[johnnycowboy]

Hello All,
While not new to Lugers as a whole, my primary focus has been rust blued military and commercial Lugers. My question for you all, is how do you personally identify whether or not a Mauser salt blued P.08 is refinished or original? Some of the rules pertaining to rust blued Lugers can translate over, but certainly not all of them do. I would appreciate any subjective and/or objective insight into how you determine the originality of the finish on salt blued Lugers. Thanks!

 

[4 Scale]

Note comments in this thread re: transfer lever and s-link, which should be un-blued. The comments apply to salt-blued Mauser as well as rust blued pistols.

S Code...Original?

The FAQ also discuss refinish.

Personally inspecting as many original Lugers as you can is IMO the best way to learn to spot fakes. That can be done by visiting dealers, better gun shows and seeing the pistols of other collectors. Personally I find judging salt blued finishes more difficult than judging rust blued finishes.

Below are two original salt blued PO 8s. They are a tad more shiny than some pistols as I apply Renaissance Wax as a preservative. Photos were taken in indirect natural light but on different days and with different cameras against different backgrounds resulting in different hues. In person they resemble each other closely.