Should I restore 1941 Luger

[Vlim]

It is not so much an issue of restorations reducing value, although I suppose that is possible.

That is absolutely the issue!

Any attempts at refinishing a Luger will kill it's collector value and reduce it's resale value all in one go. So an absolute no-no unless it's a super-duper rare variation in an already terrible condition. And even then you should consider leaving it alone.

The only more or less 'acceptable' approach in my eyes is to (profesionally) touch up damaged areas on an otherwise nice looking pistol. I remember a nice 1900AE which had an awful deblued stain on the left side. That part was professionally redone in the correct rust blue tone, enhancing the pistol's appearance without ruining the rest of the (original) blue on the gun. But even then, the restoration hurts the value and the cost of restoration does not cover the devaluation.