Originality ethics (long)

[Kyrie]

Thatâ??s an excellent post, BCC


â??Factory originalâ?� collectors donâ??t even want unit marked Lugers - the pistol didnâ??t leave the factory with unit markings. They also arenâ??t interested in reworks - VoPo, Finn, double date, etc.


â??As issuedâ?� collectors donâ??t mind (and may actually prefer) unit marked pieces because it can help them trace a part of the pistolâ??s wartime issuance. These folks have no problem with VoPo, et. al., Lugers


And there are the collectors of commercial Lugers. These folks arenâ??t interested in any military Luger - they want commercial pistols


And then there are the collectors of contract Lugers. Collectors of contract Lugers arenâ??t interested in German military or police Lugers. They want Persians, Finns, Siamese, Russian, etc. Lugers.


But what all these different kinds of Luger collectors have in common is a desire for an all original Luger. If they are factory original collectors the Luger has to have all the parts in came with when it left the factory. If they as issued collectors the Luger has to have the parts it had when it was issued. This is what collector mean by the verbal shorthand â??matchingâ?� - is it all original.


If someone other than the factory or the maintenance depot has replaced *any* part, the pistol is no longer original. One of the ways collectors determine if a part has been replaced is by checking the parts numbers. Itâ??s also why collectors tend to have such a strong response to parts swapping to make a pistol look like it is original when it is not. Most collectors have been offered mismatched pistols altered to appear to be matching, and canâ??t help associate anything that makes a pistol look like something it is not with fraud - because they have had thing kind of thing done to them in an attempt to defraud them.


Hope this helps.


Kyrie