East German Luger

[silverknife]

Originally Posted by swissdagger

You can collect what ever you want but
a cheap,mismatched VOPO Luger is always a better shooter and a more valuable collector piece as one of the new Mausers from the seventies and eighties or a Mitchell Arms Luger.
After 25 years in the gun business I know if I see junk,
for that I have not to read any books.
In the last years I sold maybe 20 or 30 of such new made Mausers.
High glossy polished junk is still junk.
Sorry, my english is still not the best......

25 years in the gun business is a long time and certainly long enough to form an opinion on what constitutes junk and what does not. However, my Interarms .30 Luger, which I shoot on a regular basis, falls quite a distance above "junk" on my quality scale of production firearms even though the oversized and too sharply checkered grips had to be reworked to make the gun more comfortable to shoot. Got my first long gun in 1950 and my first handgun in 1962.

Regards,
Doug

[Vlim]

Ludwig Vorgrimler was the chief STG45 and Cetme guy wasn't he?

Yes, he was. Interestingly enough, while he was working for Mauser in the 1970s, their neigbors Heckler & Koch were producing the G3 rifle, based on his design.

Price wise, the Mauser Parabellum is still a bit more expensive than a VoPo, although it is still possible to find very good deals on both of them. They both have their merits and from a collector stand point they are starting to get past a 'shooter' state. When going for a Mauser Parabellum, go for a boxed version with all the accessories and paper work.

I wonder if the Mitchel/Aimco/Orimar stainless steel versions will become popular collectables.