Refinishing a Luger

[ronin]

With all the time in the world, since i just don�´t have a dime to my name right now, I�´m looking for a shooter (9mm).

You might notice that i live in a galaxy, far, far away (i must have picked that from a lousy movie [img]wink.gif[/img] ).

What few Lugers i�´ve seen so far did look quite miserable. The choice is very limited and i might end up buying whatever is available by the time i can raise the money. In this context, would you advise against doing so and be eternally patient until something worthy breaks the surface or would you get a beaten up gun and go for a reblueing?

Being a confessed absolute ignorant (or was it an idiot?), i�´d like to know if there�´s a special care i should be aware of when it comes to the parts to reblue or avoid reblueing (i wasn�´t aware of the tight tolerances of the Luger until i found Lugerforum)?

I think that the most common refinishing available here is parkerising but not having had any of my firearms redone yet i�´m ignorant in that subject too.

Thanks guys for your time and consideration.

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[Herb]

ronin, here is my $.02 worth. In the middle 80's I had the opportunity to buy some Lugers for $295 US so I bought two. They were both really beat up, about 15 or 20% blueing, no straw, grips worn to about nothing,numbers were almost all mismatched, one had the bore shot out, but both were still relatively in good shape mechanically. I traded one to a a guy for a nice P38 AC45 that he had several of but needed a Luger for his collection. The other I stripped down to the 'white', used a soft steel buffing wheel on it with a lubricant and turned it into a stainless steel model ala John Martz, added repro grips after dying them black, It was really purdy. I loaned it to my oldest son as he was heading alone into the Sierra's in search of gold. Well, he decided to please me by using a buffing wheel on it and made it look like it was chrome plated. Well it didn't please me at all, to say the least considering how much time I had spent in making it look stainless. Eventually I decided to blue it. Using a liquid that I bought from a Co. selling on the internet I did so. Apparently not getting it properly degreased I wound up with a 'blotchy' finish. Later I decided to use it for experimenting with strawing the correct parts by heat treating, which after seveal attempts turned out pretty good. I am now considering trying to reblue it again after stripping it and getting a 'satin' finish on the metal. Well, getting to the point, I have had more enjoyment with this $295 Luger than with all of the others as I have spent many, many hours experimenting with various techinques of finishes and such and have very little invested in it. This one gets more attention than all of the others and for the money invested I feel that it is very cheap entertainment and the poor thing still shoots very accurately at 50 meters and eats just about any brand of ammo. So, my advice to you is to start with a cheapy, have fun with it, learn how it works, blue it, whatever, just get one that has a good bore and is mechanically sound. Then go for a collectabe if that is what you want, but all you can do with them is look at them and wipe the dust off.

[Hugh]

Right on Herb! It's a lot more fun "fooling around" with junkers and shooters than "thinking" about my pristine "collectors" sitting in the safe. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

[Roadkill]

Gentlemen, I am going to report you to the A.S.P.C.L. (American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Lugers). I agree whole heartedly. I want something I can do things with. Is there such a thing as a Luger Learner's Permit? Needs to be, will keep someone from screwing up some fine guns.

"Swept from the Street"

RK

[Herb]

YO, RK. Find the lowest priced mismatched, ugliest, Luger possible and turn it into your dream. It is so much fun just to learn about the different metal hardnesses for proper blueing and heat treating the different parts that I can't really describe the fascination this pistol has provided me. I am contemplateing a very radical process for the ole 37 based upon previous posts to this forum that it even has me wonderinig. If it works out, or even it it doesn't, I will post the results. It is truely fun to have a Luger to 'play' with without worrying about hurting the 'collector' value, as it has none. Give it a try, "Mikey Likes It"

[ronin]

Herb, you�´re my kind of guy.

Your gun story is worth reading and does show how fond you�´re of that beast. It�´s been through hell and back more than once and yet still you care and have time for her.

My guns are not exceptional but i do fall in love with them time and again. And i stick to them as much as possible.

I�´m not sure there are so many Lugers around so i�´m likely to give one a permanent address and that�´ll be the end of it unless i find a reputable gunsmith to reblue it with extreme care and dedication (when i can get the doe for it) and eventually if fortune smiles at me i might send some parts to the US for strawing and other finishing touches but i can�´t see that hapening in the near future. I�´d love to have something shootable that also pleases the eye.

Still, let me get back to the original question. Reblueing the Luger does require any particular care or is it just a simple job that anyone familiar with the process might do without ruining the gun?

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[wterrell]

Ronin,
Care must be taken in preparing the surface for the bluing operation (I am referring to buffing). If care is not taken, the results will reflect the lack of experience of the person executing the operation. It would be best to consult Thor for advice about the best procedures to give excellent results and reference materials.

If you are thinking of a kitchen sink operation, I would try to dissuade you from attempting it. Again consult Thor.

[Herb]

ronin, like I said I did it myself as I was not really too concerned about the outcome, of course I had hoped for the best which did not happen because I did not get it completely degreased. It was definitely a 'kitchen sink' job. I now know I could have done a better job amd will endeavor to do so the next time around. Like I stated, this is my 'play' luger, I can do it many times, again and again, until I get it right, that is part of the fun of doing it. As Wes said, be careful buffing it or you will lose the highlights of the surface parts, rounding off of the trigger plate ridge, etc. However, when you start with junk and end up with junk what is lost? Nothing, but a lot of experience is gained and a lot of fun is had. I am still experimenting with the thing and will continue to do so as it gives me great pleasure to perhaps create my 'one of a kind' piece of junk. Beats the hell out of waxing the wife's car!

[Heydrich]

[It is truely fun to have a Luger to 'play' with without worrying about hurting the 'collector' value, as it has none.]

I completely agree with Herb’s sentiment. Although this is somewhat off topic, I have an old beat-up completely mismatched K98 rifle that I use as my shooter specimen. If my friends or family ever want to go shooting with “one of these German rifles” they knew I have, I always call on this old wreaked ce coded (JP Sauer & Sohn) 1944 Mauser. They never notice that it’s a mute gun, just that it looks like one of those rifles they see the German soldiers carrying around in the WW2 movies. I drag it around, drop it all the time, bolt it hard, etc. And they seem flabbergasted by this. It’s tough as hell, and bolts and fires like an old tough stallion. So much more fun than the collectors I have! Not only that, I can screw around with it with no fear. Like cleaning the laminated stock with the scrubbing bubbles trick, trying strange solvents to clean the barrel, slap on mismatched messed up hardware (hood sights, cleaning rods, odd bolts, etc) on it.

[ronin]

Hi guys,

There's a terrible economic crisis down here and there's not much hope of a better future. Years ago, it irresponsably looked much better and promising while we had our little fun we were terminally undermining our economy.

Rest assured that if, or more likely when, i get my paws on my very own Luger, i'll take good care of it and any job done on it will not be of the "sinksmith" kind. To the best of my knowledge, i'll get someone with an established reputation to work on my gun.

In past years i've aquired a humble collection of HK handguns and payed local prices for them. Local prices being normally almost twice what you regularly pay for the same gun in the US. For those familiar with it, i bought a Mark 23 (the civilian version of the USOCOM) for U$D 3.150. Yes, OUCH!
This here little proyect will be a little more difficult, considering that my income has shrunk from 3 grand a month to an unsteady U$D 250 and i have a family to care for. I waited very patiently until i could afford the Mark 23, i'll do the same for the Luger. In the meantime, i'll sit here in the dark and keep on learning.

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