Mitchell Luger, shoot or put away?
 

Hi All.

My father has a large collection of firearms, and while going thru them the other day when we came to his 2 lugers he gave me one of them. The 2 that he has are a Stoeger Mauser sn 11.008057 that my father says he shot when he first got it (although it looks like new), and the one he gave me, a Mitchell Arms stainless one. It's from 1991 (has 1991 under the American Eagle) and is sn 4600. He told me that he bought this one brand new, and has never fired it. He didn't keep the box/docs for it, but it has 2 extra clips.

So my question is this: assuming it is unfired would firing it detract from whatever collector value (if any) it might have?

I can just as easily use his Stoeger if I wanted, but I must admit, I'm a sucker for stainless steel guns! Do either of these guns have much 'collector' value? Thanks!

-MikeS

shooter! :)
the value on these guns has gone down greatly...nice, unfired, but with no supporting paper, box etc...
Shooter! :)

The 'Stoeger' Mauser sounds like a 1970s Mauser marketed by Interarms.

You might want to put away te stainless Mitchell for a few decades, as it might be collectable by then, as all the one being used will have broken parts, which are not available. TH

You are correct, it's an Interarms Mauser. My mistake. Well, I went and shot the Mitchell today, and it works great. Using Remington factory 9mm I had a couple of time when it didn't eject properly, but when I switched to using Sellier & Bellot ammo I have here it functioned flawlessly.

-MikeS

I have a 1992 Mitchell stainless Luger. Found that Remington rounds do not cycle correctly, however, Winchester 115 works perfectly. The pistol is a joy to shoot and since it is newer (1992), the danger of messing up a really collectable or desirable Luger is removed.
Enjoy you Luger.

Stainless Lugers
 

I also have a couple of these. The 9mm likes the S&B ammo and that is what the factory uses for testing. Welcome to the club!

Steve