I don't understand this...

[bill m]

Hi all,

Once a Luger is refinished, it can never be of original issue again. An original will always bring more than a refinished in the same condition. Rarity is what determines the price on some of the refinished Lugers. I personally do not want a refinished piece in my collection no matter how rare it is. I would rather have a 50% original conditioned piece than the refinished one. Not everyone agree's with this line of thinking. Also, the good experts can tell the refinished Lugers, so some of the high dollar refinished Lugers are being used to fool collectors that don't know their stuff -- like Krieghoff's. One other problem is that 97% isn't good enough for some people, so they send them away to get a new face lift. Some say that a refinished Luger is okay, because in 10 or 20 more years, no one will be around that can tell an original finish from an reworked Luger. I hope they are wrong. A messed with Luger, no matter how great the refinisher is, is still a messed with Luger. Perhaps they have more value to some than a true shooter, but they can never claim to be the real original as issued Luger ever again. This will always keep the value down to the true Luger collectors. The only way the value can be equal is if they are represented as an original. There will always be a difference between shooters and collectors as to preference, quality, and value, to which condition is the determining factor.