1900 Swiss on Gunbroker

[jeb111]

I was watching an auction for a 1900 Commercial Swiss Luger with an unrelieved frame which sold last night for $2600. I checked that pistol against other comparable ones for sale from online dealers and either there was something really wrong with the one on gunbroker or somebody got a super deal. The pistol looked good to me and compared to the other ones for sale it went for a fraction of the dealer's prices. If anyone can point out anything wrong with that Luger, appreciate the input. It was item #92539172 on GB.
Jim

[Mac Cat]

That sounds like a bargain.
It was a beautiful 1900 with BUG stamps and a lot of wear from shooting.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/925391572

[MFC]

One thing I noticed was bluing on the underside of the receiver rails. They should be in the white. Probably reblued long ago.
Sometimes that can be a deal breaker.

[jeb111]

Mike, I noticed the rails also but the end of the muzzle is in the white and there appears to be halos around the B.U.G. proofs on the barrel. One thing I was wondering was there is no mark from moving the safety usually you would see something even a light mark, right?
Jim

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by jeb111

Mike, I noticed the rails also but the end of the muzzle is in the white and there appears to be halos around the B.U.G. proofs on the barrel. One thing I was wondering was there is no mark from moving the safety usually you would see something even a light mark, right?
Jim

The pistol ticks off almost all the boxes for how it should look on the outside when assembled, so this was a quality refinishing job done by a reasonably knowledgeable pro.. Relieving the muzzle of bluing after refinishing isn't very challenging to achieve correct, in the white configuration, and would be part of a detailed refinishing job. The frame rails are what give away that it's finish isn't original, though. Although it's a challenge to tell from the pic, the lightened areas around the proof characters on the barrel look more to me like a bit of wear that's hitting the high spots as opposed to actual halos, which would be broader, with their edges less defined. Only the crown above the G looks particularly halo-esque to me.

Other clues include the trigger, which appears to have been smoothed enough to affect how the stamped serialization looks, crispness of the stamp numbers seems diminished. The front sight should also be nitre blue. As perky as the blue of the grip screws and axle pins is, I'd expect the front sight to show at least some of the proper blue color--even though it seems to have been filed down a bit--and the pic shows no trace. Also, if the rust bluing were done over a pistol cleaned up by glass bead blasting without buffing, this is the sort of satin finish one would expect.

[jeb111]

David I went back and looked at it again and yes i think your right about the refinish job. I had my doubts about it being the original finish with the frame rails but the other things I mentioned kept me wondering. It always seemed a good refinish job could replicate the muzzle white. Even with it being refinished the buyer got a good deal I think.
Jim

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by jeb111

David I went back and looked at it again and yes i think your right about the refinish job. I had my doubts about it being the original finish with the frame rails but the other things I mentioned kept me wondering. It always seemed a good refinish job could replicate the muzzle white. Even with it being refinished the buyer got a good deal I think.
Jim

Yep, those frame rails are the clincher. There seems to be a bunch of M1900s up for auction on Proxibid right now. Wish me luck because sometimes one of my low-ball bids actually pans out.

[jeb111]

Good luck with your bids, a 1900 AE is my next goal but I would love a Swiss 1900. I was tempted to bid on this Swiss but not being 100% sure about the finish I held off, not that I have a problem with a refinished pistol if the price is right but I didn’t know it’s value if it was reblued. As it turned out I couldn’t have gone much more for what it sold for even then it would have stretched my budget. BTW you were spot on with the trigger after looking in my G&S books you can see the lack of definition in the stamps. Something to keep in mind for the next time!
Jim

[spacecoast]

Not necessarily a bargain - wrong takedown lever and magazine catch, and possibly a replaced trigger. Wrong magazine and no evidence of a non-relieved frame. The heavy DWM on the toggle is also suspect. It helps when you own #513.

[Edward Tinker]

Just an FYI, but a direct link is OKAY on this forum, makes it easier to click than to go to gunbroker, copy number, etc.
But either way is fine

[Doubs]

This 1900 commercial Swiss Luger sold locally last Saturday for $2500. Add markup and taxes and it's just under $3000 if paid in cash and just over that if a CC was used.

https://bid.montroseauction.com/lot-...%26key%3DLuger