New Luger Owner
 

My Father-in-law passed away last week, and I inherited his Luger. I was just curious about it. From what I can tell all the parts have matching numbers. I am unsure about the magazine. It has a "P08" marking, an "fxo", and an eagle with a "37" below it. I was also curious about storage. Is there anything in particular I should do to preserve the firing pin or anything else?

Thanks!

I would expect to to find an import marking. It has characteristics of a russian capture, X on the right, typical russian replacement grips.

Is it matching and are any parts re-written or stamped over?

The take down lever looks like it is not a 09?

But overall a very nice looking WW2 luger, either it missed being 'dip-blued' or it was removed (supposedly that is not hard to do)

Your Luger is a 42 code(Mauser) dated 1939. It is a Russian capture piece that went through an armory where it received a dip blue and new grips(and replaced parts if necessary). The "x" on the frame is an indicator of previous Russian capture/arsenal rebuild. The magazine is a Mauser mag but it is not proper for 1939. It looks like there may be an importers mark stamped on underside of barrel.

The takedown lever and the extractor appear to have had the numbers peened out but everything else looks pretty good. Most of these you see didn't fare so well and have been force matched with electro penciled numbers. I would disassemble it, clean it up and re-oil. You can release the firing pin gently by pulling slightly back on the toggle and then press the trigger while at the same time letting the toggle back down. If you are going to shoot it I would find a MecGar magazine and put the other one away. That mag can be worth up to a couple hundred bucks depending on overall condition.

the take down lever appears to be scratched or possibly stamped over??. it is difficult to read but does not appear to be "09". the rest of the parts have either the full "6209" or "09". is it possible to find more information about the gun from the serial?

Thank you for you help!!

better pic of the take down lever and underside of barrel. is the scuff looking area what you are referring to as an import mark?

No other info available with serial number 6209y other than an estimated month of manufacture. I would guess end of 1939. Someone else here may be able to give you a better answer on this.

That is what I thought it might be but from the pic can't tell for sure.

the inside of the barrel appears to be in excellent condition. what would your best guess be for the approximate value of this gun?

$750, give or take $100 depending on "stuff".
dju

These Russian Capture Lugers sold recently for around $700. This one is in particularly nice condition, so may be worth $100 or $150 more than that. (I was typing as David posted above - our estimates are roughly the same)...

If someone removed the import mark, I believe that is a violation of the ATF regulations and law. Take a good look over all the metal to see if there is an import stamp elsewhere. Use care when removing the grips.

It would be odd for a military marked take down lever to be defaced on the bottom where your lever is. It might have been off a commercial Luger (which has it's numbers in that location).

thanks for all the info guys! i'm a history buff and have absolutely no intentions of ever letting this go.

Definitely a Russian dip re-blue.
Not the original sideplate - it has been ground down, poorly.
The mag is nice.

Could that be an importer stamp under the barrel where it is scratched off?

I wouldn't worry about preserving it - just shoot it & clean it like any other gun.

If it shoots good, I bet you could get $900 for it on gunbroker.

- Geo

Welcome to the forum, nice piece.

Have fun shooting it and give us a range report.

Hi SnakeEyes, looks like a nice shooter! I will agree with SteveM on the production date. I believe December 1939 is a good estimate. :)

Please note that the sideplate has also been scrubbed and renumbered.

Your Luger was made by MAUSER in 1939. It was captured by the Red Army (cross) and like the most of the aptured weapons was refurbished all over. I think the magazine is wrong for that Luger.
I would carefully check the barrel first and after changing the magazine I would use it as a nice shooter at the range.

Sergio,

Why change the magazine?

If I were you I would be sorry to use that magazine, I'm sure you can find a newer one (MecGar) and keep the original one.

The bases on those FXO magazines can be somewhat fragile.

I knew the wood base mags are fragile but I didn't know the plastic ones are too.
Thanks