Buyer Beware?

[Jan C Still]

Randy said "As a side note, I hate to see markings on any guns filled with paint. It can lift the blue at a later date when trying to remove the paint, and makes original markings look 'bad'. Plus it looks like crap."

I could not disagree more! Perhaps Randy is dealing with different destructive â??paintâ?�. For over 25 years I have used Lacquer stik or China White (termed white out by collectors) to help bring out markings when I photograph pistols for publication. Over the years the white will start to yellow and I have cleaned it all out and reapplied the â??Lacquer stikâ?�. Never have I observed any destruction of the blue. The same has been observed by other old time collectors. The only thing the white out does is help display the markings in more detail for collectors. (Note: Kenyon used white out to illustrate markings in his book â??Lugers At Randomâ?� published in 1969; Whittington, used it in â??German Pistols and Holsters 1934/1945" published in 1970).

Gun oil and a tooth brush are more than adequate to remove the white out(even after 25 years) and will not damage original blue. However, oil and a tooth brush will also remove cold blue, as collectors have discovered. (Note: this applies to Lacquer stik or China White and not to what ever â??paintâ?� Randy is talking about.)

Note: sometimes the white obscures fine details (such as the way the markings were applied) and detailed photographs with white out removed, are more illustrative.
Jan