1900 restoration

[Sergio Natali]

Originally Posted by Olle

Like Hamlet once said, "To restore or not restore, that's the question!"

I did talk to the owner about this, he's an advanced collector and knows the pros and cons. I believe the deciding factor was that the gun had been wiped with large amounts of cold blue, you can't really see that in the pictures but it was obvious when you looked at it in person. It even smelled like Birchwood Casey's Perma Blue, so we both agreed that that it would be better off restored.

Sometimes people ask my opinion whether to have their guns restored.
Originality isn't something that can be restored, as it's something delicate and unique, once lost it's gone forever and no wizard can't bring it back any more. Personally I prefer to own a truly original pistol in poor condition than one that's been expertly restored, as truly original pistols are getting really hard to find.
Perhaps he best candidates for a restoration, are guns that have already been messed up or permanently altered in some way, like it was in your case after all.

[rhuff]

Very nice work Mr. Olle. It is always difficult(at least for me) to fully evaluate exactly what a "before" handgun looks like from photos. A cold blue touched up gun frequently photos pretty well, especially if oiled, when in person, it is obviously not correct. I own a mixmaster that was cold blue touched up many years ago. It is fine with me, as it is one of my shooters.

I think that you did an excellent job on this Luger, and likely your friend will think so also. The grip screws look to be fire blued....are they? Nice touch!! Thanks for showing us the before and after photos.

[Olle]

Originally Posted by rhuff

Very nice work Mr. Olle. It is always difficult(at least for me) to fully evaluate exactly what a "before" handgun looks like from photos. A cold blue touched up gun frequently photos pretty well, especially if oiled, when in person, it is obviously not correct. I own a mixmaster that was cold blue touched up many years ago. It is fine with me, as it is one of my shooters.

I think that you did an excellent job on this Luger, and likely your friend will think so also. The grip screws look to be fire blued....are they? Nice touch!! Thanks for showing us the before and after photos.

I'd say that about 80% of the bluing you see in the "before" pictures is actually cold blue. If you look at the grips, you'll get an idea of the amount of wear on this gun.

And yes, I did fire blue the screws and the toggle pins. I'm not sure about the screws, but the owner said they were supposed to have that finish so that's what I did.

[G.T.]

Hi Olle, I wouldn't mind owning that gun... your skill sets are growing fast! ... best to you, til...lat'r....GT