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Really nice pistol dirtyd!

And thanks guys! Thanks a lot!!! I was just settling into relative contentment upon acquiring my 3 most recent toys (and incidentally adding 9mm to my household ammo requirements). Then I spotted this thread and the hook was set - again!

I've always thought a Luger would be cool (someday), and now I must have one. Any guidance you can provide might save me some trial and error going forward. Here's what I imagine:

1.) 9mm for sure. No oddball calibers. And I'd like a shooter (as opposed to a safe queen like the pretty shiny one a buddy of mine owns). A little external patina is fine as long as I can pump a box of rounds through it 2-3 times a year. With that said, is the Luger design sturdy enough for shooting today's 9mm ball ammo?

2.) Matching serial numbers don't matter... just solid. Authentic Nazi/Mauser roll marks, etc., are historically significant, of course, but they're also way more expensive than what I'm interested in spending.

3.) Manufacturer/vintage not important as long as parts are all interchangeable with other Lugers.


Would appreciate any/all advice you can all offer this obvious Luger neophyte. Thanks in advance.
 
Last Edited:
Really nice pistol dirtyd!

Would appreciate any/all advice you can all offer this obvious Luger neophyte. Thanks in advance.

The only two chamberings you'll see for the most part are .30 Luger and 9mm. You can still get both types of ammo but better off to stay with 9 for your purposes.

Simpsons Luger's will have a wide variety of Luger's both commercial, military, and everything in between and they will recommended you one from their stock based on your needs. They will be slightly more expensive then you may win at auction though as they are a dealer.

Reblued/non matching/russian capture (individ or a combo of those) will be your cheapest WW2 models but I've still seen these typically go for 700-1000 so they still aren't really cost friendly.

On the commercial side for a solid gun in decent shape they still really don't go cheap. So I'd advise "watching" a handful of GunBroker auctions over time to get and idea of what people pay for the quality of gun you're looking for. Then you'll have a good idea of the market.
 
Remember that the P08 was only side-stepped in 1942, when P38 production really got going in several locations. The P08 had been made only by Mauser since late 1936, and by late '41 Mauser were concentrating their production on aircraft cannons. The P08 was ALWAYS not only expensive in materials - the frame started off weighing almost two pounds, and almost a pound and a half was machined away - but required hand-fitting of the side-plate trigger/sear interface. Losing yours means finding one that can be made to fit.

Megcar make VERY good repro magazines - I had six - and the plain white box 9mm Para worked well in the P08s I shot in the USA. In genrral, current US manufacture in 'name boxes' leads to malfunction and FTF. Wolff do replacement springs, BTW, but every thing else? You are on your own.

The noted Luger author, Jan Stil, has his own section on gunboards.com. Also a name to watch is that of Ron Wood, although he only collects pre-1918 models of all kinds. If you make contact with him, please give him my best.

BTW, a dear friend, who passed away a couple of years ago, had a near-mint and fully-documented bring-back Krieghoff with TWO matching magazines. It was/is fearsomely accurate, even with me shooting it. The Krieghoff P08s are acknowledged to be the Deusenbergs of P08 manufacture, which is why they got dumped for Mauser to take on the production.

Good luck.

tac
 
Here ya go - my Ruger Redhawk - bought a back in the 1980's -

View attachment 434475

The silver steel barrel plug from the muzzle end -
View attachment 434476

...and from the breech end - note the flame-cut, too....

View attachment 434477

The ground-away recoil shield and hammer nose -

View attachment 434478

A better view -
View attachment 434479

In this view, you can see the cut-out breech, and the annular ring welded into the gutted cylinder -

View attachment 434480

Better view of the forcing cone....

View attachment 434481

and cut-out..............filled with weld....

View attachment 434482

Cylinder - milled out and filled with a steel annulus to prevent anything being put in it....

View attachment 434483

All revolvers were treated like this.

tac
I literally had to go eat a couple of tums after seeing that.
 
The only two chamberings you'll see for the most part are .30 Luger and 9mm. You can still get both types of ammo but better off to stay with 9 for your purposes.

Simpsons Luger's will have a wide variety of Luger's both commercial, military, and everything in between and they will recommended you one from their stock based on your needs. They will be slightly more expensive then you may win at auction though as they are a dealer.

Reblued/non matching/russian capture (individ or a combo of those) will be your cheapest WW2 models but I've still seen these typically go for 700-1000 so they still aren't really cost friendly.

On the commercial side for a solid gun in decent shape they still really don't go cheap. So I'd advise "watching" a handful of GunBroker auctions over time to get and idea of what people pay for the quality of gun you're looking for. Then you'll have a good idea of the market.

Wow Dirtyd, I see what you mean about the range of Luger prices, even for those that aren't especially unique. Thanks for the Simpsons tip. Somewhat sobering. I guess a few I saw at gun shows over the years for $2000-3000 were not so outrageous after all. Now I'm thinking (for what I want it for - not a carry piece but certainly a routine shooter) that my first Luger has just migrated from the Bucket-List to the I-Just-Won-The-Powerball-List.
 
Just don't - however much you want a Luger - buy a Mitchell Arms 'make-do'. You will NEVER be happy with it. Every single one sold here in the UK went back to the makers for rectification.

Some more than once.

tac
 
Wow Dirtyd, I see what you mean about the range of Luger prices, even for those that aren't especially unique. Thanks for the Simpsons tip. Somewhat sobering. I guess a few I saw at gun shows over the years for $2000-3000 were not so outrageous after all. Now I'm thinking (for what I want it for - not a carry piece but certainly a routine shooter) that my first Luger has just migrated from the Bucket-List to the I-Just-Won-The-Powerball-List.

Yea I've seen some pretty ugly examples go for way too much but you can get lucky on GunBroker.

On the other hand you can get a nice P38 (matching #'s, WW2, sometimes with extra accessories) for a lot better deal than Luger's.
 
The rarest Luger I've ever gotten to handle - and shoot - was a first or second year flat mainspring, that had been in the owner's family since it was bought new in Germany. The owner brought it to us for new springs as it was a regular shooter for him and wanted it test fired with the new springs. Quite the experience to get to shoot a piece I never thought I'd see outside a museum!
 
If you log on to lugerforum.com and look at the gallery, you can see what was done.

The owner is NOT authorised to deactivate ANY firearm, it has to be done by a registered gunsmith - NOT a guy who sell guns - and the deactivated gun sent to one or other of the national Proof Houses - London or Birmingham - for stamping and registration - yes REGISTRATION. This cost around $200 or so for each firearm.

Anyhow, FYI, this is what WAS done [it has now changed in accordance with the EU requirements, which effectively welds everything solid] -

1. A silver-steel rod is driven down the barrel using a 40-ton press - to within 3/4" of the muzzle - the other end a similar distance from the breech.

2. The breech is undercut/flame-cut away for a distance of about 3/4" and the loading ramp removed entirely.

3. The face of the bolt/breech-block is milled away at 45 degrees.

4. The slide rails are milled away for at least 50% of their entire length.

The action may be cocked and fired.

The latest tranche of EU requirements takes even that way - the gun becomes virtually solid.

Any gun deactivated to the previous 1998 standard cannot now be sold to any other person without fear of incurring a serious prison sentence.

It MAY be given in to the police for destruction, or to an RFD [FFL] for disposal/destruction. The certificate-issuning authority must be notified of this occurrence.

Or, you can keep it.

whoopee.

If anybody is interested to see what happens to a revolver, I still have four of them that I can show you, but it's not pretty.

tac
How absolutely HORRIFYING!:eek: Unimaginable destruction of a valuable piece of history, not to mention- valuable property....:confused:
 

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