First proper Luger

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by npconnor

What's the give away for the refinishing job?

The big one is that the small parts are blued when on this vintage they should be strawed. In fact, it would really perk up the pistol's looks to refresh them yourself--it's one of the easiest rehabs to do on a Luger. Look for the sticky or FAQ with details of this simple procedure.

Other clues include the blued end of the retaining pin for the toggle's knee joint--visible atop the left toggle knob. The joint was assembled after the parts were rust blued and should remain "in the white". Many refinishers don't take the time/trouble to disassemble the joint for refinishing and just blue the entire assembly. It would seem that some use the time saved to buff the rest of they gun even more severely!

Fortunately yours was not buffed heavily, if at all, and retains fairly crisp edges, corners, and markings. Due to the refinishing and lug removal, it is a shooter; nonetheless, you might want to conserve the original numbered parts that commonly break during use by swapping them out for repro stand-ins when shooting it.

Enjoy!