety commercial with 4 3/4 inch 7,65 barrel. The upper was all matching, the lower was all matching, but they did not match each other.
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