Aimco/Stoeger modern lugers

[jeffs]

This may seems silly, but are the blued Aimco lugers also made from stainless steel, or is it impossible to blue stainless steel? If they are indeed stainless, will they look like stainless steel if the bluing is removed?


Thanks,
Jeff

No such thing as a silly question. The AIMCO Lugers that were black were also stainless. Stainless can be blackened by a chemical process similar to bluing. If the black is removed you will have a silver luger.

The stainless Lugers that were not blackened had a brushed finish, this is done by a buffing wheel with the appropriate type of medium. Your luger will not look like the brushed stainless ones if you remove the black. You could also use a scotchbrite pad to get the brushed look.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Brad

... You could also use a scotchbrite pad to get the brushed look.

Or you could just buy a ScotchBrite wheel...

A 6" x 3/4" one cost $34 the last time I checked; Texas Knife Supply and Jantz both had them, IIRC...Buck Knives uses them to give their production SS knife blades the brushed look...

Be aware that they do remove metal...scratches come out easily, as does embossed lettering...

[jeffs]

Hi again

By "brushed," do you mean polished? It seems like that unblackened s.s. lugers had non-polished finishes in their recessed areas, as well as highly polished areas. Was the same true of the blackened s.s. lugers?


Thanks!
Jeff

[jeffs]

I should be more clear: What I would hope to do wind up with after removing the blackening is a polished s.s. finish. Would this be possible, or am I dreaming?

THanks!
Jeff

No, brushed and polished are different. If your intent is to have a mirror type polished finish that looks like a chrome automobile bumper then you will need to use a polish and a felt type buffing wheel. This also removes material but not as agressive as the scotchbrite wheel. You will want to maintain all the sharp corners and edges and not round them. You can search on this forum for "buffed" Lugers to see what they look like.

To be honest I have never seen a black one first hand, only in pictures. From a cost standpoint I would have to say that they are both the same. The parts on these stainless lugers were cast, i.e. the molten stainless was poured into a mold. Not sure which process they used but they came out with a rough finish. They were then probably bead blasted to make the surface uniform and all the raised areas were given a brushed finish. It would cost considerably more to go into all the nooks and crannies and polish them out. So based on that I would say they are the same.

The brushed finish has a directional "grain" to it typically all running in one direction. An example of the brushed finish is like the stainless steel Smith & Wesson revolvers.

If the black finish was removed you most likely will not have a polished finish. The chemical process probably etches the base metal some what. You would probably have to go and do some buffing/polishing.

There is a black on on GB but the pics are not real clear. That one looks like it was painted though. Here's the link... Black Stoeger Luger

[jeffs]

THanks! THis really helps!

Sincerely,
Jeff Showell

[Pistol Whipped]

I have a 6" black Aimco/Stoeger and the finish looks exactly like the one linked above. I've shot mine a few times and never had a problem with it.