DWM Commercial Questions

mrerick · 10-14-2012, 09:54 AM

I find it very hard to judge the finish in these photos. The right grip has a tone much lighter than the left grip, implying that it was cleaned aggressively at some point.

The deep richness of the front strap certainly contrasts with the thin finish on most of the rest of the gun.

The straw looks so clean and new, it's hard to believe it's been in the air for these 83 years.

The thing that bothers me is the asymmetry of the halos on the barrel.

To illustrate, I've posted a picture of the barrel of my DWM commercial 7053m (1923) which has the most pronounced halos of all my Lugers. While they spread from the places where the digits are stamped into the metal, the halo spread is symmetric.

The halos on ebrem's sn 5812u pistol (particularly the "u", the width of the halo around "1" and the encircled areas of the 5 and 3) are not symmetrical. Since these digits are stamped straight on, it makes me wonder if the areas were chemically lightened after refinishing.

Another thing (and this could be the lighting, camera pickup or photoshop induced) is the translucent appearance of the finish. It reminds me of the early salt bluing variations seen in Mauser Lugers when they were having difficulty stabilizing the process in the late 1930s. Salt bluing would be wrong for this DWM.

If refinished, probably at the high end of "shooter" pistols. $1000 - $1100. If all original finish, I agree with Ed above.

Marc

10-14-2012, 09:54 AM	#13
mrerick Super Moderator - Patron LugerForum Life Patron Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Eastern North Carolina, USA Posts: 3,920 Thanks: 1,377 Thanked 3,135 Times in 1,518 Posts	Finish is the issue... I find it very hard to judge the finish in these photos. The right grip has a tone much lighter than the left grip, implying that it was cleaned aggressively at some point. The deep richness of the front strap certainly contrasts with the thin finish on most of the rest of the gun. The straw looks so clean and new, it's hard to believe it's been in the air for these 83 years. The thing that bothers me is the asymmetry of the halos on the barrel. To illustrate, I've posted a picture of the barrel of my DWM commercial 7053m (1923) which has the most pronounced halos of all my Lugers. While they spread from the places where the digits are stamped into the metal, the halo spread is symmetric. The halos on ebrem's sn 5812u pistol (particularly the "u", the width of the halo around "1" and the encircled areas of the 5 and 3) are not symmetrical. Since these digits are stamped straight on, it makes me wonder if the areas were chemically lightened after refinishing. Another thing (and this could be the lighting, camera pickup or photoshop induced) is the translucent appearance of the finish. It reminds me of the early salt bluing variations seen in Mauser Lugers when they were having difficulty stabilizing the process in the late 1930s. Salt bluing would be wrong for this DWM. If refinished, probably at the high end of "shooter" pistols. $1000 - $1100. If all original finish, I agree with Ed above. Marc Attached Thumbnails Attached Images __________________ Igitur si vis pacem, para bellum - - Therefore if you want peace, prepare for war.