Herb, read my previous reply, it is SUPPOSED to have blued parts, it is a VARIATION 2, after 1500t block they were BLUED DUDE! Hence my question about the SUFFIX to determine whether it should have strawed or blued parts. That is the fun thing about 37s, they were made with both depending on production block!

Brandon, I was using The Luger Handbook by Aaron Davis, 1997, he says that the ejector, magazine catch, takedown lever, safety lever, and the trigger ARE straw colored. Further, Kenyon, on page 171 of his book Luger: The Multi-national Pistol has a color picture of one # 3179 showing the strawed parts very clearly. Perhaps he did not consult with Jan Still before publishing his book.
At any rate, it is still worth much more than you paid, and a really good looking one to boot.

Davis book is wrong regarding straw parts, heck he even says Black Widows have strawed parts! But like Ralph says, "What do you expect for $10?" lol The MultiNational Pistol photo does not say when the Luger was made. Prior to Mid 1937 would be my guess as it is also clearly Rust blued with fire blued grip screws too. After mid 1937 they blued EVERYTHING but the grips in salt bluing.

Ted, I can't argue with the $10 bucks, but what about Kenyon? Score is still two to one.

Herb, can you assume from the Kenyon picture that all Mausers had strawed parts? There is no chamber date shown, no serial suffix, there is little you can determine from this picture except that it is a rust blued/straw parts Luger. How can you even tell what variation it is? It does not have the MAuser bump so I would guess it is a G Date or 1936 or perhaps a K date. The telling thing about this photo is IT HAS NO MAUSER BUMP.

Just found something else, Kenyon's Lugers At Random, pg 266 indicates that in mid 37 the blueing process was changed from rust blue to salt blue and included the usually strawed parts. Apparently ther are both types out there, Brandon, you might just have the later 37 model that DOES have the normally strawed parts blued. Too many references, too little time and too many descrepancies. I hope that this is the case, I havent ran a serial number check to see which range yours falls into, but then do you really want to know?

Based on his serial suffix (NS or no suffix block) his variation is correct with salt blued parts and salt blued finish, or perhaps Jan Still is not the most current date. I believe our resident expert is Bill Munis on Mauser Lugers. I think he will confirm what I have stated so far.

Herb, have a good evening, I am going to the store now!

I hope your asessment is correct, if so our friend Brandon is holding an S/42 that is worth about $2500 to a serious collector as it appears to be in excellent condition, about $3,000 if the mag matched. Maybe Simpson is around and can lend some better info as a person dealing in them. Again, it is still a darn good purchase, not a whole lot of them to be had.

Herb, it still could be a reblue but you never know, but most modern reblues are salt blues anyway which would have matched the original configuration of his gun anyway. Based on the price he paid it probably is a reblue, or perhaps has a mismatched part. All I was saying is you cannot assume it is a refinish JUST because it doesnt have strawed parts. MOST Mauser Lugers didnt have strawed parts.

Darn you Ted! Now I'm going to have to blue all those parts that I strawed on my 37 S/42!! What the heck, nothing matches on it anyway, I just might chrome them for the fun of it. LOL.

or fire blue them......naw.......that was Mr Spuhrs trick! Actually I have a 1937 in the "u" block that the client wants all the small parts RUST BLUED! No kidding! lol

Mauser Bump added to FAQ [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Thanks guys for reminding me, but instead of dropping hints like that, just e-mail me... [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

[quote]Originally posted by Doubs:
<strong>Brandon, your picture did indeed load but you didn't crop the image and somehow ended up with a massive border. I've taken the liberty of cropping and enhancing your pic, which is quite good, just a little.

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/MyLuger3-1.jpg</strong><hr></blockquote>

Something odd:
The eagle on the right hand side appears to be a Federal German mark, post WWII.
This really looks like the "Bundesadler" (Federal Eagle) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Not sure if this is a property stamp of a Federal Agency/Department, but could well be.
As far as I know, the Border Police (BGS=Bundesgrenzschutz) used P08s in the early years before they got the SIG P210-4.
Just my $ .02
Juergen

Brandon's Luger Configuration is right as rain for a 1937 no suffix. That is, all salt blue (including small parts) and the acceptance/proof marks. The Mauser Hump was incorporated as part of the normal production about the same time the change in finish was accomplished. The proof mark was changed to the eagle-over-swastika toward the end of the 1939 S/42 production.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

I have to agree completely with Frank's assessment.

Here are Brandon's photos slightly enlarged to see the detail with color correction and contrast enhancement. I don't see any evidence from these photos that would make me think this was a refinished pistol... sharp lines and wear at the high points looks pretty convincing to me.

Good Job Brandon. Looks like you got a keeper. The price was a good buy in my opinion.

Welcome to the Luger Owner's club... I remember what it was like to just read about them and talk about them... there is no feeling like owning a Luger!

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/BrandonsS42.jpg

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/BrandonsS42Right.jpg

#1 Dude

Have you taken this puppy ALL the way down and made sure she has all matching numbers?

Decent price no matter what, afterall, water under the bridge, Dad's money and its now YOURS!!

[img]smile.gif[/img]

John,
Thanks for the higher quality photo post! I'll probably take a couple more today without the flash, and I'll try to post those as well!

# 2 Dude,... [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
Nope I've only recently managed to take the trigger out, I'm afraid if I play with it too much I won't be able to put it back together again!

Regards,Brandon

Here are the better pics!!!

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/My...loseupwear.JPG
Close up of the main area of wear.

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/My...framefront.JPG
Close up showing the no suffix serial No.

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/MyLugerToggle1.JPG
Close-up of the toggle, and chamber markings.

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/My...nnonbottom.JPG
Underside of cannon.

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/My...sidecannon.JPG
Close-up of the underside of the cannon.

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/MyLugercloseupmag.JPG
Close-up showing the non matching magazine.


I have sent Ed Tinker some of the larger pictures, so he will probably post those later!

Regards, Brandon

Brandon,

Now you've gone and done it. It's neat and I like it. However, a young guy like you with many years ahead of him should have a shooter--you'll be afraid to shoot this one.

Better yet, you should also get a Ruger Mark I or II and several bricks of ammo and get out away from the computer once in awhile.

Many times us old codgers have been there and done that, so collecting sometimes dominates our interests these days, but it's a shame to not use this hardware. Just my opinion, I'm not criticizing--have fun anyway you want to, it's a neat (and big) world out there.