Luger P.08 bfy
 

I got a late Christmas from my uncle, A Luger p.08. What a suprise! any way could ya'll help me with info on the gun? Its marked 41 on top of the reciever next to the barrel, P.08 on the side, byf on the cocking part. sn 4747 and marked C.I.A on the underside of the barrel. thanks in advance dja9520

Heard of nickname Black Widow? This is one sample, Mauser made in 1941.

The first time I saw C.I.A. on a SKS was also astonishing... "a spy gun?".... Later, found it's C.A.I. Is the mark under barrel C.I.A. or C.A.I. ?

Looks like a nice shooter and a nice gift!


Ed

Is there any thing i need to check out before shooting? also how much should i insure the luger for? Im assuming that C.I.A. stands for century international arms import mark? thanks again dja9520

DJA, The C.A.I.. This is Century Arms International Vt. or FL. Nice gift regardless.

Jerry Burney

The luger is a shooter so your home owners insurance should cover any loss. It would be around $600-750 for replacement.

jerry

The grips, if original, are worth $200-$300 alone.

how could you tell if there orginal? thanks dja9520

Take a fairly close photo of the interior of both grip so originality can be determined

pic below. Also when was this gun imported? thanks again dja9520

I'd ID your grips shown above as postwar Finnish made replacements. Many of the CIA imported Finnish imports with 9mm Tikka replacement barrels came into the US with these grips. TH

Any idea when these came into the country? thanks again dja9520

Your best chance of determining this would be to contact Century International Arms and give them the serial number.
My best guess would be early 1990s, after the Soviet Union fell. The collapse opened up the floodgates to Russian capture weapons as the US eased import restrictions as a gesture of support for the new Russia

The grips may be original as they appear to be Type 4 in Taudelts grip study.
One hole low each side with the 2 little "0"s on the right inside grip.
http://luger.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=8859

thanks for the link on the grips, the left grip looks like type 1, and the right looks like type 4. thanks dja9520

The first large shipment of Finnish lugers (most mismatched with 7.65x98mm barrels) that I recall CAI importing was about 30 years ago. I know that SOG was also selling, mostly 9mm rebarreled ones, just a couple of years ago. TH

Are there any indicated differences between a black widow and a wood gripped on the gun?

They called them Blck Widows because everything was black.
Grips, mag bottoms, and finish on pistol.

It was a term coined to sell these.

Back in "the day" they were considered the least collectable other than maybe .30 commercials.

I remember well in the early 60s we turned up our noses at complete BYF 41 rigs for $50.