I have a 1917 LP08 that Thor Restored for me and I did ask him to not quite bring it up to 100%. He probably thought I intended to foist the gun on some poor soul but I think I convinced him that I just wanted it to look right.
It is a beautiful fully matched 1917 that I bought on gunbroker for $800. The negative to the pistol was that some knucklehead had chemicaly stripped the bluing...no buffing.
Anyway, Ted did a world class job on it and I keep it stuck in an excellent repro holster attached to a Finnish stock. I carry it around in my truck/car and shoot it all the time. I have probably travelled 75,000 miles with it in a year and a half and shot 500 rounds through it. Sometimes I use a TM08 so it does tend to get hot. Still looks factory new.
Believe me boys, our guns come by their wear honestly over a whole bunch of years and lots of abuse. I am convinced that most of the wear we see on our Lugers came at the hands of civilian owners and not during military service.
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