1913 Erfurt

[LugerMan.com]

Originally Posted by Pit_Snipe

Greetings, I just inherited my first Lugar. From what I have learned so far it is a numbers matching (4009) 1913 Erfurt. The back story: My grandfather traded his sidearm with a German Officer who defected to Canada. In the pictures you will see the unusual grips. They are made from the windshield of a bomber that he crash landed somewhere in Texas. I'm not really concerned with value (outside of insurance purposes) as I never intend on selling this piece.
I have some questions about making it safe and restoring it somewhat. 1st question: what to do with the plating? It is in poor condition. Strip and reblue? Leave alone? (I really like blue!)
2nd question: The rifling is bad! Almost completely missing. Obviously accuracy would be affected, but would it still be safe to shoot. If not what are my options.
My intention is to display this piece (with family pride) and shoot on occasion.

Hi,
First of all: the nickel finish does make the gun look worth then it actually is. It actually protects the metal to some degree , and when removed metal looks as good as original metal does.

Second: removing the nickel can be done without any damage to the metal by a chemical striping of the nickel, done that meany times and guns come out clean from the bath, with no problems, 2-3 hours in the solution and the nickel is gone.

Then, I'd also recommend installing a new set of springs along with the new barrel.

And as a final step a full restoration.

The numbers and proofs do not look damaged that much, that means no buffing was done, just nickel applied.

This gun can be saved without problem. Judging from the pictures anyway.


Thanks.