Thread: Luger
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Old January 28, 2013, 08:33 AM   #14
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Join Date: December 20, 2008
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 2,859

Sorry that you feel some members here were snotty/rude to you. I don't think that they meant to be, they were just observing the old adage of "let me tell you a question" - if that means anything to you.

Once, I wanted a luger in the way you did. I wanted something moderately priced and for shooting. When I realized how good of an investment they can be, I decided to change gears and look for investment grade guns. As others have said, the modern copies you have found in assorted calibers are not the real thing. They are cheap copies (on outside) for people who don't want to pay for a Luger with some history. They are no different than some small company remaking say a hemi cuda, for say $30k, when a verifiable example is worth high 5 figures to 6 figures. They are attempting to cash in on the market of "I want a luger but I only have $300". IMO its not a good idea to consider those guns. They are junky, have a bad rep, and don't have any value if you ever go to sell one.

As far as my recommendation, I say look for a mismatched luger (such as a Russian capture). This way you get a real military example, with history, for a fair price, that you can shoot as much as you want. Lugers can be finicky with ammo, partly because of age and wear and partly because German 9mm ammo was hotter than most 9mm ammo we have today. You should be able to find a German military shooter grade luger for $600 to $900 that would fit your bill well. Be careful not to buy a 7.65 luger, because that ammo is fairly hard to find and expensive. You are most likely to find a Mauser (WWII) or a DWM (WWI) luger fits your price range, and the idea of a shooter. Other Luger makers include Erfurt, Simson and Suhl, and the Krieghoff. Those are much more money, even when mismatched. Some lugers bear import stamps, and often affordable as well.

Well anything from WWI or WWII is generally not going to be cheap when you think about it. There is a limited supply of that stuff, and of course, it can never be remade. Its either from that era, or its not. Parts for most older guns will be somewhat expensive. If you buy a luger that still works well, you should not need to replace any parts. Sometimes firing pins can break, as can extractors, and thats why I never shot any of mine. Most of my lugers are all matching and so I don't want to risk it.

I prefer P38s to P1s although P1s have their own history. Either would be a good shooting choice and both are affordable. Some P38s are expensive, but those are usually collector grade examples, and you already said you wanted a shooter. You could probably get a matching WWII original P38 for the same money as a shooter luger if you look around enough. I have bought non-import matching P38s in the last few years for as little as $400. As far as the P38/P1 being a better gun, well I would sure hope so, being that the design is some 30 years newer. And that is why the luger is such a neat gun in history, when it came out, most everyone else had revolvers. It was also a much better design than the semi autos before it (the C-93, C-96, Schonberger, etc).

TBICR, there were four 9MMk Lugers made by Mauser, Whereabouts of 2 are known, one in France and one in the US, last estimate of value was over a million each and that was 20 years ago.
If thats true, what is the 45 luger from the US 1907 pistol trials worth?
Winchester 73, the TFL user that won the west

Last edited by Winchester_73; January 28, 2013 at 10:19 AM.
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