1906 American Eagle Barrel Bore Bad
 

Hi,
I am new here and this is my first post. I am very glad I found this site, it is full of a wealth of information.

I was wondering what the rifling in a luger barrel should look like. If the bore looks quite smooth and you can hardly see the rifling grooves and can't feel them when rubbing a plastic tooth pick across the groves, is this an indication of a worn out barrel? I am assuming it is but I don't know Lugers very well.

If a barrel is worn out to this degree would the rest of the pistol be loose, sloppy, and show the same degree of wear?

What do most people do, replace the barrel, get it re-lined, or just leave it as it should be considered as a collectors item and not fired enough to worry about it?

Thanks for your help.

Steve, Welcome to the Forum!

I just bought a 1916 DWM and you can see SOME rifeling..not much. It shoots spot on at 25 feet.

Luger barrels have very distinct and clear cut lands and grooves. On a good barrel they are easily seen. Your barrel seems a bit worn yes..

On an 06 AE I would clean it well and leave it be. It's possible the barrel has lead in it?

These pistols saw corrosive ammunition..the rest of the pistol might be fine..just the barrel could have seen wear from corrosion.

Thanks for the reply.

Is it pitted and rusty or just smooth? I am also wondering if it hasn't been used with cast lead bullets which MAY fill in the grooves to give it a smooth(er) look. It would take a lot of shooting to shoot out a bore. Or metal cleaning rod use from the front of the gun could also wear it near the muzzle.
Does the overall gun show a lot of use?
If the rest of the gun is orig, including finish, I would not consider changing the barrel or relining it. If the gun is all original but the bore is worn it will hurt the value a bit, bit not as much as changing something that will effect collectability.
Go to your gun shop and buy a stainless steel bore brush and scrub a bit to see if it cleans, if lead flakes out, etc.
Lots of our favorite and accurate Luger shooters have suspect looking bores.
dju

Hi Steve,

Welcome to the Forum.

An American Eagle marked Luger is a rare variation and is generally collectable, especially if it is all matching and the finish is in good condition.

Changing out the barrel drops it's collectable value considerably. You would do financially better to buy another Luger as a shooter to shoot.

The lands on my 7.65 Luger (.30 Luger) pistols are not that deep. They should, of course, be visible.

Marc

The barrel is smooth and shiny and there is no rust at all, or pitting. I can clearly see the rifling down the entire length of the bore but I can't feel it's ridges when running a plastic pick gently over the rifling. If lead fouling was filling in between the rifling grooves, would this not have a dull appearance instead of shiny. My impression of this Luger is that there is very little wear on the rest of the moving parts. They are all tight fitting, and smooth. I see nothing that would indicate any great deal of wear, so that's why I thought it was strange that the barrel was so smooth looking or at least void of very defined rifling. The grips are not worn at all either.

The finish is excellent, with no rust of any kind. The blued finish is excellent showing full coverage except on the barrel where it is getting a tiny bit thin in one small spot but is still there.

There seems to be a lot of variation on serial number locations with various Lugers that people here have shown. For example I have seen serial numbers stamped on the inside of the grips which this does not have. What parts should have serial numbers for sure, and what parts can have serial number on occasion?

I am looking at purchasing this particular Luger and I didn't take any pictures when I was looking at it with the owner. From my description what would a rough estimate of the value be?

Thanks again.

From my last email I meant to say "From my description what would a rough estimate of the value be assuming that all the serial numbers match" I have to check this still when I go back to see it again.

Hi Steve,
Most 1906 American Eagles have unnumbered grips. Serial# locations on 1906 commercials and American eagles are; full S#- frame, barrel. last two digits- receiver lug, takedown lever, sideplate, trigger, breechblock, forward toggle (underside), rear toggle, grip safety.
A ballpark value of an excellent condition 1906 American Eagle 30 cal. is around $2000-$2700 range.
A 9mm is around $2800-$3500 range.

A picture of 7,65mm bore may be helpful.

Relax, it looks fine to me.
dju

Bore is secondary, comparing with finish, in conventional collector's view. But if you have a shoot out bore with excellent finish, it could be interesting to see the gun's detail pictures.

The bore doesn't look like that picture above. I can see the groves but they have no depth at all. I will try and get some pictures and see if the guy will let me take it apart to check the serial numbers.

Thanks again.

"The finish is excellent, with no rust of any kind. The blued finish is excellent showing full coverage except on the barrel where it is getting a tiny bit thin in one small spot but is still there."

With this finish and a "smooth" bore, I would suspect a refinish!