Navy

[Imperial Arms]

It is always wise to be cautious when 'scoping out' any fine condition item, and I always try to be fair and give credit were due. In the case of this Navy Luger, hereunder are the points that I like:

1) Signs of natural patina, and micro patina even under the finish;
2) The edges are sharp, even on the high edges of the sideplate;
3) The straw shows (dirt) discoloration and slight thinning, and the small fire blue parts look acceptable to me.
4) The grip screws have turned a dullish blue-brown which shows normal handling;
5) The grips are original and show consistency to the rest of the Luger. If the grips would show more wear, yes, I would be concerned that the pistol has been refinished.

If this Luger has been (partially) refinished, some pro definitely took the time to strip this pistol down to the bare bone and applied a very careful selective restoration. It would have costed quite a bit money and time to apply this level of workmanship while preserving the signs of orginality.

It is possible that only one part/area of the pistol may have have been refinished, but I cannot detect it in the supplied images.

Overall, I am comfortable with the originality of this Navy Luger based on the supplied images, but I may have overlooked or missed a particular detail that might disturb/alarm somebody else. I have received some information from my European sources that there are a number of collectors bidding on this item and I presume that bidding will intensify towards the end of the auction.

Albert