What do I have & Value?
 

Technically this is my father-in-law’s. Brought back from WWII by his uncle. Magazine does not match, but everything else seems to.

Sorry, WWI bring back, not WWII

Welcome to the Forum.
Thanks for sharing your luger.


It looks like a fairly nice 1915 DWM in good condition with all matching parts.
Matching parts are more important than the finish.
It was made during WW-I when the factories had rapped up production (105,000 that year).

There is a green stain that looks like copper on the right grip - hope it comes off.

Overall, the finish is about what I would expect for a 118 year old pistol.
I'd guess it's around 70% remaining
The smaller parts (trigger, safety lever, take down) have lost most of their original straw color.


Non-matching magazines are pretty common.
It should be a wood bottom with a folded metal body.
It looks like something else was stamped on the base at one time.

It's probably worth $1,200.

That is copper on the grip. He had it stored in a leather holster with brass or copper post. I’m hoping that a soft bristle brush will remove it, but I also didn’t want to mess with it too much.

The bottom of the magazine is wood and I can’t tell what the other stamp is either.

Next time I head over I’ll take my bore light to get a better look at the barrel, but yeah, it does appear to be in great shape for its age.

Thank you for the info and help!

The green stuff is verdigris, from being stored in the holster. A toothbrush and gun solvent will remove it. Don't store the pistol in the holster, get a gun rug and coat the gun with firearms oil for storage. Leave it unzipped a little for air flow.

You have a nice gun with family history.

G2

If it's all matching and in original finish, it's value is probably closer to $1500 in today's market.

As Gerald says, It could use a good cleaning and oiling. If you're not familiar with proper preservation of an older rust blued pistol, ask for help. Don't do damage to it.

Don't store it in a holster. That may be contributing to some of the finish deterioration.