1941 BYF question

Hello to all. my wife, knowing I was interested in picking up a Luger went a bit overboard Christmas. She gave me a 1941 BYF ser#12xx which appears to be in 90% condition with all matching numbers except for the magazine. After reading all I can both here and elsewhere I am still not sure about a few items. Perhaps I can get some help.


How can I tell if the gun has ever been refinished. I read here about a white color inside the gun. Well it looks blued (more like black) both inside and out. The proof marks look good but are slightly blurred and in some cases have hard to read numbers.


In the book "The Luger Handbook" it states that the grips are plastic but a few are walnut. The grips on my gun are a blond colored wood with no numbers. In addition, the book states that the ejector, magazine catch,takedown lever, thumb safety and trigger are all straw color. My gun is entirely blue with no straw color anywhere except for the word Gesichert by the safety.


The Luger Handbook gives a value of $1575 for very good condition and $2250 for excellent. my wife paid $1225 which seems a bit low for this gun.


My big concern again is how to tell if the gun has been refinished. My big problem is both the lack of straw color on parts listed in the handbook and the grips.


Thanks in advance,


Eric