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Hello, I'm new to this board and had a question about a Luger that belonged to my dad during WWII. The gun was left in a shed which went up in flames. I found the gun in my moms cedar chest and decided to get advice if or not it can get it restored or just leave it the way it is. Anyone with their expert opinion(s) are welcome. I just don't know what to do with it?
Thanks,
Javi
From what I can see from the picture it looks worse than it actually is but it all depends on what you would like to do with it at the end of the day. You don't say if it is totally seized or if some of the parts are still moving. If you would just like to clean it up a little and preserve it then the first thing would be to place it in a container of light mineral oil and leave to soak for some time. If I was doing the job I would leave it in the oil a few months. If, however, you wish to actually shoot the pistol you would need more specialist advice.
Firearms that have been in a fire are generally considered NOT safe to shoot any longer. There is no telling how hot the metal got and if the heat treated parts where effected. There are companies that can test for hardness but the cost to benefit is something to consider. Let me add, there ain't a gunsmith anywhere that would ever give the OK to shoot this thing again or work on it.
Stuff like this that happens Sucks. :banghead:
If it where me I'd clean it up as best as possible and cherish it for what it is.
While I wouldn't recommend restoring it for shooting purposes, I would suggest having it properly restored as a family heirloom and have it suitably framed with a picture of your father, his military decorations and a copy of his Honorable Discharge papers. Something like that should be passed down through your family.
I agree with Warpig and part of the problem with restoration is the next owner in a decade or ten decades will shoot it. Not your problem but the outcome will be the same. I'd love to strip, polish and reblue it. New grip scales would make it perfect. Then like I say...you see what can take place? A hard decision...unless you deactivate it and do a refinish. Then it can't be fired after. Put it in a shadow box with explanation. The metallurgy may well be compromised.
Does anyone have an idea of the age of this Luger from what can be seen from the picture. I believe many were refurbished in the 1930s?
After soaking it in oil, you could try taking it apart: hold the grip and try and push the barrel to the rear. After a few tries to loosen the action, you might be able to force it right back. In the rearwood position, the side plate retaining lever should turn and the side plate could then be removed. The action should then slide out and the pistol could be further disassembled and cleaned.
I wonder if it's still loaded? Be a good thing to check that out first, no?
Although it may have been, I firmly believe any ammo would have discharged during the fire. Because it isn't damaged to that end...I seriously doubt it. Besides, I'll bet it's solid so he still has to free it up to do anything. Running a rod down the bore to see if one's chambered still, after it's been glowing red...won't help. Anyway they have a loaded chamber indicator.Quote:
Originally Posted by bob4wd
No mag...
soaking in Kroil will do wonders for rusted and seized arms. Not only will it clean them up, but it was generally react with the rust to create a dark finish. Once clean and the excess rust removed it can be made to look nice with a layer of wax, which will tend to give a decent look without any alteration.
if it continues to rust then it has surface fire contamination, which can be removed by soaking in distilled water and barsiolle (SP) the german WWII cleaner, or Youngs 303 oil, or US WWII cleaner.
The grips are gone so it is likely the temperature was in excess of 451 F. As such it is almost certain that the arm's heat treatment is gone. This would be verified by the springs, which should have lost temper at that temp.
best shot at preservation is to clean it up, make a plaque for it with the data(including fire) and put it in a display case with items from your father. A set of replacement grips would be a nice touch. I would not re-blue it, it is what it is.
Given the world we live in, a demilled version such as that may well last longer then an actual functioning version.
Once it´s been cleaned, you could take pictures of the markings (a) on the top to see who the manufacturer was (b) on the front and everywhere numbers are stamped and (c) on the sides to show military acceptance marks. It would then be simple to quote the weapon´s origins.
With a pistol such as this that as this that has been in a fire would not having it reproofed be a sufficient test as to it's safety? With tool steels once hardened and tempered it is surprisingly difficult to bring the metal back to a softness at which it can be machined again. It normally involves placing the part in an oven and bringing up to around 800 degrees centigrade, depending on the type of tool steel involved, and allowing to cool very slowly. If this isn't done the steel will often retain much of it's hardness and be too hard to machine.
`Elf & Safety´ being as is ... I´d never dare to advise firing the thing, ever! (Best never to even look at a firearm!) BUT DWM Lugers manufactured before WWI were made before metallurgy made a qualitative leap forward and I doubt whether the fire would have done that amount of damage. Later Mauser manufactured guns were made to stricter specs and even if the fire had diminished the tempering, the gun should still quite likely be useable. I suspect that rust would be the greater problem.
We don't have proofing laws here. Firearms are only proofed at the time of manufacture by the manufacturer which is really only a function test.