Erfurt Side Plate

[bill m]

Hi Kyrie,

If told that it was "altered", I'm sure most collectors would agree with you, but this information isn't told, so no one knows it was altered, except the man who changed the part. There is NO WAY for you to know that pin or trigger or sideplate, was changed, and thus, you would accept the gun as being original and matching. We have been thru this before and I admire your point of view, but the other side of this discussion is that you can restore a piece back to how it is suppose to be. I'll bet you that I can change the connecting pin in 5 guns and you can not get all 5 correct as to which has been messed with and which hasn't? -- and for that matter -- how do I know which guns are correct to start with, as I wasn't there at the factory to pick them up?? Sometimes I think we all go to extremes as what we call an all original and matching gun, we have no idea if it is actually as issued from the factory. When a Luger is from 50 to 90 years old and has been thru a number of different owners and handlers, the only thing we can go on is if the blue is the original color, and the numbers and proofs all correspond to that particular model -- thus matching. I personally do not think you can tell the difference of a changed sideplate if it is done correctly and with the proper replacement -- same style, numbers, and model.