When is a restoration worth it?

[railman44]

When is a restoration worth it? Doesnâ??t a restoration (which would mean at least a reblue for the sake of argument) significantly lower the value? I can understand taking a basketcase and investing some money to create a shooter but why would someone take a rare variation and restore it? Obviously, Iâ??m new to this disease â??Lugermaniaâ?� but in the Colt SAA world, very few bat an eye on bluing loss regarding a 100+ year old Colt SAA. I understand with any shooting collectable the finer the condition the more the value but I always equated that to â??originalâ?� condition. Iâ??m also assuming the better or more professional the restoration the less value lost. When would you knowledgeable collectors consider a professional restoration and what percentage of the value would be lost? Hopefully, this is not an impossible question to answer...

[Lugerdoc]

RM, This is a debatable question, here is my opinion. If a luger is a rare variation, all matching with an exc bore and is missing MOST of it's original finish or has been refinished (cold blued) without polishing, it is probably worth restoring. TH

[Edward Tinker]

I agree with Tom.


However, once, reblued, restored or "made better", all original finish is gone. I have seen guns that had a slight blemish and the owner had it "restored" fixed.


to me, all collector value is gone (unless as stated above, it is a rare or unusual variation). but I'd rather have a 50% gun than a reblue. Plus many reblues are done poorly by amateurs.

Even with a proper restore (and then you are talking about $400-$1000; all depending on who does the "restore") will the value rise significantly, or will you now be happy with a "pretty gun"?


and my 2 cents; I have met many collectors who will grab a "pretty gun" over a well used one. Given the choice i will take a much nicer one too, but many, many buyers who don't know lugers will take a pretty one over a correct one any day....

Ed

[wlyon]

I would never restore a fireaarm. To me no matter the condition it is better original. These firearms are old and should look old. Bill

[LugerVern]

Most of the money I made as a gunsmith was in restoring old guns, I would guess that only 5% would turn away from the idea when I explained what they were doing to collectability and value, they wanted a pretty gun and one that meant something to the family, period.

To them restoring meant everything, it is only when it passes out of the families hands that it looses value.

Many families never let go of their heirlooms, to them that pretty gun is priceless, you will never get your hands on it and you can bet they value it at the top of the price range when looking at the blue book.

I once offered a family a brand new model rifle of the same one they wanted restored-- no way! They just insisted that I restore the old one. I was a bit depressed about it but did the work.

my two cents worth

Vern

[railman44]

I may purchase a 1906 that has seen lots of action. It's certainly not super rare but somewhat rare. All numbers match even the worn walnut grips. I would rate the bluing at maybe 40 to 50%. There is some pitting but no major rust. Mechanically it's sound. If I win it I'll post pics and maybe some of you can help in at least the arrest of further damage. Rebluing is out of the question. I'll know soon if I paid too much and learned one of the tough lessons of attending "Luger University"...

[wlyon]

Tac
Well said !! Bill

[Ron Wood]

I agree...well said. However, a scarce Luger stored in a damp basement by an angry ex-wife is hardly a history worth preserving. Not speaking from experience, but have knowledge of such a situation.

[railman44]

Well, I won it. Not real pretty but it will have a good home. Any ideas on what I should do to arrest any further rusting/pitting? It's all matching and as you can see it's been shot a couple of times in it's lifetime.

[Ron Wood]

I don't know what you paid for it, but you got more than you bargained for if you bought it as a 1906! It is a 1900 American Eagle and in fairly decent shape. I would be interested in the full serial number if you wouldn't mind.

A little light oil (a good gun oil or even 3-in-1) and some 0000 grade steel wool (rubbing lightly) will remove any surface rust scale without harming the remaining blue and it will look a lot prettier. After that any good gun lube with occasional clean up after handling will keep the rust at bay.

Nice find. I like 1900s.

[railman44]

Ron, the serial number is 10216. It also has these marks (proofs?) which I'm not sure what they mean...

[Ron Wood]

Jim,
Thank you for the serial number. The 216 is of course the last three digits of the serial number. The other marks are just inspector's marks placed on the receiver during various stages of production/assembly/finishing. They vary from gun to gun and there is no way of determining by whom or for what they were applied. Thanks for sharing your new acquisition...not a lot of folks have a 1900 AE.

[LugerVern]

Wow! I like your gun!

I would not restore it, its just fine the way it is.

Vern

[Lugerdoc]

RM, I agree with Ron's advise above. If you plan to put it away for long term storage, I'd use RIG gun grease. VERN: Years ago when I worked in a bluing shop, a customer brough in an honest 90% Irwin-Peterson M1 Carbine for refinishing. As with your experience, he did not want to trade it for a shiny new carbine, so the boss refunsed to take the job, explaining that it would ruin the collector value. I doubt that the guy really comprehended. TH

[Heinz]

Nice 1900.I would not do anything other than what Ron Woods suggested. And you might want to have someone experienced watch you do that so you do not overdo the steel wool. I take mine and rub it on some scrap steel stock first to take the "edge" off the steel wool.