Late Mauser small parts bluing

[mrerick]

Oops... Alvin, I stand corrected. I'm away from my books, but checked my 1938, and the muzzle is in the white.

So, that's likely conclusive that the cannon was completely re-blued.

Upon inspection, looks like the trigger plate pin was broken off at some point. The broken off area of the pin is also blued, so the entire part got salt blued as a unit.

This lends more credence to end of war or post war finishing and assembly, since I doubt that the WaAmt would have accepted one with a broken pin.

So... probably post war, new parts, originally blued or re-blued to improve appearance for commercial sale. Note done under French control. Probably done before commercial nitro proofing was re-established after WW-II in West Germany. Brought into the USA before 1968.

Marc