Krieghoff question
 

I have been just browsing the web looking at lugers for sale. All Krieghoff lugers have a pretty price for them. As I know nothing about these lugers, what makes these lugers so valuable.

I can give you a longer answer but the short answer is: RARITY.

Mauser was making P.08s for the military from about 1934 until production stopped in 1942/3. They averaged about 10,000 pistols per month throughout this period. A million Lugers more or less in the Mauser Era.

Krieghoff made about 13,000 Lugers total including some Commercial variants from 1935 until production stopped in 1945.

Additionally, the fit and finish of the Krieghoffs is recognized as being superior to Mauser Military production, almost reaching commercial quality.

Finally, there is the survival rate. Krieghoff were issued to Air Defense, Bomber crews and Airborne troops. As you may know P.08s were too large for fighter pilots because of the small cockpits so not many P.08s found their way to the Luftwaffe per se but more to the ground or air capable services commanded by the Luftwaffe. BTW, Luftwaffe rather than Army inspectors controlled the quality of production and its acceptance. There are not many around.

The bottom line remains RARITY. But to me as a collector, in addition to being a superb War Gun, they are beautifully made.

Now to be clear. The P.08 lacks the proportion and shear beauty and balance of the DWM Model 1900s. But as far as P.08s are concerned, IMVHO, they represent the epitome of the art and science.

John

John, mostly agree, but there are rarer guns. There were almost a 1,000+ less Simson's made :)

Krieghoff's are not only rarer, but have a very nice finish, Simson's were built for the military and met those standards, but IMHO Krieghoff had larger contracts in mind and put extra special attention to making them as nice as possible (which they did win a machingun contract, which was very lucrative for them).

Skeeter, have you started buying some of the less expensive, but better luger books 9read the reviews, some are not worth buying)....

No, I sure havent. As for reading literature, whats some good ones to get and fill in some of the holes in my learning curve. Ive read a good bit on web pages and on this forum. But theres only so much reading one can do on the web without forking out some cash.

In the new collectors area are 'stickies' at the top, several talk about book reviews

In short

older books like Jones and Datig are still worthwhile - good info, just some is aged

Walters book called the Luger Story

Then any of Jan Still's are great

Ed

If you are interested in Mauser Lugers, get Don Hallock and Joop Van de Kant's "The Mauser Parabellum".

It's a year by year inventory of the variations of Mauser manufactured Lugers.

Since this is a Krieghoff thread, check out the book Randall Gibson published "The Krieghoff Parabellum".

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Back on the OP topic, I also wish I completely understood why demand for Krieghoff Lugers is so much higher than the rarer Simson & Co. pistols. Perhaps it is the allure of the Luftwaffe... Even respecting John and Ed's comments above, the Rust Blued Simson Lugers are well made, with excessive attention to detail (with individual parts all inspected and marked, down to the screws).



Marc

Marc, I specifically collect Simson's, so, I think they are great guns :)

I Would Agree With Ed An Add,
 

The pre-war like my 1937 is as close to perfect in every respect. The blueing is beautiful. They were made up to the end of the war 1945 and there perfection did suffer! Then less were made or survived and more scarce. Eric

Skeeter , lugers at random for about 35 or so shipped is well worth it as is any of the books aforementioned

Both Krieghoff and Simson are beautiful guns...I understand that Simson was a jewish factory known for its quality before the nazi regime took over...?

I had an original 1925 or so original manufactured Simson frame a few weeks back. It was a thing of beauty. Commercial quality inside and out.

I'd love to hear about any markings, sn etc on the Simson?

I had it posted here, it is sold now: http://luger.gunboards.com/showthrea...nd-Barrel-Help!

So was DWM.