Luger Books
 

If anyone is interested there are a couple of Luger Books for sale at Ebay. One is Harry Jone's Luger Variations, this one has a lot of pictures and makes a good reference, I really don't know the value on it. The other is Fred Datig's The Luger Pistol, it is a good reference and has a lot of data on the Luger, the last time I checked it was going for about $65.

Re: Luger Books (Update)
 

Jones' Luger Variations is available on the net for prices rangings from $42.40 to $144.94. This should give you and idea of what to bid if you are so inclined.

Re: Luger Books (Update)
 

Both of these books are neat if you are a book collector! They are both somewhat old by now so bear that in mind.

There are at least two editions of each. FWIW

Re: Luger Books (Update)
 

I agree with David with the usefulness of these two books. I have them just because they were the works of pioneers in Luger research.

Re: Luger Books (Update)
 

I agree that they are somewhat dated, Jones is dated 1959 and Datig 1955. They are the pioneers of Luger documentation and used what was available at the time. Jones's book has more than a hundred good photos of Lugers that I have found to be very useful. Datig has described the history of the Luger in great detail and has given a lot of information on dates of manufacture, etc. This info may be out of date but it still is a great reference tool for the beginning collector. With all of the recent attempts at fakery I think that the old references are going to be the ones to look at. No, I am not the one trying to sell the books at Ebay, I cherish my library and the knowledge it has provided me.

Re: Luger Books (Update)
 

I've had both books for a while (Datig forever, Jones recently). I think the newer books are good, but the tried and true, those two, Kenyon and I've enjoyed Walters.


I haven't read Stills yet, mainly because I don't have any collector pieces that specifically fill those categories, but I guess I will, so will probably buy one or two.


I think that a ref library is very important and I refer to them a lot, enough to cause my wife to roll her eyes I am sure!


Ed

Re: Luger Books (Update)
 

Jan C. Stills books pretty much cover all the military Lugers. They are great books and worth the price just for the reference pictures.

Fellow Bookworms, Enlighten Me!
 

I agree with all my fellow bookworms! I make an earnest effort to acquire just about every book on Lugers I can find; who knows what nugget of information might be there?


In that spirit the most recent book I got is the one on Dutch Lugers; I have never seen one (the Dutch Luger that is) except in pictures.


Say; can anyone help me: Datig's identification system;


for example on page 153 (2nd ed.) "... the Model 1924 or the 1900/06. the 06/29 has ..." Page 249 "the Model 1904/20." and pages 200 to 207.


I can understand the base year (before the slash) but the second year does not always make sense becuase of changes in the intervening period.


Boy would I ever feel smart if I could say, "Well the toggle is like a 1900/08-34/44 but ..." you get the idea.


David J.

Re: Fellow Bookworms, Enlighten Me!
 

David, I think he was referring to the old mainspring models in the 1900/06 entry then I think he may have been hitting the sauce a little too heavy on the others as they do contridict with the date overlap. If you figure it out let me know, that has puzzled me also for some time.

Re: Luger Books-Another source
 

The pickings are slim at this point in time but anyone interested might want to keep an eye on www.powells.com. They are a very large bookstore here in Portland, Oregon and often get books on the Luger in stock, both new and used. One bit of advise is to go to their advanced search and type Luger in the title box. Just a search for Luger in the initial box that you see digs up a lot of books with Luger as the author.

Re: Fellow Bookworms, Enlighten Me!
 

Thanks for replying Herb! I wish I did understand it all; just how learned I would sound tossing around all those numbers and slashes!

Last night I could not sleep so I got up about 2 AM and was really able to spend some time with Imperial Lugers; much easier to understand although it will be some time (as in never) before I try to commit all those markings to memory! However the basic idea is understandable.

I like books too; and partly becuase of that I have a Datig 1st ed and a 2nd.


Later;

David J.