Mitchell Luger
 

I was talking to a friend of mine today that might be interested in either trading or selling a 1990's vintage stainless steel Luger. I've known the guy since we were kids and he went to a local gun show with my father and I when he decided he really wanted to own a Luger. Mitchell Lugers were available on the open market and I was there when he bought the gun. Since then, it's been shot but I would say it's probably a "low mileage" piece. I have a nice collection of wartime Lugers as collector pieces/occasional shooters. What's the value of a stainless Mitchell? How common are they?

I owned a Stainless one back in 1995. I think I paid around $600. The edge of the trigger was so sharp that I cut myself after shooting a few rounds and continued to bleed as I shot a couple of boxes. I don't remeber any malfunctions but after that first shooting session I traded it back to the shop I bought it from for an old model SIG P226.

The Stainless Lugers (Mitchell, Aimco, et al.)
 

There are two schools of thought on the Mitchell Lugers. You either hate them or love them and we have both types of members. Their value in today's market is somewhat depressed, and they have been averaging around the $500-600 sales mark. For a closer idea of what they sell for, I would recommend checking Gunbroker.com and GunsAmerica.com to see if any are being offered.

All of the stainless Lugers were made by the same company and badged by whichever name they were marketing at the time...

If your friend's gun is a true early Mitchell... then that means that most all parts are interchangeable with genuine Lugers and it can use standard Luger magazines. later in their production life, the Stainless guns made some production changes and started using only proprietary magazines that are not interchangeable with original magazines.

Since it will be difficult to find correct stainless replacement parts for these lugers, I'd stick with a mismatched or reblue original PO8 as a shooter. These can usually be found in the same price range as a used Mitchell. TH

Thanks guys. John, any idea on when things changed? I don't shoot nearly as much as I'd like and I think I can get it for a trade. Could this be a future collectible?

Who actually made them? I remember hearing they were made in Vermont.

Karl, my stainless Eagle was made in 1993 by a company called SPM in Houston, Texas. While replacement parts are difficult if not impossible to get, IMHO the stainless will not become a real solid collectible like the original German Luger is, in our lifetime. I imagine though that there are niche collectors who are buying them for their children and grand-children though.

Charlie

I concur with Charlie's opinion on collectibility...

ALL Stainless Lugers were produced in the same factory... the brand or badge changed with time as the company found new financing and backers...

The sequence of brands is someting like this:

Mitchell, Stoeger, AIMCO, SPM, and finally Orimar... all owned and operated by the same guy named ROMO.

You will find a link to whatever the last contact information we had on the company on the Links & Resources page listing on our homepage menu.

I understand that you are more likely to get a response from a fax than a phone call if trying to contact them about service.

I almost bought a new one back 12 years ago. Finally I gave up because the seller refused to add its holster into the deal for $630 (?). My mind stucked somewhere. It's interesting to know the price is still same after 10+ years.

One article from Gun Digest praised it to the sky. I will post a picture of it if I can find that book.

Found the book. It's "The Gun Digest Book Of 9mm Handguns", 2nd Edition. It views Mitchell from another angle "The Luger P-08 pistol was the launching pad which made the 9mmP cartridge a factor on the world scene during the early days for the 20th Century. Now, as that same century draws to a close, there is an American rebirth of both the handgun and the ethic which for millions of shooters always has defined the 9mmP. It is called Mitchell Arms American Eagle version of the legendary Pistol Parabellum P-08 (Luger)."

Admin, please help to delete the following pix if it violates forum's rule. A page of the article.

I have a 1992 Mitchell Luger. Although it does not have the history of the original Lugers, it is still a Luger. I read somewhere on this forum that the stainless Mitchell, Stoeger, etc Lugers were based on the 1942 byf Luger with a few of the problems the 42 byf had.
However, my Luger has fired great with no problems at all. As mentioned earlier, I think the stainless Lugers work good, or they have problems. Thus, they are liked or disliked It is what you get when buying one--and unknown until the firing range settles the issue.
I have seen the stainless Luger priced from $800 to 1000.00.
I would suggest you get it while understanding it could be a dud or a great pistol.
Good luck on what ever you decide.

I bought a 1992 Stainless Mitchell Luger as well, to coincide with the birth of my son, who I had planned to give the pistol to when the time came.
After returning it to the factory for repair twice, ( it jammed two to three times a magazine)I finally traded it in for something else.
I also thought the stainless Luger was a good concept but it was very inconsistently executed.

I'm thinking about trading a Beretta 92 for it.... I'm not sure if I really want to part with the Beretta.

Once I carried a Swiss style Interarms Mauser to a dealer asking for cash. He took it over .....

Buyer: "It's not even a German. :surr: $350".

Seller: "Excuse me. IT IS A GERMAN. :rockon: Give it back to me!"

=====

No other purpose. Just a view from people -- at least it better be a "German" for this type of gun, if care nothing else.

I've decided to pass on acquiring this... Talking to my friend, he said...

"Here's what is going on: that Mitchell luger, since day one, has done nothing but give me problems. I've been told many things, including: they don't like a lot of lubrication, they don't like dust or dirt, they need to have ball ammo not hollow points, and they need +P or +P+ ammo with 147 grains minimum. So......I tried EVERTHING I could, and the thing still fires one or two rounds and then either jams or misfeeds. The misfeed part I might be able to have a gunsmith take care of, but the jam (the spent cartridge doesn't come out of the gun, requiring tools to pry it out) seems like a bigger issue. The other issue I have had is the clip doesn't seem to like feeding the rounds - they seem to get jammed in the clip, too. "

It sounds like this wasn't one of the "good" ones and with parts availability being what it is, I'm not going to go there....

Thanks all for your insight on this.

Karl,

Take Tom's advice and get a mismatched "original" Luger.

I think this is the better move to do, if you are planning to shoot it.

Greetings,

Douglas

I think I have read in a couple of places that, in about 1995 when the Mitchell name was replaced by Stoeger American Eagle, quality and reliability of these pistols significantly improved.

Jeff

I played both original and assembled guns. The originals usually shoot fine, but could break parts which are very hard to find replacement (non-Luger, cheaper ones, fortunately). Assembled guns don't have this worry, but I had to search around to find where the bullets flied :) and usually have certain recycling/feeding/headspace issues.

If this didn't have any issues, I'd work a deal on it. I don't get to go shooting much, so usually my stuff doesn't get a lot of use.