E. German Rework Value
 

I haven't been here in awhile so my opinion about values may be off the mark. A local sales board has a 1918 Luger "all matching" that is obviously an East German rework. It's been reblued as the strawed parts are not straw and it has the "Bullseye" grips. They're asking $1100 and I'm guessing it's value is about half that.

How far off am I?

not far at all....some guys would say a fair price would be 400-500, yeah maybe, between a couple Luger forum buddies....but to the average gunowner at large, Luger automatically equates with "big bucks", regardless. It's what the market will bear, and R Guns are selling WWI DDR reworks as we speak for 699.00...look em up

If it's a VoPo refurb, then a lot would depend on the reblue...Is it just a dip in a nice thin solution, or does it look like it was dipped in a bucket of roofing tar??? "All matching" can mean force matched, too...I wouldn't go more than $750/$800 total for it, and that's just because S&H and FFL fees would add ~$65 to the base price...And if purchased locally there would be an 8% sales tax...

Anyway, $1100 is too much...

Thanks to both of you for verifying that $1100 is too much. The pictures posted are too small to see much detail. I do think it's a DWM as the receiver doesn't appear to be notched for the Artillery sight. But, there may be an Erfurt proof mark on the side plate. But, as I said, detail is hard to see. A link to the listing is below:

http://www.gon.com/marketplace/listi...rs_great_shape

Let's post the pics and see who else has an opinion...

Here are a few pictures of my own DDR VoPo rework; a 1917 Erfurt. The sideplate is a forced match while the grips are, obviously, not original. The sear bar and the toggle link pin are also mismatched. All other parts are matching and appear to be original to the gun. The magazine in the pistol is an fxo/37 while the other is a post-war mag I believe. They are serial numbered to the pistol and marked 1 & 2. Number 2 is in the pistol. The bore is in excellent condition. I bought this pistol when they first came into the country years ago for less than $300.

The peened area on the left side of the receiver was once a shield in a star burst as far as I can tell. The shield likely had a number on it. The full numerical serial number to the right of the peened area has been smeared to obscure it.

Yessir. I hear ya'. I bought them (Russian captures) so cheap back in the 90's that I traded one for a nice Russian SKS last year. The guy thought something must be wrong. Why would I trade a Luger for an SKS?? It was exactly the SKS I had been looking for. He got a screaming deal and I paid less than the SKS was worth.

I don't know if there's a collector market for the VoPo reworks but for someone who wants a "shooter", they offer better value than most. I have another that I also bought many years back and had a new 6" .30 barrel installed... by Tom Heller, IIRC. It's a great shooter and certainly not a collector piece. It's perfect for anyone who wants to experience shooting a Luger without taking a chance on damaging a valuable collector piece.

There is a developing VoPo collector market allright.

But, like with other variations, collector value means that it has to be in VoPo shape. Swapped out barrels, reblue jobs, grip swaps, etc... still move them to shooter status (although grip swaps are easily rectified).

Pricing of VoPo's is all over the place, I bought them between 250 - 750 Euros.

At the time I re-barreled the VoPo, they were inexpensive for a Luger and I wanted a good shooter in .30 caliber. I like the .30 very much and when loaded with hollow points, they are a wicked cartridge. Rather than shoot my more valuable, all matching and very collectable .30 Lugers, I used a mis-matched VoPo and put the new barrel on it. I also have a post-war P-38 (NIB) in .30 Luger and a Browning Hi-Power that's been shot only a few times. I bought it new. Then there's my Benelli B-80 that's also like new. The .30 Luger is one of my favorite cartridges.

Update: The "matching" VoPo Luger for $1,100 has been re-listed at the same price. The description has been modified to read:

"For sale or trade for 1911. Have a 1918 german luger that is very nice. All numbers match, even mag. Very tight and clean. Has S/42 on top of slide."

In spite of my email to him explaining enough about VoPo Lugers for him to know that parts have been force matched and the gun is not original but made up of parts from different eras and different guns, he insists upon being deceptive. A genuine case of caveat emptor.