Where do you shop??
 

I was wondering if places I look for good examples with OK prices are the only ones. I have found that most gun shows are a bit overpriced compared to some on-line sites. Of course I constantly check and have found some mis-information posted along with a picture leading to some great buys:

Gun Broker
Guns International
Jackson Armory
Collectors Firearms
Simpson LTD
Joe Salter

are the ones I check daily. Are there other places that I might be interested in? I only buy high dollar items with CC, I like the points and eat free at Red Lobster as much as I can.
:D

Cheers

Checkpoint Charley always has nice stuff at fair prices.

I forgot him, I have bought a few pieces there , holsters and other items but no pistol. Nice guy on the phone.

I have bought from a few of the above, but have bought the vast majority from other collectors and friends....

alot at gun shows some of the things on ebay

That I'd like to do too but cash doesn't stay
long in my hands.................never has. A fault of mine.

I use to do EBAY until they went PayPal and I don't do PayPal, nothing but a headache experience for me.

Gunbroker, Auction Arms checkpoint Charlies and board mebers on different forums.

Got some great deals at my LGS also over the years.

While usually a higher price, I use Numrich.. Everything I have ordered has been described fairly and I have only had to return one 'complete Mauser action' because it was in worse condition then described but they sent a replacement very quickly that was what I wanted. I always check their sale stuff and have gotten some real bargains. I do not know how their luger parts and prices compare. Ordering online, without being able to see them in person, I will pay a little more for the reputation of not selling bogus parts.

Guess I have been lucky and have not ordered anything that is worth counterfitting? I have always got the correct parts so far.

Numrich and to a lesser extent, Sarco just aren't what they were 25-30 years ago, simply because all their really nice, original parts have been steadily drying up. Much of the really desirable parts they sell today are inferior spec and/or Asian knock-offs.

I have purchased a lot from gunbroker, once from auction arms. Never had a bad experience but I usually dealt with established sellers and otherwise made my expectations clear in e-mails prior to bidding.

I would add Randal Bessler to the list, although his inventory is considerably reduced now.

Among the dealers listed, Charlie often has better prices on certain lugers but he seems to place higher value on WWII era lugers and refinished guns. I think any dealer has certain interests and areas of expertise and things that fall out of that zone are often offered at a lower price.

In my experience, you pay a higher price with the established dealers but they stand behind what they sell. On one occasion each with Bessler and Salter, I had a problem with a purchase and it was resolved to my satisfaction immediately with no argument or hassle.
KFS

Yeah, really... Numrich has always been a hit or miss proposition to me, and their reproduction parts have mostly been misses. I was restoring an FN 1910 a few years ago, and I ordered several pins, a spring guide and a firing pin. Out of that, I was only able to use one pin. One of these pins should have been a press fit, but was so badly out of tolerance that it just fell through the frame. Also, it had straight ends when they should have rounded. The firing pin and the spring guide were both about 1/16" too long, and if I hadn't caught that it would have bent or even broken the spring stop.

The issue with the firing pin is a safety issue (the firing pin can shoot out from the back if the stop breaks), so I brought it up with Numrich. Their reply was that they were not responsible, and that I needed to contact the manufacturer. Just a few weeks ago I heard the same story from another 1910 owner, so 4-5 years later they're still selling the same, incorrect part. :rolleyes:

Who to buy from.?
 

Well..in my limited experience.....only two guys....and thats Luger Doc and Checkpoint Charley.....Ive bought from both of them and they are 100% great to do business with.......got a Beautiful AC43 p-38 from Charley.......and Luger Doc and I have swapped back and forth so much...and he has done work for me..(got a 1916 DWM from him)...either one of these guys get my vote....... Hans Fischer:rockon:

Does Luger Doc have a website or is he private purchase?

I just bought my second Luger, when I get it I'll post photos, another DWM MG unit marked, 1916. I'll have it by Tuesday. Not a police rework.

Is he the same Luger Doc that's in St Charles Mo? If it is, I'm a stone's throw across the river from him in Calhoun County where we pump sunshine in and moonshine out.

Luger Doc, (Tom Heller) is right here on our site. Look him up if you are looking for something in particular.

Thanks...will do.

I'll remember that about Numrich.. but the mauser actions, llama and astra parts have always been original and correct.. but like I said.. maybe I am lucky that there is so little interest in old spanish guns. I do appreciate the heads up about the new parts. It is good to know.

So they sell the part, then they sell what you need to make it work separately? Or do they have a non-working part on their site, and a working part that you can get if you ask nicely and know the secret handshake?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=320127338

did this guy get his pictures switched around or.....?

(1200.00 does sound reasonable though)just kidding

Dunno 'bout $1200...
Mismatched, pitted (I think I can see some rust, too.), Military barrel extension (I think the listing's title is misleading, but maybe you gotta call it a 20's commercial because that's what the frame is from.), refinished toggles, at least, and I don't think the grips are even OEM.
If it started out at around $600, then you'd have something. For $1200, it'd have to match and be in exquisite shape, IMHO.
But the market for these Parabellum pistols may be the most crazy of them all. I'm thinking that with millions of them still existing, most that buy and sell and shoot them are not forum members, and thereby deprived of much useful information and advice about what a particular example should look like and sell for, based on authenticity and condition. The result is definitely a free-for-all kind of market based on urban legends, emotional desires, and speculation. So, the more you love the pistol, the greater the potential to suffer when you see Bubba-fied Lugers priced over $3000, according to whatever agenda, at a gun show.

Numrich, Saamco, etc, I quit buying from them except as a last resort...

Lugers at RIAC, so far. Non-Lugers (Ermas, etc) came from G.B, another forum, and Kull's and some other more obscure online auctions. I bought them all as shooters. I have a couple Lugers that are matching but have at least one other issue, and only one (LP.08) that is original finish, nice shape--except for the ground off stock lug.
I've bought springs from Numrich, Sarco, Bob's, and Lugerdoc. Other parts from Lugerdoc, eBay, G.B., online classifieds and auctions. Sometimes I've mentioned my interests to the sellers of some guns or items with the result of my being able to buy other parts from them at decent cost. I've bought a few doo-dads from a few other forum members here, G.T., Hugh, the latest is a holster for my 1911 from Boll Lyon.
I've so far had nothing but good experience with brother forum-ites. The rest, neither good not bad. Well, maybe a little bad at RIAC for a non-gun item--but I don't heavily blame them, mostly myself. Sometimes I get a bit of a deal, sometimes I fork over full "retail", whatever that is, for something I want.

Opportunity for buying in person is really limited for me, but I need to seek and attend more local as possible gun shows, however small or obscure, to perhaps change this. I could also post an ad in the pennysavers and newspaper to maximize my chances of encountering more.