I have sort of stayed out of this topic of authenticity of Lugers, and what dealers are honest/dishonest, etc., but I think this is a good time to make my statement.
In regards to a fake, refurbished and sold as original, enhanced pistols, are a fact of life! They are here and the only thing we can do is LEARN to spot them. Buy books and read what stamps are supposed to be there and their location. Look at the fit, finish, markings on a known, authentic Luger and remember what they lool like. Ask questions to the seller, get a written statement from him if it is a top dollar pistol that it is authentic and what the dealer will do if it is found to be not as respresented. But, you also must remember that the actual buying and money exchange is done of your own free will. Yes, you will make mistakes and buy something sometime that is not correct; but that is a learning process which I am sure most Luger collectors have done in the past (all may not admit it, <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" /> )
If you have a bad experience with a dealer, don't deal with him anymore. There are dealers who I like and trust, there are dealers I like and don't trust, and there are dealers I don't like but do trust. I buy some from the big dealers and I have gotten pistols that are not correct. When this happens, they have been totally upfront and taken care of me. I prefer to buy in person from gun shows and shops so I can inspect the pistol first hand and then make my decision to buy or not.
When a deal goes bad and a person gets "taken" it is a huge disappointment and if the seller knew the pistol was not correct he should be punished, but most often he is not. This leads to a potential collector to stop collecting and enjoying these fine weapons.
In Col. Whittington's books, he states that if you stay with the common pistols, you usually will have a nice Luger, reasonable price, the value will always go up, and you will enjoy collecting. When you start looking at the high dollar or rare Lugers, this is where you need an experienced person with you to help decide if it is correct or not. As with anything, learn the subject first.
Marvin