[Guest]

I'm new to this so please bear with me. I see references to "straw". Could someone please explain this term to me so I can better appreciate the info I see. Thanks.
Sabalo

 

[RockinWR]

Hi Harry,
* Welcome to the forum!
* "Straw" refers to the color steel takes on when lightly "case hardened" by heating to a specific temperature range and allowing the part(s) to air cool (quench). The color appears pale yellow to a golden hue. Hence the term "straw" as most descriptive of the color. The case hardening was primarily done to improve the wear durability of the part's surface & retard rust. It also added an attractive visual relief to the pistol's overall blue.
* The depth of the case hardening was quite shallow and over time abrasion, oxidation & the elements(persperation, rain, leather tanning solution, etc.) caused the hardened surface to oxidize/erode on these parts. The straw color would dissapate leaving an oxidized white surface followed by darkened spots (microscopic rust attenuated by cleaning/oil).
* In general, Military (up until approximately mid 1937) and most all Commercial Lugers had 5 small parts strawed. These 5 were the takedown lever, trigger, mag release button, safety lever, and ejector.
* Knowing the Luger model/dates which were to have strawed parts can help reveal pistols which have been re-blued. Many times rebluers will not duplicate the straw hardening process on the small parts due to time, disassembly, knowledge, etc.
* As the "strawing" process is quite simple, requiring about only a home oven, a number of examples today have had their strawed parts redone in an attempt to improve the overall appearance of the pistol. Inconsistency of the bluing wear to the strawed parts wear is usually an indication of this attempt; but, anymore, the calibrated eye to detect such an attempt can only be honed by examining a large number of original examples. Even then, it is not foolproof nor an absolute guarantee of detection.

 

[Pete E.]

Some strawing charts :

Download Attachment: strawchart~1.jpg
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Download Attachment: strawchart2.jpg.jpg
98.57KB

 

[Guest]

quote:Originally posted by RockinWR

Hi Harry,
* Welcome to the forum!
* "Straw" refers to the color steel takes on when lightly "case hardened" by heating to a specific temperature range and allowing the part(s) to air cool (quench). The color appears pale yellow to a golden hue. Hence the term "straw" as most descriptive of the color. The case hardening was primarily done to improve the wear durability of the part's surface & retard rust. It also added an attractive visual relief to the pistol's overall blue.
* The depth of the case hardening was quite shallow and over time abrasion, oxidation & the elements(persperation, rain, leather tanning solution, etc.) caused the hardened surface to oxidize/erode on these parts. The straw color would dissapate leaving an oxidized white surface followed by darkened spots (microscopic rust attenuated by cleaning/oil).
* In general, Military (up until approximately mid 1937) and most all Commercial Lugers had 5 small parts strawed. These 5 were the takedown lever, trigger, mag release button, safety lever, and ejector.
* Knowing the Luger model/dates which were to have strawed parts can help reveal pistols which have been re-blued. Many times rebluers will not duplicate the straw hardening process on the small parts due to time, disassembly, knowledge, etc.
* As the "strawing" process is quite simple, requiring about only a home oven, a number of examples today have had their strawed parts redone in an attempt to improve the overall appearance of the pistol. Inconsistency of the bluing wear to the strawed parts wear is usually an indication of this attempt; but, anymore, the calibrated eye to detect such an attempt can only be honed by examining a large number of original examples. Even then, it is not foolproof nor an absolute guarantee of detection.

 

[Guest]

How strange can that be. There was a discussion on another forum about casehardening and niter blueing and one of the links had Robert's post on the strawing. I clicked on the link and opened the post and somehow that got posted here.

 

[Edward Tinker]

Johnny, I wondered what happened...

Guess i still don't know?

Ed

 

[Guest]

I have one 20DWM 30 cal Luger SN 81181, no suffix. None of the usual small parts appear to have ever been strawed. The pistol has lost all of its blueing. It seems to be totally original and has never been messed with-and never will be.

My question is this: were the usual small parts strawed when it was made?

Hoyt Weathers

 

[Dwight Gruber]

Hoyt,

Assuredly the small parts were originally strawed. Straw is a very delicate and ephemeral finish, over time it will even fade in sunlight. Lugers with faint or faded straw parts are common. Take the side plate off this gun and check the trigger where the side plate hides it; chances are there are remnains of straw there.

Your 20DWM Commercial with 5-digit serial number is properly without suffix--all 5-digit Commercials are. For my own information, does it have an upright crown/N on the left receiver, and is it stamped GERMANY?

Thanks for the extra info.

--Dwight

 

[Guest]

Hi Dwight,

1. There is a lazy Crown/N on the left side of the toggle link behind the firing pin front part containing the GELADEN piece.

Download Attachment: DSCN0206.JPG
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There is also a lazy Crown/N on the bottom of the barrel forward of the full SN.

2. There is an extremely hard to see upright crown/N on the left receiver. The die appears to have been struck very very lightly. It takes hopeful imagination to see it.

3. GERMANY is on right side of the barrel assembly near the front.

4. This morning I sent? to you a message with 24 pictures of the pistol. I received my Bcc, but do not know if you received the original. I got an indication that the outgoing msg to you timed out. Next, I Forwarded to you a copy of my BCC. If I do not get a reply that you received them by Saturday August 20, I will send to you 24 separate messages containing one picture each.

Regards,
Hoyt Weathers

 

[Guest]

To All:

I have Googled for "strawing" and "straw", "restraw", but nothing usefull to me pops up.

Where are some instructions for restrawing?

Thank you,
Hoyt Weathers