Erfurt 1914

[lugerholsterrepair]

The right side of the rear sight is badly damaged..The grips are pretty worn. I agree with Norm but with what I see I would not be so generous. $8-900 would be tops for me.

[foxdoublegunner]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for the feedback. Perhaps my cell phone camera doesn't do the pistol justice.
While it bears the scars of honest wear, in person it doesn't look abused in any way and in fact it looks quite respectable compared to many samples I have seen. I am a novice though when it comes to Lugers, despite having collected firearms for a number of years.
The Germany stamp is a concern to me, but I have a Bavarian M1 carbine from the CMP that is a jewel and in that case the German and Austrian provenance is a collector plus. Many Lugers that I have come across are either mix masters or refinish jobs. With few exceptions they are running in the high 1800's to mid 2500's for an imperial luger with low serial number so this sample appears fairly priced in comparison. Can you give me an idea of how much the Germany stamp might affect value and is the low serial number/good mechanical condition/matching serial numbers offset that to any extent. The owner disassembled the pistol and removed the grips for me. I was pleased to see that even the grips had the proper serial number and stamp. Do you think that the grips would be worth cleaning up if I ended up purchasing the pistol?

Thank you

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

The right side of the rear sight is badly damaged..The grips are pretty worn. I agree with Norm but with what I see I would not be so generous. $8-900 would be tops for me.

I agree with the price if $800 is tops...The rear sight does not look as bad to me as Jerry has described, but I agree that to a *collector* this is a deal-breaker. It's a shooter. It's too bad the Russians didn't capture this one - They'd have fixed it up nicely!

[sheepherder]

BTW, looking at your 1914 Erfurt toggle assembly, and specifically the rear sight, I notice it has a chamfer on the leading edge of the sight...

Perhaps our Erfurt experts can answer - Is this common/exclusive to Erfurts??? I have five toggle assemblies here, mostly DWM, and none have this chamfer...

I was going to say that if it were mine, I would take a skim cut off the top of the sight to cut away most of the gouges, and then take a shallow cut with a chamfer cutter to restore that chamfer...

Hmmmm???

It'd still be a shooter...But somewhat better looking...

And an additional BTW - The three digit serial number happens every 901 times out of 10,000...(One and two digit numbers the same)...If the suffix goes out to six letters (as an example) then that's 9,010 Lugers with a three digit serial...Not anything special...

...Although a serial of 666 was advertised on GB some time ago as 'rare, special'...

Someone please correct my math...

[foxdoublegunner]

Shepherder,
Thanks for the additional input. If I decide to go through with this and make an offer, I will keep that in mind. It doesn't sound like too difficult a task for a gunsmith and the damage didn't look too deep when I looked at it.
It is interesting to hear from the long time Luger collectors what they consider as deal breakers compared to what is acceptable in the context of other factors. For instance I have no interest whatsoever in owning a Nazi era Luger even if it were a rare example in excellent condition offered at a reasonable price. They have no allure for me. However, I have always been interested in artifacts from the "Great War" hence my desire to acquire an example of an Imperial Luger. Artifacts in original condition with wear indicative of honest use, possibly in combat, are also of interest to me because they display their history rather than refinished or pristine examples which strike me as sterile. That is all part of the fun of collecting-each can indulge their particular interests.
By the way, if it is of any importance, the serial number is a straight three digits without any suffix. Is it true that ERFURT produced about 7000 of the P08 model in 1914? The two magazines which would come with this are both the wooden base variety in good serviceable shape. On line I am seeing them offered from $150-200 although I am sure that those with more experience can locate them for considerably cheaper.

Regards,
Ricardo