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Mauser lover
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Hey, just a thought. I've done a fair amount of my own refinishing, and while I can't give you a "for sure" answer in person, let alone over the errornet, if you can get some pictures of the markings shot at a pretty steep angle, with good crosslighting, I'd be happy to look at them and give you my best guess.
Not an expert, but I'd be happy to give you my best guess.
Not an expert, but I'd be happy to give you my best guess.
Mauser Lover, thank you very much for the offer. I have to head out of town tonight, and I took these pictures rather quickly. I doubt they will be good enough, but let me know if I should take a particular shot at a steeper angle, concentrate on one particular area, etc. and I will give you better shots when I get back (I know I need to fix the lighting).
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Mauser lover
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Okay... what I'm looking for (and the only thing I know to look for, that others might not notice) is slight dishing. At least that's what I'm going to call it. If you look at a table, and drop a flashlight on it, the light picks up every speck of dirt on the table. I'm trying to do basically the same thing. Some people put tape over markings to avoid sanding or buffing them off while prepping for a refinish job. Sometimes someone will try to take a pit out without sanding down the entire side of the gun (because who can make an entire side of anything perfectly flat with a sanding block?!). Basically, ANY imperfection that was not done on a milling machine. If there are any humps or dips (we're talking a couple thousandths) you can see them when you look at them as if you are looking across interstate 40 east of Arizona and west of Oklahoma City. A big long flat wasteland.
So... probably the best example so far was your first shot. The one with the serial. But not looking at the serial, look at that other mark (I don't know for sure what it is, proof maybe) on the left side of the gun. I can't see anything from that that would tell me "Yep! Reblued!" If you can get me a picture or series of pictures of the same section of the gun right under the bolt handle, the markings say "WAFFENFABRIK MAUSER OBERNDORF etc." from the muzzle that would be good. Again, the idea is to get any dips or humps to stand out.
If you know your camera... close down that aperture. This might sound counter intuitive, and it kinda is, but by closing the aperture you will get a wider field of focus. I will be able to see more area clearly (I hope) than if your aperture is all the way open. Do this only if you have plenty of light, and a way of setting down (like a tripod) your camera so you don't have to hold it (because you will need a greater exposure time).
The human eyeball is a marvelous creation, it is amazing to me that we can see in one dimension (a couple of thousandths) details that would be impossible in another dimension.
At this point... from the best of my amateur experience, I can't see anything that screams "REBLUED!" Again, doesn't mean it hasn't been, just means they did a decent job of it! No expert here, just telling you what I've experienced!
So... probably the best example so far was your first shot. The one with the serial. But not looking at the serial, look at that other mark (I don't know for sure what it is, proof maybe) on the left side of the gun. I can't see anything from that that would tell me "Yep! Reblued!" If you can get me a picture or series of pictures of the same section of the gun right under the bolt handle, the markings say "WAFFENFABRIK MAUSER OBERNDORF etc." from the muzzle that would be good. Again, the idea is to get any dips or humps to stand out.
If you know your camera... close down that aperture. This might sound counter intuitive, and it kinda is, but by closing the aperture you will get a wider field of focus. I will be able to see more area clearly (I hope) than if your aperture is all the way open. Do this only if you have plenty of light, and a way of setting down (like a tripod) your camera so you don't have to hold it (because you will need a greater exposure time).
The human eyeball is a marvelous creation, it is amazing to me that we can see in one dimension (a couple of thousandths) details that would be impossible in another dimension.
At this point... from the best of my amateur experience, I can't see anything that screams "REBLUED!" Again, doesn't mean it hasn't been, just means they did a decent job of it! No expert here, just telling you what I've experienced!
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