Chrome P08
 

Hello all! I have always loved Lugers. And I have lusted over my brother's shooter. And since I am a Mauser collector, I have been keeping my eye out for one.

This past weekend I found one! But, it was Chromed!?! The grips are plastic, and don't fit the gun well. One practically falls off. But it is in overall, very good condition. I wonder if you can tell me anything I don't know. And tell me an estimated value. Also, would you replace the grips with wood or find a plastic grip similar to the existing.

This is what I know:

The previous owner bought it back in the 60's (don't know where). It is marked BYF (Mauser) and 41 (1941?). Serial Numbers are all matching 2273. However, the clip is marked 2073. Barrel has Eagle over the swastika, and the side of the receiver has two stamps of 655 and an illegible symbol over them. There is also a fancy letter on the front of the trigger under the barrel that looks like a fancy capital L .
Get more pics at: http://www.electronicart.com/guns/

See the pics: at:
http://www.electronicart.com/guns/leftfull_sm.jpg</a>

Tim, unfortunately the collector value of your Luger was destroyed by the chrome plating and that can't be restored... but if you want to invest some money to make it look great, the chrome can be electronically removed, and you can have Ted Green (a lugerforum member and expert Luger restorer) do a restoration on your byf 41... It will look great and be a great shooter.

My preference for grips would be wood, but the original grips on your gun were black bakelite.

Value in current condition? Maybe around $400-500 if everything works... In good original condition, it would have been worth between $700-1000 dollars IMHO.

Just my $0.02

Tim:

The fancy "L" is actually a "Z" and is part of the serial number.

The grips on your pistol could have been either wood or black bakelite.

Good Hunting,

Well that is cool. I paid less than $400 for it, and it works great. So I don't feel too bad.
How can I contact Ted Green to get an estimate?
Where is the best place to get new grips?

Thanks for the info!

Tim Burke
-Cincinnati

Ted Green posts as "THOR" and you will find many of his posts in the Restoration & Refinishing Forum...

He is a gentleman and a craftsman. Grips can be obtained from many sources... depending on what you are interested in... Ted can advise you... and Hugh Clark is the master grip craftsman in the forum... He posts as "Hugh" and is also a gentleman to deal with...

Hey not to take buisness from my friend Ted, but it looks pretty cool like it is!

However, once you see what Ted does, you will want your Luger to be like new again and he is very careful of all your markings!!

Some of Hughs grips are really nice, he does a border you would kill for [img]smile.gif[/img]

Your guesses are good, BYF = Mauser and the date is 1941. You can check out more information on the proofs and such by looking at the tech info on the left of the forum bar.

That is a bit odd about your magazine? Being so close yet so far away in numbers??

<img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" /> Now why in tha world wud you all adviz Tim to go takin off thet beuteful silver color on hiz Looger? I 'gree with Ed, it luks gret jus tha way it iz. Now Tim you haul yore butt ova ta Gunbroker and git thet pare uv plastic pearl grips on thar an rely make thet Looger shine! <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Thanks guys! I think for right now, I'll keep the current finish on it. I just don't have that cash right now. So I'll get some new grips and hold it for awhile.
Hey, it's kind of an oddity in this market, and unique.

Thanks everyone for your input... This place is great!

Tim

Hey Tim,

I don't know how much of an oddity they are. I've heard that 1,000's and 1,000s were chromed and nickled right after the war. It was a cool thing to do.

1. Now where are all of these chromed puppies?
2. In closests?
3. In collections?
4. Been stripped down and now sport reblues?

5. What is the difference in look between chromed and nickled?
6. Which stays on better?

I would imagine most chrome is really nickle, as that is what people did, or were they actually chromed by car guys???

another to thing to consider is the extra money you have to pay to have a gun like this redone&gt; you first have to ship it to a person experienced in striping the finish off&gt; you better find someone in the gun business to do it or you will have to go through an ffl which will also probably cost you $ then ship it to the restorer who has to return ship it to you&gt; if you have to go through an ffl&lt; then the shipping and ffl could add up easily to over one hundred dollars&lt; then the person doin the striping will charge you anywhere from sixty to one hundred dollars to strip it&lt; then the restorer will charge you a few more hundred dollars to redo it&gt; makes you wonder if it is really worth it

Ed, you and Hugh definitely have a penchant for shiny/flashy/dolled up pistols, does this extend to cars, trucks and the ladies?

RK

<img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" /> Nope, RK, just pistols! I can probably trace mine back to watching Roy & Gene in those Saturday afternoon matinees, as I used to have a penchant for Colt Single Actions and Lever Action Winchesters. <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />

Tim,

These are the grips that you need to put on that Luger! They are not mine and I have no interest in them other than having a pair just like them on my nickeled Luger!

Pearl Grips for Luger

Hugh
Roy and Gene occupied my Saturdays too. Before that it was Tom Mix and The Lone Ranger on radio. I collect Lugers but I shoot single-action Colts (and .45 autos when I'm brushing up for my CHL).

Thor,
Your point about the extra costs, are what were going through my head too. Is it really worth the big cost? Probably not. So I'll enjoy it the way it is... perhaps with some of those nice pearly grips that Hugh mentioned!?

I'll let you know how it goes, and repost pics here when I finally get it squared away. Kinda a Before and After. Although anything is better than those grips that came with it!

Tim

One algorithm (the one I use) for valuing a collectible arm is to identify its value after it would be in a condition you want and then back calculate the dollars it would take to get there.

If your goal is an original looking salt-blued 41byf with walnut grips (it had either walnut or bakelite grips and someone may know which is more likely based on the s/n letter). First, you have to remove the plating (nickel looks like 5 cent pieces--a yellowish white metal; chrome looks shiny and reflective like a car bumper). Then you have to rework the markings if it was buffed before plating. Then you have to salt blue it (some experts out there on salt bluing lugers and it can be done for around $130). Add some good looking grips for about $35-80 and you would have a nice luger worth about $550. Consequently, I have offered $190 for chromed lugers (but I would go to 200). If an incredibly rare luger that was only available as a chromed luger, I might go to the trouble but usually the extensive time and cost required make it a tough buy.

I know a couple other old collectors that use this method and it is pretty quick to apply at a gun show or when at an auction.

I hope that is helpful.

David that was a good method of determining value. Much like we did for figuring out how much time I needed to give my troops for a mission, start with how much time it'll take to get the gear ready, ammo, food, etc., and go from there until the kick-off time.

RK, to look at, not to play with. I like the country look better, [img]biggrin.gif[/img] and my 4x4 and pick-up look better out here.

Well, I've been remiss, and didn't post the new pictures with the new white pearlite grips. Thanks Hugh!
Perhaps some day I'll do more with it, but for now, it is a nice shooter, and is a nice oddity in my Mauser collection.
Thanks everyone.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Tim Burke:
<strong>Thor,
Your point about the extra costs, are what were going through my head too. Is it really worth the big cost? Probably not. So I'll enjoy it the way it is... perhaps with some of those nice pearly grips that Hugh mentioned!?

I'll let you know how it goes, and repost pics here when I finally get it squared away. Kinda a Before and After. Although anything is better than those grips that came with it!

Tim</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">

Whoops, here is the picture:
http://www.electronicart.com/guns/P08withNewGrips.jpg

Tim,

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> Now thet is one purty Looger! <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" />
Don let no budy talk U inta changin hit! <img border="0" alt="[nono]" title="" src="graemlins/nono.gif" />