OK everybody, we've all had this discussion before. Steve, you send that gun to Thor like you should, and when it comes back it will be the apple of your eye. Who cares about the money--we're talking Lugers! By the way Steve, the .30's shoot real sweet too! Send it to Thor, and you won't be sorry!

DougT

I will, but as you might recall I wanted to shoot it first, just to make sure there weren't any other issues with it. It's going to Thor soon, I promise...

But not until I shoot it some more.... :-D It's sweet! I took it shooting with a buddy of mine who always shoots a Beretta 92 or a Glock 27. I usually shoot my CCW S&W CS45 (small .45 carry gun) and he usually outshoots me. Pulling out the Luger, I took the center out of a bullseye with it, first shot. My buddy took the second shot and didn't even hit the paper. He said, "Oh, you just got lucky". My next shot widened the first hole in the bullseye.... LMAO!! It felt nice to outshoot him with an 85 year old gun.

:-)

I don't believe the condition of the bore of this commercial Luger has been mentioned. How is it, Steve?

Aaron, I'm honestly not sure, but I'll check it tonight.

It's been my experience that the bore condition may or may not affect accuracy. I know that sounds stupid and contradictory to common sense, but I swear that I have handguns with shot out bores that can outshoot some with mirror bores. Therefore I rarely even check it. I should though and will tonight. I was going to clean it again anyway... :-)

Rifles seem to be a different matter though....

Steve,

You took out the center with your first two shots? Couldn't you do any better then that? I told you the 30's were sweet shooters--congratulations.

DougT

Yeah, you weren't kidding. I can't shoot my CCW gun that well. Of course, it's a .45...

The only bad thing is the cost of ammo, as you also said before. But I have so many others to shoot I don't think it will be much of a problem. Heck, it's only money, right? :)

Okay Aaron, I checked the bore and it's about half gone. Crazy, huh?

BTW, did I mention that after six more rounds I never did hit the bullseye again?

The reason I asked about the bore condition was not because of shooting concerns. You now have a definitive reason not to spend any money on refinishing this pistol. It would be incongruous to have a pistol with a superb finish and a horrendous bore. Kind of like a person rotting away with cancer having a face lift.

Steve,

Look out :) My recent "first one" was a good deal too. It's the second one that scars me to death :) However, these guys will guide us through it!

Steve

Aaron, you bring up a good point. But I always intended to use it as a shooter.... I'm not sure if the bore is going to be much of an issue or not. One thing is for certain, I'm going to shoot a couple of hundred rounds through it before it goes anywhere, if it goes anywhere. Thanks for the heads up... :)

Steve, this one is actually my second one. The first was a slightly better condition, slightly more collectable, 1939 42 code. I didn't pay too much for either gun. The first one, I was looking for an entry level, collectable Luger. And that's pretty much what I got, except that some people might argue against something that's about 70% finish being collectable, but it has other historical meaning.

The 1920 commercial I got for shooting. My thinking is that for another five bills I could have a really pretty shooter. Kind of kill two birds with one stone. Now I'm not so sure. If the bore were better, it might be an easier decision. What I really need to do is to call Thor and ask him what he thinks. Either way, I'm not stressing about it. I have so many other things going on it's not even funny. :o

Yeah, if it weren't for these guys I'd have some real trouble identifying the good buys.

Steve, my unsolicitated comments. I can see here that you are in a quandry about getting it refinished. I've been there too but in the end this is what I came up with. No knowing what you paid for it I'll assume $500, to get it refinished you're looking at about another $500 or so. Now you have a Luger that looks factory new except for the barrel being in poor condition, it don't compute. Lets suppose you decide to sell it at some time in the future, to make an honest description of the condition you really should apply the NRA condition codes-- http://www.armchairgunshow.com/Condi...ns.htm#antique
Ok, you have at least $1,000 invested in a pistol that you will be lucky to get $600 for if you can find a buyer that wants a refinished Luger and an honest grading of 'good' even tho it looks new, not a money making deal. On the other hand if you intend to keep it and want to impress you friends than forget the $$$ and go for a full restoration, the ones Thor does are incomparable. Looking at it this way might help you make up your mind, Personally I'd opt to put that restoration $$ in a box and wait for a really nice collectors piece to show up.

Herb, you are wise beyond your years... :cool: Even if you're an old codger..... :D

That's the way I'm heading. I've been seeing similar guns that are in 95% condition for about $850. And you're absolutely correct in what I paid for it. Right at $500, making a restoration at a thousand bucks all told. And then it would still have a crappy bore....

Thanks for the advice guys. Buying another Luger is exactly the kind of advice I expected to get from you all... :cheers: :roflmao: