resources
 

so...my first (ok, maybe my second) dumb question. are there any trusted members on the forum who offer a service that would help a newcomer purchase his first gun for a fee?

Most of the forum?

Now, if you are looking for something specific, then yes, individual members could help you?

There are trusted members, and trusted members who sell lugers, depends on your price line?

Tom Whiteman http://www.legacy-collectibles.com/ I trust completely

Simpson's LTD is a bit higher, but has a very good reputation

There are many other folks who sell this and that all the time (myself included).


Ed

Mike, I am in Southern Calif.......would be glad to help if your local....

I'm actually just outside of Atlanta, but I appreciate the offer.

Michael..An awful lot goes into your first Luger..Doing it yourself will bring years of memories. Most of us went out..dived into the pool and got the luck of the draw. Some of us have good memories of our first.. some of us bad! Either way it was our first and like our first prom date..I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

It does pay to have a Luger Mentor..I didn't have the Forum way back then but a very fine Luger collector Friend..Howie Nickel of Houston Tx. A WW2 Navy Pilot. I would pester him no end with questions.

But you have the Forum and hundreds of Luger Mentors! Just keep looking and learning..ask questions. Be SURE to look over past posts on the Forum. There are several lifetimes of information in the search part here.

Thanks Jerry...

Ed has pointed me to Tom Whiteman as a trusted dealer. We are working together on a Black Widow purchase.

I'm pretty excited!

I'm sure I'll have a thousand questions...I tend to dive into the deep end of the pool. Although, I do seem to have the sense to make suer there's water.

Best,

Michael

Welcome to the Lugerforum Michael... all sage advice above... ask here and you will receive the benefit of hundreds of collective years of collecting advice for your first purchase... no need for a fee... if someone is local to you and helps in person, that is just one of the fringe benefits of being a member here... helpful folks... that might require a free beer, or glass of wine, but not much else...

Michael..Yes..You can't go wrong with Tom Whiteman at Legacy. Ed gave you good advice there.

Being a new collector is like being blindfolded and asked to walk across a minefield.When I was new to collecting Lugers I was fortunate to have 3 knowledgeable collectors as my mentors,
namely Don Rousseau,Bob Hogan and John Pearson.I owe them a great deal for their help and education.
So yes try and find a knowledgeable mentor.
Spartacus38@charter.net
Bob

You might approach this by first obtaining and studying available reference materials....

I call this "Luger University", which I'm sure that forum members are getting tired of my repeating...

In short... Decide on an era that you're interested in. Early, WW-I, Weimar, WW-II, Post War.

There are good reference and collector publications focused on each of these areas.

Many of the books were short run, and are now out of print. They are collectible themselves. For that reason, they are relatively expensive.

By studying them, you'll avoid making mistakes when you purchase your first (and any subsequent) Lugers. You need to see actual pistols in hand so that you can begin to recognize original finish and expected features and markings. I believe that you can save more than the cost of the books by making the right choices early on. That way you end up with: knowledge, reference materials for the future and beautiful collectable pistols...

Marc