1915 dwm
 

So a friend of mine just inherited his grandfather's Luger. It is a 1915 DWM P08. From the outside it is all matching except for the magazine. I didn't look inside because the takedown lever seemed a bit reluctant to move and I didn't feel like forcing the issue here at work. He says that his gramps took it off a German officer in world war two. The interesting thing is that it was in a P38 holster with an extra P38 magazine. And the ammo in the P38 mag is a mix of some old-looking stuff. Although an officer certainly wouldn't be carrying the luger in that holster it certainly boltsters his bring-back story! Anyway, I'm going to try to attach some pictures to elicit comments and opinions regarding value, etc. Thanks!

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I forgot this one. His grandfather wrote his name on the inside of the holster. Attachment 29869

Nice finish on a nice gun. Don'teven think of shooting the ammo, however.
Regarding the sticky takedown lever, are you pressing the muzzle rearwards before trying to rotate the lever down? Pushing the muzzle down on a padded tabletop helps, and there are lots of youtube videos out there for your viewing pleasure.
You mentioned value, and I'd place the gun at maybe $1200 (maybe as high as $1350 given the finish) and the holster, I'm guessing here, at about $200. They are all over E-bay so take a look there to see what they are really selling for.
Welcome aboard.
dju

Hi Gary, and welcome to the forum.

You've got a very nice 1915 DWM Luger.

In order to open the breech to make sure it's empty, you have to first remove the magazine, then take off the safety (it's on in your pictures, and you have an unrelieved sear bar in the 1915), then lift the knobs of the toggle to verify the chamber is empty.

At that point, you should be able to rotate the take down lever without any appreciable force. It's just held in place by a small flat spring.

Considering the condition (and you should post clear sharp pictures of the barrel serial number taken in natural light without flash - so that it's sure there are light "halos" around the digits) if it's in original finish and all matching, I'd be at the higher end of the price David quoted you.

Marc

I've had my own Luger (LP08) for years and so I've opened it up and clearned it many times. I really not new to the forum, but my friend is. So I got the takedown lever down but the sideplate doesn't want to pop off as easily as I'm used to. It's probably just a function of nobody cleaning it for decades! I see halos around the underside of the barrel and some on the frame. There's some strawing remaining on the trigger and safety lever. I was guessing the value was in the $1200 ballpark but I had no idea about the P38 holsters. Huh, I had no idea that the P38 holsters were going for so much. I'd assume that a name written on it would detract somewhat from the value. My friend will be happy to hear all of this! Thanks!

I don't think the name written in the holster will affect it's value, and it's part of the holster's history. In that way it adds value to it.

The 1915 is less common than the later ones, and your's is very nice.

The Ammo is collectable and probably has corrosive primers. Don't consider shooting it.