Buyer Beware?

[JoeP.08]

A big auction company just had a huge firearms auction the first of this month. There were a lot of Lugers put up on the auction block. I did subscribe to the catalog and subsequently submitted a sealed bid. Some of the pieces were exceptable while others were more than questionable, judging by pictures and descriptions.

I was perusing the net yesterday and noticed a new Luger on the dealer's website I often frequent. The Luger looked very familiar and I checked it against the auction catalog. Low and behold, it was a Luger I bid on and lost. It was WWI vintage DWM unit marked to a Barvarian unit. Amazingly, when the piece traveled to the dealer's shop, the original finish went from 75% to 97%. I've been collecting for a little while now (I know a little, but still got a lot to learn!), and it doesn't take a veteran collector to see the "original bottle bluing" dripping out of the regimental markings on the front grip strap. You want to really laugh, compare it to the auction catalog picture of the unit mark. Needless to say the price inflated along with the "original finish".

Today I got a gun list in the mail from a dealer who must have been to the same auction and the Lugers he bought went from "remanufactured" to "rare and restored".

Has it always been like this?

[Randall M. Bessler]

Hi Joe,

I may or may not be the dealer who mailed you a catalog referred to in you post, 2nd paragraph.

There were several Lugers in the sale that were described with 'problems' that did not exist.

The cataloger tried and did a lot of good research on ID and Markings but missed a few minor fine points like discerning between original and non-original finish and using the term 'remanufactured'.

It is always a good idea to inspect any gun in person sold at auction.
All auction companies (under terms and conditions of sale), only Guarantee 3 things, make, model and serial. everything else is up for grabs. Even Lawful Title in some of the Fine Print!
Sometimes you get good deals! Other times not.

I view collector guns in these ways;

1) Original: Not 'enhanced' or 'touched up' or 'most original finish' Gun are either Original or not.

2) Restored: Lovingly brought back to original factory manufactured specifications, including finish and original markings. Skills Vary from acceptable to Scary on the quality of Restoration.

3) Custom: For a finish in the 'White' (Martz), Hard Chrome, teflon or Gold/Silver Plated Finish.

4) Re-Blued. Just a quick fix like a $99.00 car paint job.

5) Fake or 'Fantasy': initially Created to Get the $$!

As a Dealer for over 25 years I get all the above in with collections and sell them for what they are.

Anything that is not Original is sold for its true value.

The 'G' and 'K' dated Navies I bought are Rare, and they are Restored.

A Krieghoff I bought that was described as ' not original', was. It did have the wrong grips but I had a set of the right ones.

The term 'Re-Manufactured' to me means taking it down to a square block of steel and 'Remanufacturing' it into something.

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.

Most cold blue touchup can be easily removed with acetone. Be careful it is very flammable! Any guns I get in that are 'suspect' get wiped down. It will not harm original metal finishes, but be ready if you decide to go over your collection as the end result may not be what you want to see. Cold blue has been around as long as blue has and was designed to protect the bare metal from rust, not to fool or jack up prices on guns.

I am my own Best Customer and try to treat buyers as I want to be treated! Don't be discouraged!

Best!
Randy Bessler

[DougT]

I have found Mr. Bessler to be an absolute first class reputable dealer, a great guy to talk with and he has a really cool website catalog with color photos of most of his inventory. Don't overlook him when you're searching for something. I bought a beautiful bayonet from him for my K98k that only needed to be reblued (it had been polished bright and stated so on the description and showed well on the photographs). I reblued it and it complemented my 1939 K98k quite nicely.
DougT

[Malcolm P.]

I had a chance to see the "K" date Navy. It was a first class restoration!!! Wish had the bucks to purchase it.

[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