Several years ago,a friend of mine at work needed some money and offered to sell me his Luger. After I heard what he wanted for it, I calmly got the money and walked away with a big smile on my face. You see, he didn't know what the value was and I forgot to tell him. :)I've put a few rounds through it and I like how it seems to be a good pointer and nothing like shooting a piece of history. It has a 4" barrel and it even came with a holster. I don't take it out much anymore, but I sure am glad that I bought it.

I have a 1942 numbers matching (except for the replaced barrel) BYF Luger. Unfortunately thanks to Canada's retarded gun laws the original 4" barrel had to be replaced with a 6", which, funny enough, makes it more accurate at longer ranges, hehehe... a very nice shooter - very smooth, but it's REALLY picky about what I feed it. If I use anything other than 115gr FMJ round nose bullets, it jams.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Clammy69/1941Luger.jpg

Cheers!
[sm=icon_rock.gif][sm=icon_rock.gif][sm=icon_rock.gif]

I have seen, handled and shot a few Luger's over the years and they all seem to have the same love for full power FMJ loadings. The high angle of the bullet to breech and the toggle action seems to be the main reasons as anything less than full loads or FMJ bullets don't either operate the action fast enough. Or in the case of the non FMJ's they don't have theshape and length to guide the round into the chamberas it comes out of the steep angle of the magazine.

My Grandfather brought one back with him from WW2. I shot it once. It was supposed to be mine when he passed on but families go crazy when someone dies and I didn't want to lower myself to their level. MY mistake.

I have one, never ran a round through it, and have a Nambo also never fired, although I have about 75 rounds, not sure if they even work but kind of fun to look at. My father was a Master Gunsmith, I remember he had a box full of luger parts maybe ten guns total, give or take. I would spend all day putting some together and then he would make me take them back apart, seems they were worth more for parts in those days.

A friend has a WWII Luger. I've shot it a few times. Very accurate. However, the cost of manufacture doomed its design, being replaced by the Germans with the P-38, which was (is) a nice weapon.

I like the looks of the 6" barrel. I believe that Luger used to make an artillary model that had a longer barrel. I saw a person once that had a big collection of Lugers. Did you know that at one time, 2 Lugers were made for testing. One was tested and the other got lost somewhere I think.
What made the Luger unique was the fact that it was chambered in 45 acp. I saw a program about it and they actually shot it. It was worth a tremendous amount of money. ORIGINAL: Clammy

I have a 1942 numbers matching (except for the replaced barrel) BYF Luger. Unfortunately thanks to Canada's retarded gun laws the original 4" barrel had to be replaced with a 6", which, funny enough, makes it more accurate at longer ranges, hehehe... a very nice shooter - very smooth, but it's REALLY picky about what I feed it. If I use anything other than 115gr FMJ round nose bullets, it jams.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/Clammy69/1941Luger.jpg

Cheers!
[sm=icon_rock.gif][sm=icon_rock.gif][sm=icon_rock.gif]

ORIGINAL: SPRINGER

Did you know that at one time, 2 Lugers were made for testing. One was tested and the other got lost somewhere I think.

There were two custom madeby the German Mauser plant in .45ACP for the original Army trials back in 1909 or so when the Army was looking for a replacement for thestandard issue .38cal. revolvers. They had found that they didn't quite measure up in the Southern Philippines against the Moro Indian’s fighting the US Army (the Indians were fanatical Muslim’s, sound familiar?).
As a temporaryfix for the problem the Army had shipped over a bunch of older 1873 single action Colt Peacemakes in .45Colt and they had quote “a marked reduction in the number of headless officers”.
The Thompson Commission was empanelled andassigned to investigate the problem and it concluded that the Army should not accept a weapon with a bore of less than .40cal. for handguns. The resulting trials had pitted a number of different weapons both foreign and domestic against each other. This included a pair of Luger’s chambered in the mandatory .45ACP and had a unique Eagle stamped on top of the frame above the breach end of the barrel. And your right, both were used for testing but sometime during the testing, one was lost, I believe that the surviving gun is now in a museum somewhere.
BTW As beautifully made as they were the guns failed to pass the testing because they were TOO well made. The close tolerances of the toggle action and slide are very susceptible to jamming when subjected to dirt and mud. It also needed a large number of machine tools to make and that made them harder and more expensive to produce in quantity.
The Colt .45 designed by John Browning on the other hand needed fewer machine tools so it cost less while still performing all of the tests in an acceptable amnor. So with several suggested modifications it was eventually adopted over the Luger by the Army in 1911 and given the designation M-1911.
Now some years ago, about 25 or so, there was a custom gunsmith who was making .45ACP Luger’s from old guns. He would cut two old frames and magazines lengthwise and weld them together so they would be wide enough to accept the .45 cases. Then he made everything including the barrels so the guns looked and functioned exactly like the originals, except that they use .45ACP ammo instead of the more normal 7.65mm or 9mm rounds. I don’t have to tell you that they were going for something like $2000 each, and this was back over 20 years ago. I can’t imagine how much they are going for these days. Assuming you could find someone willing to part with it.

Thanks for refreshing my memory. I like to watch the History channel when they talk about guns and I remember seeing someone making Lugers by hand. I admire his skill. ORIGINAL: Citoriplus

ORIGINAL: SPRINGER

Did you know that at one time, 2 Lugers were made for testing. One was tested and the other got lost somewhere I think.

There were two custom madeby the German Mauser plant in .45ACP for the original Army trials back in 1909 or so when the Army was looking for a replacement for thestandard issue .38cal. revolvers. They had found that they didn't quite measure up in the Southern Philippines against the Moro Indian’s fighting the US Army (the Indians were fanatical Muslim’s, sound familiar?).
As a temporaryfix for the problem the Army had shipped over a bunch of older 1873 single action Colt Peacemakes in .45Colt and they had quote “a marked reduction in the number of headless officers”.
The Thompson Commission was empanelled andassigned to investigate the problem and it concluded that the Army should not accept a weapon with a bore of less than .40cal. for handguns. The resulting trials had pitted a number of different weapons both foreign and domestic against each other. This included a pair of Luger’s chambered in the mandatory .45ACP and had a unique Eagle stamped on top of the frame above the breach end of the barrel. And your right, both were used for testing but sometime during the testing, one was lost, I believe that the surviving gun is now in a museum somewhere.
BTW As beautifully made as they were the guns failed to pass the testing because they were TOO well made. The close tolerances of the toggle action and slide are very susceptible to jamming when subjected to dirt and mud. It also needed a large number of machine tools to make and that made them harder and more expensive to produce in quantity.
The Colt .45 designed by John Browning on the other hand needed fewer machine tools so it cost less while still performing all of the tests in an acceptable amnor. So with several suggested modifications it was eventually adopted over the Luger by the Army in 1911 and given the designation M-1911.
Now some years ago, about 25 or so, there was a custom gunsmith who was making .45ACP Luger’s from old guns. He would cut two old frames and magazines lengthwise and weld them together so they would be wide enough to accept the .45 cases. Then he made everything including the barrels so the guns looked and functioned exactly like the originals, except that they use .45ACP ammo instead of the more normal 7.65mm or 9mm rounds. I don’t have to tell you that they were going for something like $2000 each, and this was back over 20 years ago. I can’t imagine how much they are going for these days. Assuming you could find someone willing to part with it.

Springer: They have been surpassed technically by most modern autoloaders. IMHO, They should be relegated to museums. ......... BC

ORIGINAL: Big Cholla

Springer: They have been surpassed technically by most modern autoloaders. IMHO, They should be relegated to museums. ......... BC

If its a true matched number gun that's at least pre-war, your probably right.
But they were in production as late as the early 80's and if you have a non matched number gun or a later model. I don't see why shooting it a bit would hurt anything. Besides they are fun to use, even if the action is bit antiquated, it still works just fine.

That's one of the things that I noticed about my Luger when I bought it, all the numbers match, it isn't a parts gun.

I understand what you say. Sometimes I justenjoy shooting a piece of history, that is why I like shooting myColt, Sharps and my 86 win, just to name a few. ORIGINAL: Big Cholla

Springer: They have been surpassed technically by most modern autoloaders. IMHO, They should be relegated to museums. ......... BC

I love mine. It's a 1990's stainless production. The grips are ivory.

ORIGINAL: michael95688
I love mine. It's a 1990's stainless production. The grips are ivory.

Not much for ivory, but I would love to get one in stainless, are they still in production and if so who's making/marketing them?

ORIGINAL: SPRINGER

Several years ago,a friend of mine at work needed some money and offered to sell me his Luger. After I heard what he wanted for it, I calmly got the money and walked away with a big smile on my face. You see, he didn't know what the value was and I forgot to tell him. :)I've put a few rounds through it and I like how it seems to be a good pointer and nothing like shooting a piece of history. It has a 4" barrel and it even came with a holster. I don't take it out much anymore, but I sure am glad that I bought it.



I don't rip off friends, usually.
This said, I shot both swiss and german lugers, both 7,65 and 9mm. I like the more the fuller handle version, because the slimmer seems to want to slip out of my grip. They have very high intrinsic accuracy, but they are hard to shoot accurately, at least for me. Guess the ergonomy is just not suited to my hand.

I didn't rip him off, I gave him exactly what he asked for. He was happy and so was I. Even to the day that he died, he would still ask me if I still had it and if I was taking good care of it. He was glad that I got it because he knew that I would take care of it and not abuse it. We were friends tll the day that he died.ORIGINAL: 99octane

ORIGINAL: SPRINGER

Several years ago,a friend of mine at work needed some money and offered to sell me his Luger. After I heard what he wanted for it, I calmly got the money and walked away with a big smile on my face. You see, he didn't know what the value was and I forgot to tell him. :)I've put a few rounds through it and I like how it seems to be a good pointer and nothing like shooting a piece of history. It has a 4" barrel and it even came with a holster. I don't take it out much anymore, but I sure am glad that I bought it.



I don't rip off friends, usually.
This said, I shot both swiss and german lugers, both 7,65 and 9mm. I like the more the fuller handle version, because the slimmer seems to want to slip out of my grip. They have very high intrinsic accuracy, but they are hard to shoot accurately, at least for me. Guess the ergonomy is just not suited to my hand.

Perhaps I misunderstood this phrase: "You see, he didn't know what the value was and I forgot to tell him."
Last time a friend didn't know what a gun was worth, and asked me a lot less than the real value, I informed him of the current market value of the gun, and paid him the market value.

My uncle passed away recently. He was in the Merchant Marines from 1944 or so until around 1960. He left me with a German Luger that he said he picked up during that time. It has 1937 stamped on top and S/42 as well. There is one four digit number and it looks like all the parts have the same last two numbers. There doesn't look like there is any rust on it. I'm not looking to sell but am wondering what it may be worth. Thanks for your help.

The matching two numbers on the parts mean that its a matching number gun and as such will be wortha bit more.
The magazine should also have the same two numbers on it, but its normally the one part that doesn't. If it does it will add a few bux to the value.
As to itsactual monetary value, I would have to be able to get a good look at it. The values for them can vary a great deal depending on a lot of different factors. Your best bet would be to visit a few web sites that have a few guys who are more familiar with them. You could also check the local public library to see if they have or can get any books on collectible firearms.
If you have any thoughts of shooting it I would resist the temptationuntil its been thoroughly checked by agunsmith who knows his way around them.

My dad had a model 1913 Luger 9mm. He and I would shoot it quit a bit when I was a teenager in the 70s. He told my mother if he ever passed away she could sell it if she was in a bind for money. He passed away in 1996 and my sister ended up with it. I think she must know what its worth because she won't even let me see it anymore. She and Iare pretty close but this is one thing that stands between us. I still love her and would do anything for her. I sure miss that Luger tho!

If you're going to shoot a matching #P08, I would first recommend buying a firing pinthen store the original numbered pin with the pistol. Luger firing pins are fragile and breaking the numbered pin means you no longer have a matched gun. -$$$