A Belated and Sincere Thanks to Tom Armstrong

Jimbo · 06-07-2003, 08:19 AM

Tom A,

Reading the post on 3 recommended Luger dealers jogged my memory. I don't think I ever thanked you for refunding the money for the 1939 Mauser 42 code I bought from you last year. Thank you, that was honorable of you to give me a full refund even though a couple of weeks had passed.

For those of you who are not aware, I bought a 1939 Mauser 42 from Tom last year while he was selling part of his collection to raise funds for his rare and very valuable Navy. I was delighted to buy from him because of his sterling reputation. I knew I was getting a righteous gun, not getting ripped off. Tom sent the gun and I had a 3-day review period to let him know it was OK. He even e-mailed me to ask how the gun looked.

Well, I'd been busy. And it is two hours from my home in San Francisco to my FFL dealer in Sacramento. It was 2 weeks before I could inspect the Luger. Now, this gun was immaculate and the accompanying holster was gorgeous. But there was one terrible problem. I immediately noticed the rear toggle axle was an unstamped replacement. If there is anything Bill Munis has taught me it is that ALL military Mausers had ALL small parts stamped with the last 2 digits of the serial number ALL of the time.

Now this gun was truly mint. Not Ralph Shattuck advertised "mint that is kind of nice but more 98% than mint. This gun was HONESTLY mint, but for the dreaded replacement toggle axle.

I felt I had over-paid for the gun because that one missing part knocked this otherwise phenomenal specimen down to shooter status. I hate that! I hate that the Luger community has defined such a huge chasm in value between a gun that is mint and one that is mint but for one tiny, stupid, insignificant part. In fact, the toggle axle fit like a dream and I have every reason to believe it was a true arsenal replacement and not some GI hammer fit or collector screw up. That Luger should have been worth maybe 5% less than an all-original mint specimen, IMHO!

But I don't make the rules. And suddenly, I had a gun that technically was worth much less than I paid. Now, I still REALLY wanted this gun as it was a beautiful thing and would have been far and away the cleanest piece in my small collection. I proposed that Tom give me a refund for the balance due to the Luger's not being all-original as advertised. Well Tom being the honorable man he is said he would rather I just return the gun and he would return 100% of my money. Now I had the gun for 2 weeks. And he had every ethical right to say I had my 3-day review and failed to review in time. He had no way of knowing if I had removed the original axle and replaced it with an unstamped one in a criminal attempt to get a partial refund.

Sadly for Tom, he bought the gun from a trustworthy person who advertised it as all-matching original and never himself checked to insure that it was. So he had no way of knowing if that part was stamped or not before sending it to me.

The bottom line is, I was heartbroken giving up that gorgeous gun and wished I could keep it. I thought about it. I though about bucking the collector trend and keeping the gun at the full price I paid because I really wanted to keep it that badly, it was so purely mint.

But ultimately I went with the rules and couldn't justify paying a collector price for a "shooter" Luger, even though I disagree this gun was anything but a shooter. It was a very immaculate mint Luger and should have been valued as such.

Well Tom, this is just my very long way of saying thank you for the full refund even though it was two weeks before I performed your 3-day inspection. Thanks for being a gentleman and man of honor. Everyone should be so courteous and professional. And I hope you still have that Luger. It was a beauty!

And everything came out OK in the end because I sent that refund money (along with a good deal more!) to Doug Smith for a very nice 1937 Krieghoff that I am just thrilled with and that is the centerpiece of my small, modest collection for which I am so deeply grateful. Life is good.

And a sincer thanks to you, Tom A. for being such a gentleman. I propose a toast to your health sir! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

Jimbo

06-07-2003, 08:19 AM	#1
Jimbo User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: SF CA Posts: 167 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	A Belated and Sincere Thanks to Tom Armstrong Tom A, Reading the post on 3 recommended Luger dealers jogged my memory. I don't think I ever thanked you for refunding the money for the 1939 Mauser 42 code I bought from you last year. Thank you, that was honorable of you to give me a full refund even though a couple of weeks had passed. For those of you who are not aware, I bought a 1939 Mauser 42 from Tom last year while he was selling part of his collection to raise funds for his rare and very valuable Navy. I was delighted to buy from him because of his sterling reputation. I knew I was getting a righteous gun, not getting ripped off. Tom sent the gun and I had a 3-day review period to let him know it was OK. He even e-mailed me to ask how the gun looked. Well, I'd been busy. And it is two hours from my home in San Francisco to my FFL dealer in Sacramento. It was 2 weeks before I could inspect the Luger. Now, this gun was immaculate and the accompanying holster was gorgeous. But there was one terrible problem. I immediately noticed the rear toggle axle was an unstamped replacement. If there is anything Bill Munis has taught me it is that ALL military Mausers had ALL small parts stamped with the last 2 digits of the serial number ALL of the time. Now this gun was truly mint. Not Ralph Shattuck advertised "mint that is kind of nice but more 98% than mint. This gun was HONESTLY mint, but for the dreaded replacement toggle axle. I felt I had over-paid for the gun because that one missing part knocked this otherwise phenomenal specimen down to shooter status. I hate that! I hate that the Luger community has defined such a huge chasm in value between a gun that is mint and one that is mint but for one tiny, stupid, insignificant part. In fact, the toggle axle fit like a dream and I have every reason to believe it was a true arsenal replacement and not some GI hammer fit or collector screw up. That Luger should have been worth maybe 5% less than an all-original mint specimen, IMHO! But I don't make the rules. And suddenly, I had a gun that technically was worth much less than I paid. Now, I still REALLY wanted this gun as it was a beautiful thing and would have been far and away the cleanest piece in my small collection. I proposed that Tom give me a refund for the balance due to the Luger's not being all-original as advertised. Well Tom being the honorable man he is said he would rather I just return the gun and he would return 100% of my money. Now I had the gun for 2 weeks. And he had every ethical right to say I had my 3-day review and failed to review in time. He had no way of knowing if I had removed the original axle and replaced it with an unstamped one in a criminal attempt to get a partial refund. Sadly for Tom, he bought the gun from a trustworthy person who advertised it as all-matching original and never himself checked to insure that it was. So he had no way of knowing if that part was stamped or not before sending it to me. The bottom line is, I was heartbroken giving up that gorgeous gun and wished I could keep it. I thought about it. I though about bucking the collector trend and keeping the gun at the full price I paid because I really wanted to keep it that badly, it was so purely mint. But ultimately I went with the rules and couldn't justify paying a collector price for a "shooter" Luger, even though I disagree this gun was anything but a shooter. It was a very immaculate mint Luger and should have been valued as such. Well Tom, this is just my very long way of saying thank you for the full refund even though it was two weeks before I performed your 3-day inspection. Thanks for being a gentleman and man of honor. Everyone should be so courteous and professional. And I hope you still have that Luger. It was a beauty! And everything came out OK in the end because I sent that refund money (along with a good deal more!) to Doug Smith for a very nice 1937 Krieghoff that I am just thrilled with and that is the centerpiece of my small, modest collection for which I am so deeply grateful. Life is good. And a sincer thanks to you, Tom A. for being such a gentleman. I propose a toast to your health sir! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" /> Jimbo