How much would it cost to make a Luger today?
 

Imagine a company like walther decided to produce the Luger to the standards of the Lugers produced of yesteryear approximately how much would it cost them and how much would they have to charge for them in a retail setting to cover there production fees.

There are probably a few ways of approaching this.

In 1935, the Luger was priced (to the Army) at 70 marks. It dropped to 50 marks by 1942.

It took 778 operations, 642 on machine, 136 by hand and 664 minutes of production time to produce a Luger according to August Weiss.

At an exchange rate of 4.2 marks to the dollar in 1942, the price would have been about $210 in 1942 sold in quantity to the Army. That could be the equivalent to distributor wholesale.

According to an inflation calculator, that would be $3000 today.

Add a 25% markup to the dealer - $3750

Add 25% markup by the dealer - $4700

or

Ad 100% markup by the dealer - $7500

Marc

Hi Marc,
Very informative and interesting presentation. I am impressed. At that price, I might have to re-evaluate my collection.

Mike

Other ways to look at it;

If you have Pistol Parabellum by Gerben and Mario, they talk about how it was not economically feasible, yet Mauser went ahead, never making enough to pay for it (I believe).

Krieghoff made new ones and was selling them for over 10 thousand

Krause made handmade / tool-room ones and sold them for 15 thousand

Even using CNC, I have heard of more than one 'attempt' that has failed in the last ten years.

The stainless ones by Mitchel (and several other names) have been only fairly successful and issues in working correctly.

So, not saying it can't be done, but even some recent attempts using CNC had issues with the frames from the rumours I heard?


ed

It's not just the money..A very small bunch can be made because enough talented people can be assembled to do it. If a large run was required I suspect the talent pool would dry up very fast. It's people who are capable of making a Luger that would be in short supply.

Mike Krause did it and Krieghoff did it but I am not positive in these cases the quality was the same either.

but by that logic the Luger is the BARGAIN of the century!!

shhhhhhhh..don't tell everybody !!
 

..

Ed is correct.

Mauser never made a profit on the normal commercial production run. They ended with a small profit that was mostly made on the commemorative versions.

And Mauser had already perfected the production as much as they could at the time. In these days, it is possible to lower production costs by using alternative materials for certain parts, and using CNC equipment for the more complex parts.

Krieghoff tried a small production run a few years ago, ended up costing them about $10,000 a pistol. Norinco tried to produce a version a few years ago and also gave up.

It is time for a Luger made out of composite materials :)

It is time for a Luger made out of composite materials AAARRRGGGHHHHH!! BLASPHEMY!

We'll call it the Glucker.

Isn't the Erma Luger in .22,.32 & .380 already sort of a Glucker?

At 4.2 Reichsmark per US Dollar in 1942, 70 Reichsmark would be $16.67 and 50 Reichsmark would be $11.90.

Those numbers seem low.

Regards

Tim..Those numbers seem low.

They might but take a look at prices in general in 1942 here in the USA. A loaf of bread 5 cents..gasoline at 15 cents stuff like that. To rent a house in 42 might have been $35-50
plus labor in those days was $1200 a year for a high paying job? Even when guns started streaming back as veterans returned $25 bucks was high for a Luger..more like $12-15 I bet!

Jerry,

Even if you convert 1942 US Dollars to 2012 US Dollars at $1.00 in 1942 to $14.56 in 2012, it still seems low for a pistol which had a lot machine and hand operations.

The 1942 dollar amounts indicated in my previous post would be $242.72 and $173.26 in 2012.

$242.00 in 2012 would be a nice price for a new Luger made to 1942 standards.

Regards

I read an article back in July where the US Marine Corp was contracting for new 1911s. When you divide the dollar value of the contract by the number of pistols to be delivered, it came out to about $5k per new 1911. That amount per pistol raises concern about federal contracting procedures.

I believe inflation is over-calculated.

If we use gold as a mirror of inflation, 1 ounce gold was $35 in 1935. 70 marks was roughly $17.5, or half an ounce of gold. That's about $850 today.

Yes..the gold standard is another good way to look at it. The workers making Lugers in 1942 were probably not very well paid for Reich contracts? There are many modern pistols made even today for a couple hundred..

Buxton on page 16 or Vol. Two has the cost of a Luger pistol in 1942 at 56.82 RM or $25 U.S.

45 Luger
 

I am currently in the process of pricing it out.


My estimations based on what i have been able to do by hand,
Manual mills,


That a small CNC run can be made at 2000-2500 a unit fully assembled. That will be a self cost of a unit , plus a 50% retail markup it will come out to 3000-4000 a unit.

I am thinking a 45 ACP in a army, navy and maybe a carbine versions. It may take me 3 years before that happens, but i am working on it.

And i will not give up until i make that dream come true. I been dreaming about it for 10 years now, making small steps forward that dream.

Now will i get any market at that price is a question,

On the other hand look at Wilson Combat prices and other high end 1911s, that is not too far starched at all.

Not enough people would buy them to make it feasible from an economic standpoint. It is true that Luger prices today are a relative bargain based on this assumption. In addition, one gets a historical pedigree of sorts.

Ez

In a few years it will be able to print them in 3d. That should cut the costs a bit :D

That is so close to been true, you can not even imaging how close ;0)

If I were to guess why these don't work, I'd say that not enough attention was paid to the timing of the springs.

Sieger

And proper hardening of important areas. (the Stainless Mitchell/Stoeger/Aimco/etc.. ones).

Mauser never made money on the regular models, but ended with a small profit overall with the money they made on their commemorative series.

Mauser's production costs were actually quite good. The problem was that a new pistol cost about 225 - 250 USD and a good surplus Luger could be picked up for 50... Guess what people bought :)