Please Help Me Evaluate A P08 Luger Pistol
 

I have inherited a P08 Luger. It's a 1918 Erfurt with all serial numbers (with possibly 1 exception) matching. It went into police service at some point. It has 1 matching magazine, no holster, and no tool. I wish to learn market value, not for selling it, as it is a family heirloom, but for equitable division of the estate among the siblings. Thanks in advance for any helpful valuation information you may provide.

You are asking a lot and supplying little (no photos), but I will give you a generic estimate based on what you have offered.
I'm going to assume that the 1 matching mag. is a police rework mag, not orig. WW1, and will ignore the (possibly) 1 non-matching, and would base it somewhere between $1100 and $1500, but understand that is a WAG of the highest order.
dju

Here are some more photos...
 

Here are some more photos...

More photos...

Yet more photos...

Still more photos...

The firing pin is mis-matched, and the magazine is a police re-work and force-matched, the rest looks pretty nice! The book guys can tell you what the unit markings indicate. I'll hold at around $1300-$1400.
But other more-knowledgeable members may disagree...
dju

Final set of photos...
 

Final set of photos...

Please tell up which # you think may not be mismatched- I've looked at the pictures but there are a lot of them.

Don, firing pin is marked “21” instead of 20 like all the other parts of the pistol.

Sorry about that, DavidJayUden. I mistakenly attached the wrong photos to the original thread message, and immediately noticed and removed them...then I spent 20 minutes or so attaching the correct 57 images.

Please look again.

Thanks!

The firing pin is also marked '20', although the 0 is a weak stamp...you are not the first to mistake the stamped '20' for a '21'.

Your gun uses a later style "fluted" firing pin. That, with the incorrect number, hurts the value a bit.
What dollar amount were you expecting?
dju

Actually, the firing pin is stamped '20', although the 0 is weakly stamped. In that particular photo, unless you zoom in, it does appear to be a 1. Others have mistaken it for '21', as well.

The 'hold open', which is not clearly represented in these photos and is weakly stamped '03', which upon initial inspection (looking at it upside down) appeared to my eyes to be '20'.

The fluted pin modification is correct for a police pistol like this.

Barrel and toggle train look too nice compared to the rest of the gun - highly suspect they are reblued, which is not uncommon for police guns (they seemed to like rebluing the toggle & breechblock). Rest of the finish looks original to me. Anyway, I agree with David's estimate of $1400 for this gun. It might even sell for $1500 or so on gunbroker.

- Geo

No,
it IS a 20, just missing part of the left side.

Thanks,
that hurts a bit, as we are now into a "mismatched" pistol.

I would not call the magazine a "forced" match, it is entirely correct for a reworked police pistol- it even has the "dove/o" police acceptance. It is not the "original" magazine- but then the pistol has been through a complete "police" overhaul!:cheers:

Tom,
what makes you say the rear toggle is "force matched" ? Looks like a clean #20 in the one picture I found it.

I would not call the magazine a "forced" match, it is entirely correct for a reworked police pistol- it even has the "dove/o" police acceptance. It is not the "original" magazine- but then the pistol has been through a complete "police" overhaul!

I agree, but somehow still tend to value original (OEM) WW1 parts over the later substituted police parts. Otherwise we could take it to the extreme and boast that a Luger bears "original Russian capture rework numbering".
Just my $.02
dju

I would agree with the higher end estimate of $1400 that you've been given. That would be a value for someone interested in collecting this genre of pistols.

I see a "20" marked on the firing pin, and the flute cut looks like a police modification not a later Mauser fluted firing pin.

This pistol should be viewed and valued for what it is:

A correct nazi-era police pistol based on a 1918 Erfurt military P08.

It stopped being a military P08 when it was reassigned to the police and any attempts to compare it to 1918 standards for the army are pointless in this case.

Puma, With the few questionable mismatched parts (add force matched rear toggle link) which prevent your Police PO8 from being FACTORY MATCHING, this would normally keep your luger's value below $1K, but with the presence of police installed sear safety, cut-off mag safety and unit markings, these would raise the value by up to $1500 to the right buyer. TH

I can not tell but it looks like it still has the mag safety disconnect installed. A picture of the left side without the grip would be nice. Be careful about removing that grip.

Well, RC's and Vopo's are variations- and becoming collectable in their own right. Another 2 cents worth.:cheers:

Tom,
what makes you say the rear toggle is "force" matched?
Looks like a clean "20" in the one picture I found.:confused:

I do not think any one gave the unit mark to you, I believe it to be (sp?) Schutzpoleizi Weisbaden 1st district 584 weapon#. Books are not handy to verify at the moment. John

The "first district" was the city of Frankfurt a.m.