Forced matching

[lugerholsterrepair]

Ron, These same purists often see nothing wrong with having Jerry Burney repair or restore a holster to better condition.

That's because there IS nothing wrong with it! There is a Huge difference in replacing numbered parts on a pistol and holster restoration. But let me qualify that too....

Lets say you have a very rare marking on a holster, Luftwaffe or Navy. The mark is on the body. The top is trashed. You find a good top just like the trashed one and exchange it.
Are you boosting or saving a very desirable and rare holster? Some would say it is carefull, expert conservation of an important historical artifact.
In fact this type of restoration was done by the Germans themselves, evidenced by say...Reichs revolver conversions. So we know the Germans did not throw away good leather. They fixed it.
We know they fixed pistols too. They did it in a very prescribed way and unlike holsters, that way is almost impossible today because we do not have access to the right parts.
So I think if the right original part can be found it would be proper to mate it back to the pistol it came off of. Like a matching magazine.
This is extreamly unlikely but it does happen.

A different subject altogether is putting parts on pistols that don't belong there and never would or that are falsafied in order to decieve. Or stamping something on there wether it be a number or death head or whatever. This is plainely criminal and often the destruction of a Luger pistol, another tool or accoutrement.
Unfortunately, what started out as a collector often turns into a seller and the race for money is on.
Purists, as Ron says, will always detest monkeying with a pure collector pistol. I value an original pistol very highly and I have to know what I am looking at to believe it IS original down to the last detail.
This board, discussions like this, fellow knowledgable members and books. All guard against being duped by an unscrupulous booster.
Jerry Burney