I bought my first Luger
 

I finally bought a Luger, and I couldn't wait to come on this board to find out more about it. I bought it from a longtime friend and co-worker who inherited it from her father-in-law. I believe she sold it to me for a very good price. ($700).
It's a S/42 Mauser made in 1936.
It has a serial number of 924 and is all matching.
It's obviously not a museum piece, but I just got it to have one.
Is there anything unique about it or is it a run-of-the-mill Luger?
I would like to give it a good cleaning. Are there any cleaning products to avoid?
Am I correct in thinking I got a decent deal on this particular Luger?

From what little I can see from the photo, it seems like you did very well price-wise. I'd normally expect to pay between $1000 and $1500 for one.
Welcome aboard!
Normal gun cleaning procedures. If you don't know for sure how to strip and re-assemble one, go to YouTube. Don't use anything harsh or abrasive, be very gentle on the grips, use extreme care raising the left grip panel so as to not chip the wood around the safety, and don't get a lot of oil on the grips.
There are probably threads or stickies here on proper care and cleaning.
Inspect it carefully, don't ever rely on brute force, and enjoy!
dju

I'd say you got it for a very good price. Congratulations.

Thanks for the cleaning advice. I'll check for those stickies before I clean it.

Only from one single picture it's difficult to say, but I think you've got a nice gun at a very good price, keep it and enjoy it.
As far as cleaning procedure it's concerned, all my collectibles are cleaned regularly mainly with BALLISTOL.
Never use anything abrasive, always use a lot of patience and elbow grease.
Before re-storing them in the safe I wipe them all with a good silicone cloth.

Best.

Hi Brent, Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new Luger.

Take your time and go slow. Don't try and "fix" things that you find "wrong". You can do quite a bit of damage without realizing it.

If there is active rust (red oxide) you can carefully remove it with a well oiled "0000" steel wool after oiling the blued surface. Don't overdo things.

We'd need more pictures to give you good feedback on your Luger, but on first glance it looks like a good collectible one.

Be very careful when removing the grips, especially the left one. Many get chipped up by the safety lever because they get lifted too far off the frame before sliding them down and out.

Check for a number inside the trigger plate that relates to the first digit(s) of the serial number. It's probably either a "9" or "10".

There is likely a suffix letter under the numeric digits on the front of the frame. That letter is a part of the full serial number, and a suffix letter like "924x".

If it's in original finish, and all matching, and in fairly good finish condition avoid firing it. If you shoot it and break a numbered part the value of the collectible is lost and financial value drops quite a bit.

Is the magazine of the same era as your Luger? Aluminum base? Markings?

Post better pictures showing details in sharp focus of the external markings.

Study the dis-assembly and assembly advice you can find on this site. Check the internal parts for matching numbers (should be "24").

If it's all matching and in 90% original finish with an original magazine you paid about half it's collector value.

1936 was the last full year of rust blued / strawed Lugers before Mauser switched over to salt bluing. It also doesn't have the "hump" that they milled into the rear of the frame ears starting again in 1937.

Marc

More pictures would be nice, left, right, top and close ups :)

Thanks for the great info. It's really appreciated. It appears that my Luger is all matching and original. It had the original magazine and a back-up magazine, but these were somehow misplaced in executing the will and transferring many guns to my friend/coworker. Of course I'd love to have the magazine, but I'm not too disappointed. I didn't really get this as a collector or to shoot it. I just always wanted a Luger and have admired the craftsmanship. It appears that the full serial number is 924B. It has some proof markings that I can't make out well, (the eyes sure aren't what they used to be.) But there are no import marks. I'm having a hard time uploading pictures to this forum, but I think I will try posting them one at a time.

Here's another.

Poor Iphone camera quality.

Another

A different view.

I know these are kind of hard to see.

Another view

Hope these pics can tell you more. Your cleaning advice has been really appreciated.

By the way, when the guns from this rather large collection were sold and distributed by the relatives, some of the magazines were mismatched and packaged with the wrong guns. The magazines included with my Luger are not Luger magazines, even though documentation shows that it had the original magazine and a back-up. However, these two magazines were included with my Luger. I know that they are not Luger magazines, but I don't know what kind of magazines they are. They have no markings. Does anyone recognize these?

I believe your magazines are for the Lahti M40.

Thank you, Bill_in_VA!

Taking pictures of the gun is a challenge!

Your luger looks promising !

The full serial number should be on the front of the pistol frame, just above the trigger guard.
The barrel will have the serial number, too, on the under side.

Finish has issues, but still a great deal for that price! Enjoy it.

Bob

Congratulations. Hopefully you can pick up a mag. From the looks of it you have a nice shooter, which in my mind is a plus because there is nothing like shooting a Luger. They put the modern polymer pistols to shame. :)

Thanks, guys. I already ordered a magazine. I haven't decided if I'll shoot it or not. I know it's not collector quality, but just owning one has satisfied an itch. Maybe I'll end up wanting to shoot it later.

It will be there if later on you decide to shoot it. A P08 Luger is a real hoot to shoot. If you do your part, you will be amazed at how accurate they are.

Roger that. :D