First time P08 owner
 

Hello everyone, after lurking here for a couple of weeks and soaking in as much knowledge as possible, I finally took the plunge and bought my first Luger.

My primary interest is in WW2 small arms so I really wanted a Nazi pistol, and I was lucky enough to find a 1936 S/42 to go along with a 1936 Mauser-Oberndorf K98k I recently picked up.

I'm curious to find out if the finish is original and if the magazine is at least period correct. It is unfortunately force matched, as I posted about in another thread. The side plate is the only other non matching part. Someone once told me that side plates were commonly taken from returning GI's while they were on the ships returning home, and then re distributed upon arrival in the States, resulting in mis-matches. Similar to Arisaka bolts in the Pacific. Have there been any documented cases of this?

Are there any serial # records that might show when specifically in 1936 this Luger was manufactured? Has a "p" suffix. Grips are un-numbered and the right grip is just a little loose, while the left grip is snug. Lastly, it came with the holster seen in the pics, but as I recall, P08 holsters had the strap offset to the side, and not down the middle as this one is. It has what appears to be a unit marking on the back. I'm excited to learn more and get to the range. Any input or feedback is much appreciated!!!

Link to pics:
https://imgur.com/a/rGhc0QW

Lugers were made in 9,999 or 10,000 alphabetical blocks. So your Luger was manufactured in later 1936 with a Rust bluing and strawing process as opposed to the dip blue used from late 1937 onwards. To that end, your finish looks into be original and in fairly good shape. Your magazine also looks original to the gun to my eyes, the 42 is just another proof mark IIRC. I wouldn’t fret over mags anyway, it’s usually assumed they aren’t going to match. See if another forum member has at least a matching side plate of some kind. If not, it’s already a shooter grade Luger. Something which I highly reccomend doing is shooting the crap out of it. Did the holster come with the pistol as well, and did the holster contain any other notable items?

Hello tphilly88-
Congrats on your new acquisition. Looks like your side plate is an armorers replacement along with the numbered magazine as indicated by the small '42' on both pieces.
I may have a #58 side plate and will check my extra parts.
Regards.

Welcome to the forum.
Just a note to remember, not all of us will go off site to look at pictures.
Please upload them on the forum server; you would be surprised to know how many threads there are with "dead" links to pictures- so the posts become meaningless.

Nice Luger. There is some debate among collectors as to what constitutes a collectible vs. shooter, and some will consider your pistol a shooter due to the non-matching side plate. Personally I consider pistols that are mostly matching with original finish to be collectible.

Like you I have a 1936 P 08 and greatly admire the pleasing rust-blue finish of that year, as opposed to the salt-blued finishes that started in '37.

Congratulations and I second what Don said, it is much better practice to post photos to this site. It will also get you more replies.

Yeah I generally upload my pics into forum posts but was having trouble with the size of the files. I’ll try again when I’m home. Thanks for the responses. If there are any “58” side plates floating around out there in your spare parts bins I’d certainly be willing to trade.

Also I was wondering about the lack of numbers on the grips. Is this correct for a ‘36?

The holster did come with the pistol but with no additional goodies.

Hi Tom,
Most of the 1936 s/42’s I’ve examined have had unnumbered grips.
Regards, Norm

Does the holster have any markings?

Thomas, congratulations on your Luger and welcome to the forum.

You'll probably enjoy our FAQ PDF document. Just follow the FAQ link at the top of every forum page and download a copy. It's a great reference, and consolidates quite a bit of detailed Luger information from members here.

Note that Mauser Luger side plates are numbered inside (keyed to the first digits of the serial number) and outside (keyed to the last digits). so that one in 10,000 will numerically match.

I wouldn't bother replacing it, especially since the work involved in fitting the Luger trigger linkage is rather skilled and specialized.

Looks like a possible unit marking on the back, though I can't make it out. A name inside the flap: Georg Dietrich and Berlin something underneath. Another name written in marker: Hern. Missing a belt loop. Appears to be very well traveled, haha!

Welp...looks like 3 pics at a time is the magic number.

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Nice '36- looks a lot like mine! Welcome to the forum & congrats on what probably won't be your only Luger. Bill

So side plates are specifically fitted to each pistol? I was under the impression they were plug and play. :confused:

Nooooo. Side plates are also specifically fitted to each pistol. Though they have a higher probability of being interchangeable, they often aren’t and having a poorly fitted side plate can cause a myriad of issues relating to trigger functions and operation of the sear bar as well.

Understood. Thanks for the clarification!

Your numbered magazine is an armorer's replacement (indicated by the "42" stamped on the base).

I don't see a thing in your pictures that would want me to replace the side plate.

Lugers were all hand fitted at great expense. The trigger linkage was probably the most critical part to get right.

Your side plate is also a "42" marked armorer's replacement likely done in the field or a unit level armory. I would not consider changing it. "42" was Mauser's military supplyer concealment code after S/42 in about 1940, followed later by "byf" and (on P.38 pistols) "svw". Their armorer replacement parts were numbered with the 42 concealment code.

Your holster is a police style holster, and similar in appearance to the P.38 holster. I cannot makeout details from the pictures, but Jerry Burney on this site (lugerholsterrepair) can do a nice job of repairing stitching with original materials and refreshing it if you choose to.

I particularly like these 1936 pistols because they were rust blued and the finish quality was often nice and deep black like this one.

Do not count on that. A proper "replacement" part, as it seems to be the case, was fitted to gun by an armourer. There are no drop in sideplates anything short of a small miracle.

I didn’t say they were “drop ins” just that my observations of shooter grade Lugers has been that most just have a mismatched side plate. Logic dictates that since they are most often the mismatched part, they must therefore be the most easily replaceable part.

Easily replaced means only that you can probably mount them on the pistol, not that they will function reliably... that is what the hand fitting is all about. The 1936 Mauser that my Dad captured during WW2 has a mismatched sideplate, and it took some gunsmithing to get it to function reliably when I inherited it. My Dad probably only fired it a couple of times after he brought it home just to demo it to family members. It now rests comfortably in my safe... even mismatched, it is priceless to me.

Logic fails in this case, perhaps all it means is that people "lose" the side plate more often! JMHO.

Some times the side plate will "fit", but the take down lever won't move to its upper position; then if it does the trigger won't fire the weapon, and if it does, then maybe it does not re-set.

It can take an hour or more to fit a side plate and get it functioning; and some times after even longer it will still not function!
If it has been previously "fit", it may be too small in important dimensions to tighten up!:(

Better not to speculate and mislead someone into buying a "drop in" part that won't(I know you didn't say it would, but it is implied in your observation).:soapbox:

This is great information, I really appreciate it. The likelihood of the the magazine and sideplate being armorer's replacements makes me MUCH more comfortable with the price I paid for this example.