Mismatched trigger value
 

How much would a mismatched trigger affect the value of an otherwise perfectly good DWM Imperial 1915 Luger in 95% condition, with all other parts matching including the grips, and a correct non-matching # magazine?

I am looking a DWM 1915 with the correct matching number trigger but with an Erfurt proof on it. Person who owns it is supposedly the grandson of the guy who brought it back from WWI. He claims it has been in safe for over 50 years and it does have that old grease smell to it.

- Geo

Geo..One part incorrect is a head scratcher. You have to wonder how it got that way. Are you certain? Same number font? Only thing makes it hinky is an Erfurt stamp?

If I were buying I would consider it a horrible mismatch, hardly to be tolerated and scream financial ruin. Of course you might hear the same thing when you go to sell...On an otherwise decent DWM it wouldn't really bother me all that much IF it doesn't affect firing.

Is it definitely an Erfurt proof, or a Crown/RC rework stamp? There were very few rework stamps in DWM, but some did exist.

Is there any documentation of the bring-back. If not, believe the gun not the story.

If buying, treat it as a mismatch if it didn't leave the factory that way.

You'll have to deal with that if and when it is ever sold again.

Marc

I have a similar situation with my 1917 DWM, among other issues. It started life as an LP.08, has the 1920 property stamp, a 4" bbl. numbered to match in a different font, and was refinished somewhere along the line. Anyway, it also sports a matching number Erfurt proofed take-down lever. Could the take-down lever have been installed as some part of a rework?

I expect that the depot that did the reworks (perhaps a field armory? perhaps Simson?) went by the philosophy that "parts is parts"...

The last thing they must have considered was how collectors like us would feel 90 or 100 years later.

The most important thing would have been fit and proper operation, followed likely by keeping the costs of refurbishment down.

It's possible that the rework facility had access to unnumbered parts to use in the rework. There were literally train cars full of inventoried parts moved from Berlin to Oberndorf by August Weiss when the DWM factory moved to Mauser. As parts that had not been used on finished guns, there would have been no reason to number them. After installation on a rework, with hand fitting, there would have been every reason to number them.

So, I guess this thread comes back to valuation. As Luger collectors, the traditional distinction has been made between the way a Luger left the DWM, Erfurt, Mauser, Krieghoff, Bern or possibly another factory as a new gun (vickers?), and the way we find them.

I'm told that rework and rebuild is normal on Swiss Lugers, and that this doesn't impact the financial value.

But we seem to treat the others differently, with extreme prejudice for things like import marks.

Ultimately, the financial value is what the next buyer will give for it. The historic value is, of course, something else again.

Marc

The higher the overall condition, the more I want it to be a matching gun. If it's 70%, or lower, non-matching trigger is Ok, what do I expect... But this one is a 95%, that trigger would bother me if it's mine.... Just an opinion.

You never said what the price was. That would determine , for me, whether to purchase it or not. If the price is reasonable offer 15-20 % less for the mismatch. Who knows maybe you can find a correct trigger. Make sure the trigger is really a mismatch. Good luck. Bill

A mismatched trigger would bother me, not as much as a toggle or sideplates.

Being same number but Erfurt stamp gives only a couple of possibilities to me;
a lucky find by a previous owner
in the unit a same matching number was swapped accidentally
a rework using a blank but accepted Erfurt part or an Erfurt part that was numbered that way already...

Jerry - it is indeed a head scratcher - How do you lose a trigger? Definitely all matching inside & out - just the trigger is wrong.

Marc - The stamp is definitely a Crown over gothic "U", in the same place as the Erfurt stamp on my other guns (upper right side of trigger).

I paid $1200, it's really a 93-94% gun. I could probably keep it for $900-$1000, but I'm not sure I want the headache - I'm trying to collect nice complete guns and it doesn't fit my collection.

I just noticed the trigger is not even original condition - it's been sanded and restrawed. It has a little fire blue on a sharp edge (probably got overheated) and the grinding lines are wrong direction from every other one I have.

Bore is shiny and sharp, some pits in grooves only. I will put up pics tomorrow. Would anyone want it for $1000?

- Geo

Here are some pictures of the gun and a closeup of the stamp I'm talking about. They aren't great pics but should work. Unless I can justify keeping it for $1000, it goes back on Monday.

What's weird is this is the second gun I've bought in the last month that had just ONE mismatched Erfurt part on a DWM Luger, and with the correct serial number on it.

- Geo

I have a very nice 1913 DWM with the same Crown M on the sear bar. I have always assumed it was a correct replacement part and has never bothered me. I feel that we collectors ,especially now, demand to much from wartime weapons. Your Crown M trigger would not bother me. Especially for $1000. You are the only one who can make this decision. Bill

I've read all the posts, all in all I agree with Bill, moreover I think that for what I can see from your photos you've got quite a nice gun.
It's true that perhaps we tend to demand too much from wartime weapons.

The gun volume is fixed. The only variable is the number of collectors.

I am always amazed by the volume and high price of shotguns and revolvers on the auction market. Interesting enough, when I was a the preview, I noticed there are lots of people circling around those American made C&R shotguns (Winchester? I don't know). Looks like the supply and demand still balance. Relatively fewer people are looking at European C&Rs (well, I did not stay there long, but that's the case in that hour).

===

[Edit] Just checked the ad, a little bit correction -- probably not shotgun, I guess that's lever rifle.