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Herb · 07-04-2002, 08:16 PM

ronin, here is my $.02 worth. In the middle 80's I had the opportunity to buy some Lugers for $295 US so I bought two. They were both really beat up, about 15 or 20% blueing, no straw, grips worn to about nothing,numbers were almost all mismatched, one had the bore shot out, but both were still relatively in good shape mechanically. I traded one to a a guy for a nice P38 AC45 that he had several of but needed a Luger for his collection. The other I stripped down to the 'white', used a soft steel buffing wheel on it with a lubricant and turned it into a stainless steel model ala John Martz, added repro grips after dying them black, It was really purdy. I loaned it to my oldest son as he was heading alone into the Sierra's in search of gold. Well, he decided to please me by using a buffing wheel on it and made it look like it was chrome plated. Well it didn't please me at all, to say the least considering how much time I had spent in making it look stainless. Eventually I decided to blue it. Using a liquid that I bought from a Co. selling on the internet I did so. Apparently not getting it properly degreased I wound up with a 'blotchy' finish. Later I decided to use it for experimenting with strawing the correct parts by heat treating, which after seveal attempts turned out pretty good. I am now considering trying to reblue it again after stripping it and getting a 'satin' finish on the metal. Well, getting to the point, I have had more enjoyment with this $295 Luger than with all of the others as I have spent many, many hours experimenting with various techinques of finishes and such and have very little invested in it. This one gets more attention than all of the others and for the money invested I feel that it is very cheap entertainment and the poor thing still shoots very accurately at 50 meters and eats just about any brand of ammo. So, my advice to you is to start with a cheapy, have fun with it, learn how it works, blue it, whatever, just get one that has a good bore and is mechanically sound. Then go for a collectabe if that is what you want, but all you can do with them is look at them and wipe the dust off.

07-04-2002, 08:16 PM	#2
Herb User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Utah, in the land of the Sleeping Rainbow Posts: 1,457 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	ronin, here is my $.02 worth. In the middle 80's I had the opportunity to buy some Lugers for $295 US so I bought two. They were both really beat up, about 15 or 20% blueing, no straw, grips worn to about nothing,numbers were almost all mismatched, one had the bore shot out, but both were still relatively in good shape mechanically. I traded one to a a guy for a nice P38 AC45 that he had several of but needed a Luger for his collection. The other I stripped down to the 'white', used a soft steel buffing wheel on it with a lubricant and turned it into a stainless steel model ala John Martz, added repro grips after dying them black, It was really purdy. I loaned it to my oldest son as he was heading alone into the Sierra's in search of gold. Well, he decided to please me by using a buffing wheel on it and made it look like it was chrome plated. Well it didn't please me at all, to say the least considering how much time I had spent in making it look stainless. Eventually I decided to blue it. Using a liquid that I bought from a Co. selling on the internet I did so. Apparently not getting it properly degreased I wound up with a 'blotchy' finish. Later I decided to use it for experimenting with strawing the correct parts by heat treating, which after seveal attempts turned out pretty good. I am now considering trying to reblue it again after stripping it and getting a 'satin' finish on the metal. Well, getting to the point, I have had more enjoyment with this $295 Luger than with all of the others as I have spent many, many hours experimenting with various techinques of finishes and such and have very little invested in it. This one gets more attention than all of the others and for the money invested I feel that it is very cheap entertainment and the poor thing still shoots very accurately at 50 meters and eats just about any brand of ammo. So, my advice to you is to start with a cheapy, have fun with it, learn how it works, blue it, whatever, just get one that has a good bore and is mechanically sound. Then go for a collectabe if that is what you want, but all you can do with them is look at them and wipe the dust off. __________________ Utah, where gun control means a steady trigger pull