Refinished firearms tips

Whippy

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Hi everyone!

What are some good tips on how to tell if a firearm metal has been refinished? I've got my eye on an old WWII era pistol with what appears to me an exceptional blued finish from pictures online, and it makes me just a bit leery.

I imagine refinishing will somewhat adversely affect the collectible value of a firearm. Is there any rule of thumb for how much this will detract from this aspect?
 
There are no hard rules for determining how much value is lost by refinishing. If the firearm is rare, the refinish seems to hurt the value less than if it is a more common model. With more common models, my opinion has always been that refinishing the firearm gives it shooter grade values. As far as things to look for, check the edges for rounding over and the screw holes for rounded edges and dips. Screws are also a good indication. Most shadetree gunsmiths won't spend much time fixing the buggered up screw heads. Do your research and see what colors and tones that an original finish on that particular firearm look like. There's a huge difference in polishes and colors with bluing. Good luck!
 
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Wow, thanks for the response lowspeed! Your tips are certainly going to help! The pistol is a Beretta 1934 model which seems to have had several different levels of bluing and finish quality over the war years, but I have seen some that appear to match the hue in the general serial number range I'm looking at. I'm going to go ahead and get this pistol anyway, as I'm new to collecting and I really don't want to miss out on this one. I want to see it up close and then see what my gunsmith thinks about it. If it's been refinished, I still won't lose out, because I'll learn from the example...and I'll still have a nice pistol to display and take to the range :) When I decide to get a big ticket item like a P08 Luger, I'll certainly pay every caution before jumping in.
 
Can you post pictures? Maybe we can help. As they say a picture is worth a thousand guesses. [emoji2]
 
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Nice blank slide G Series M1934.

These had high polish sides and more of a military blue finish on frame. Those pictures are horrible (not your fault I know) but my gut is that the finish is original. See that nice pin thats in the white through the middle? There are halos around the serials too. There is also a plum part of the trigger mech behind the grip as well. Hope this helps, make sure you have an inspection period.
 
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I'm inclined to agree with ugafx4 about the finish appearing original after seeing the pics. The stampings don't appear to have been polished. The pics make the metal look proud around the edges of the stamps, just as it should. Nice find.
 
Thanks for the tips, folks. I greatly appreciate you all sharing your thoughts and expertise.
 
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