Well I finally bought a Luger.
 

After many false hopes, and after countless hours of searching i found a Luger here at a gunstore in Bloomington. What i found was a BYF 41 Luger of Mauser heritage. All parts are matching right down to the mag. However it has been nickel plated but i dont mind it, thats actually what helped me get him to lower the price, he wanted 1500, i talked him down to 954. Pics will fallow as soon as i find a camera that works. But until then does it sound like i did ok?

I'll leave it to you and others to decide if you made a good deal.
congratulations on getting your new Luger.
Now you have to post some pic's.

NOOOOOO!!!!You have been nailed like a virgin prom date! Return it immediately and get your hard earned money back! Then invest another couple hundred and get a Luger you can be proud of! Congratulations I guess....Jerry Burney

Brandon,

Sorry, but that's a bit steep for a nickle plated Luger. As Jerry says, you could find a nice low end collector/shooter for about that amount , or just a little more.

Ron

First, are you happy with your Luger, K? That's what's really important. Sometimes we go with our heart instead of our head. And that's not all bad, if you like your byf and the way it looks.

And are you going to use it as a shooter, not as an investment for collecting? It would be a fairly expensive shooter but nice looking so it comes down to how you value it. I've got a regular salt blued 41 byf and love it but fear to shoot it since it will reduce the value. (So is that so smart either! :) ) My shooter is a mixed parts P.08 that isn't very pretty, yours should be pretty and attract attention on the range.

Also does it happen to have the black bakelite grips? If so and they're in good shape they can be worth $250+ by themselves. (Crossed my mind since black grips would look good with nickel so hoping that's what you have.)

Not trying to sway you either way, it's up to you whether you got a good deal. At least you talked him down $500. Definitely post pictures!

Brandon,

Congratulations. I would side with Quentin's point of view if you intend to shoot it. The most important thing is whether you are happy with it. If you like the gun so what if you paid a bit too much? Plus you saved shipping costs, possibly a transfer fee, and the possible hassle of returning an unsatisfactory gun. Besides, it's only your first Luger. There will be more, just wait and see. This is your first Luger and you will learn a lot by having it. Enjoy. Post pictures when you can. KFS

Gotta agree with that, Karl, there will be more! :)

Sometimes we go with our heart instead of our head. Hey that's great if your ordering the steak instead of the chicken but a thousand bucks on something that used to be a Luger? Down in my neck of the woods that's still some serious pocket change.

At least you talked him down $500. Geeze, too bad he didn't have it priced at a million dollars! Then you could have saved so much more!

It's like marrying an ugly Woman..why? when there are so many pretty ones around?

Looking at an all original pistol is a thing to bring joy to a collectors heart. If I want to see chrome I go to a car show.


This is your first Luger and you will learn a lot by having it. You won't learn what a real finish looks like.

I am in no way being critical but Karl and Quinton are leading you into a collecting mistake.

If you like the gun so what if you paid a bit too much?
Too much money, not enough gun. Collecting Lugers is dammned expensive and one of the first lessons I learned was not to waste limited funds on junk. Buy stuff you can be proud of and not have to apologize for when it comes time to get your money back.

That's my story and I'm stickin to it! Jerry Burney

Thank you everyone who has posted so far :D and for the record yes i did buy it as an intended shooter, i realized the nickel plating would lower it's value, but at the same time i like nickel plated guns, also i thought it was still a good buy seeing the parts were all original and knowing that no mixed junk parts could chance being in it. and as for the grips, yes they did come with the original black plastic grips, however i took them off for the value they have and locked them in a safe. now the gun sports some rather cheap looking wood grips, but only till i find a better set this weekend at the gunshow in muncie :)

Ahh, good for you, K!

I kinda suspected it would have "black widow" grips since they'd look good with nickel. Assuming they actually are worth $250, you may have bought a $700 shooter after all which fits in nicely with the norm. The good condition, matching numbers and that you like the finish is all gravy.

Of course Jerry makes excellent points that newbies like us should heed but it's your gun and what really matters is how you feel about it. Maybe later you'll decide to flip it over on the market and get something else. It could surprise you what you'd get for it, there's always a buyer for a nice looking Luger.

I suppose it might make sense to start looking for a VG to excellent 41 or 42 byf with wood grips that cries for those bakelite grips! I guess that's acceptable as long as the piece originally could have had them. My 41 byf also has the original black grips but we're in the minority as most of that era had wood. You'd also have an interesting pair, Salt&Pepper Lugers!

Now that you have your shooter let's hope you find your next Luger easier than this first one. Hey, let's go shootin' :D

Brandon, After the I do's your the one who has to go home with her...Congratulations and good luck! I meant to mention befor..I really like your avatar! Jerry Burney

Jimmy Soul had a hit record "If You Wanna Be Happy Never Make A Pretty Woman Your Wife" - he couldn't be all wrong, it made #1! :cheers:

Also number one was "Strokin" by Clarence Carter but that may be another issue for a different post.

Sorry, could not resist.

I agree with everyone who said that if you are happy, that is what is important, however, I just bought an original Luger that is all matching except the magazine for a grand. I like nickled guns too if they were originally issued that way. I have a 1990s model Colt single action .45 that is nickle plated.
Lugers, and all guns for that matter, are going up, and as the saying goes, "You never pay too much for a gun. You just bought it too soon."