Buffed, Reblued, Boosted - Need Advice

[Luke]

I have been working with the assumption that ALL of the WW-I DWM Lugers (1908-1918) had the serial numbers stamped on the bottoms of the barrels added AFTER bluing.

Given that assumption, any such WW-I DWM Luger which has NOT been buffed or blued will have a barrel SN which has the following characteristics:

1. The barrel serial number will be crisply defined.

2. The barrel SN will not appear buffed or polished over,

3. This SN will have slightly raised edges around the numbers due to the force of the die driving into the metal,

4. The barrel SN will exhibit a halo or frosting effect around the numbers.

I have been consistently rejecting any Luger from DWM and this era which does not exhibit these characteristics. I have seen MANY which have this number buffed level with the barrel and, in some cases, almost buffed out.

AM I MAKING A BIG MISTAKE HERE. Need expert advice.

Thanks,
Luke