Refinish or not?

Back in the 1980s I inherited a WWII pistol, with legal import papers, from my FIL. It is a German pre-war PPK in 7.65 [.32acp]. It came with military holster - and a German soldier's serial # inked inside - and 2 magazines. The little pistol is accurate, functions perfectly and is fun to shoot or carry. It does have a lot of bluing wear but no rust or blemishes. It's obviously a civilian model as there are NO military markings whatsoever. It would look even nicer with a reblue job.

Would it be okay to have this pistol blued; or is there some kind of value that would contraindicate such work? It's the pistol at the bottom of the photo.

https://image.ibb.co/ixGAnG/PICT0640.jpg

I would leave it alone. Nice group of pistols there!

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Unless a refinish is done with a lot of careful hand work, as by a restoration craftsman, you'll lose a lot of sharp edges. You can improve the appearance of your pistol yourself. Supply yourself with 0000 steel wool and a light oil like WD40 or Ed's Red bore cleaner. Cut a piece of wool and roll it up between your hands to make a tight football shape. Then fold over the two ends, moisten with your oil and lightly stroke the gun surfaces with the fat end. Just drag the tightly condensed wad of steel wool over the surface with minimal pressure against the surface. This will scratch off the rust and crud and leave the blue. Many very light strokes is what you want. Knurls and grooves take well to brushing with the oil.

I brightened a rusty Smith triple lock 44 like this. Put it on my desk and gave it 20 minutes of loving' several times a day for a month, operating in small areas each time. It took a month because I was still flying at the time and home but several days a week. It's a pleasure to see the improvements as you work.

while its not a super valuable pistol, a refinish will drastically affect the value it does have.

That would seriously devalue it. Leave it alone, and with the capture papers.

Refinish it if it is your every day carry and you are concerned about wear and rusting. If it is a range gun or collection gun any money you spend will be lost and value decreased. In almost every case it is cheaper to buy an EDC.

Personally, I wouldn’t touch that pistol, except to shoot it.

short answer NO. go you like to lose money? a refinish will cost you twice once for the job and then ifor when you try to sell it.

A light wipe down with a good cleaner oil combination like CLP should remove a lot. Light steel wool may help a lot. Keep in mind the holster wear any scratches and or dings add to the history of the piece in most shooters eyes. A refinish with the fuzzy stampings rounded corners and dished out areas definitely lowers value.

I'll differ here. You aren't going to retire on it, and if you plan on keeping it, and I suspect you do, have it refinished if its appearance bothers you. Have it done by someone who knows what they are doing. I like my guns to look nice, I have some guns with wear, but any that aren't super valuable have been refinished.

OK. . .re-read the OP and now I'm intrigued. "No military markings whatsoever". This is a WWII bring-back with WWII capture documents. The PP family was pretty much born at the same time as the Third Reich. I'm not an expert on PP's or the history of proofmarks, but I'd think there would be some of the little eagle stamps here and there. Dunno. . .could be a really early one, from before the Nazi bureaucracy literally put their stamp on everything. I'd certainly get a new recoil spring for it before shooting it much, and I'd certainly shoot it, but since you can get new PPK's with no history to them without any challenge, my attitude to THAT one would be preserve and protect.

If this were my pistol I would never have it refinished. The finish wear and scrapes/scratches tell a story of the pistol's history. It has lived a long and difficult life and has survived to the present day. The current finish shows the character of the firearm relative to it's former ownership and use. Once colored over, that original can never be replaced. This is what is known as "honest wear" - wear that comes from being used but not neglected. It has more honor now than it ever would by being refinished. You have a fine example of a WWII bring back. Display it with pride and enjoy shooting it.

Leave it alone. All the wear is the history coming out. Why mess with this one when you have two others to play with?

Leave the original finish as is.

Leave alone and enjoy.

The ONLY way I’d refinish it is if done professionally by someone like Turnbull. The cost would be more than what it’s worth from a street price, but from a sentimental price, I cannot answer that.

Those are some handsome pistols. I never mess with the finish on older guns, they deserve to be left alone...

There are no ppk pistols being imported currently, except the 22lr
version. As a result ppk values have increased dramatically. I recently
sold an Interarms stainless with original paperwork and box for $650.
I can only imagine that the pre war models are worth more.

Go to Guns International web site and look up those pistols.
If you refinish the value loss will be very great on guns of that value

I’d refinish it. If you sell it and lose money, who cares? As said above, you’re not going to retire on it.

I buy guns to enjoy. Making money on them is far from my mind.

A refinished pistol would look out of place in that classic old holster. With the papers and the soldiers serial number on the holster it is a WW2 classic.

It has earned every mark it has. There are others for show but this one has a real story.

I think that pistol compliments your collection, if refinished it will be like the other two.

Dave

Leave it alone or sell it

If you think that you might sell or trade it, don't touch it. If you love it and will keep it for the rest of your life, and don't give a happy **** what you do to it's "collector value", send it to Robar for their NP3+ electro less nickel finish. Do be prepared to pay more for the finish than you did for the pistol.

with papers/history - NO WAY would I touch it! Beautiful by the way. I just got a post war commercial PP in 32 ACP. Bucket list gun for me. And have a Eubanks '50ish vintage holster that fits it. Perfect combo!