Need assistance with very first Luger purchase
 

I wasn't looking to buy a vintage gun, but my neighbor is selling his 1937 German Luger and asked if I was interested. I know NOTHING about German Lugers except they're German, and they're old...so I was really looking for some advice from you experienced folks.


Here are some photos I took of the pistol. I couldn't get a good shot down the barrel, but the rifling looked sharp from what I could tell. All numbers match EXCEPT the magazine.


He's asking $2,000 for it.




https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/80...r/850/5apx.jpg



https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/78...r/850/kclm.jpg



https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/80...r/837/cxxd.jpg



https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/78...r/849/rz5u.jpg



https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/80.../841/9dyg8.jpg



https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/80...r/840/p2xq.jpg



https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/80.../843/eukbw.jpg



https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/80...r/822/9u1m.jpg





Any assistance is greatly appreciated.


~

Nice. Price is about right, but collect other opinions. The Luger Bug is poised and waiting to bite!

I'm seeing a late '37 Luger with some pitting issues. Otherwise about average condition, but really nothing special. Quite honestly, I'd be hard pressed to pay a dime over $1400 for that gun. Not that they don't occasionally sell for his asking price.
I think it is significantly overpriced.
But my wife tells me I'm a cheap bas***d.
dju

I would make an offer, but unfortunately he has some guy who is a self-proclaimed expert on WWII weapons telling him the gun would sell for $4K in a gun store because the 1937's are "pre-WWII" (blah, blah, blah).

I was gonna buy it if it was a smokin deal (or even a fair price that could turn a profit down the road), but now I'm gonna pass.

Thanks for the replies.

Pretty nice, but not 2 grand nice. I'd not pay more than $1500 for it. 2k would be appropriate if it were pristine and had a matching magazine.

Your neighbor's "expert" friend is an idiot.

I agree that this is a $1,400 gun. Show your neighbor this thread. People here DO know what they are talking about. If your friend's "Expert" is so sure it is a $4,000 gun, I'm sure he would not have a problem shelling out $3,500 for it. Ask him.

Yes, this "expert", whether real or conveniently imagined, should be thrilled to buy a $4000 gun for only $3000. He can flip it and make a cool $1k!
FYI, here is the title of a thread from our "for sale" column. It regards a gun of approx. similar attributes that I recently picked up. "1939 Code 42 Final Price Reduction $1050 shipped"
I'd make the seller an honest offer, and then forget about it.
dju

Flight Medic,
Your avatar is inappropriate.

But it's Johnny Cash.

The fact that it is Johnny Cash is not what prompted my comment, as I am sure you are aware.

Please read the terms of service.

I replaced it. The user can change it to something more appropriate for a forum that is rated "G", or have no avatar at all (or be banned).

I wouldn't pay more than $1000 unless it had matching mag and holster.
It's probably worth $1200

Self proclaimed experts can be found on any discipline "Luger pistols" included of course, and all over the world. From the photos it looks like an honest WWII but the money asked for it looks slightly ridiculous.
IMHO

Sergio

This so-called expert (a WWII historian whom apparently the seller thinks walks on water) has him convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is GIVING this weapon away at $2000. Expert claims a matching magazine "devalues" the gun because when the Germans were disarmed at the end of WWII the pistols and magazines were put into separate piles...and very few pistols used in the war are going to have matching mags.

So, according to him, a matching magazine gun is worth LESS than one with a mismatched mag!!

However, the seller did agree to trade me the Luger for my Glock 17 Gen-III 9mm, my Sig Sauer P220 45 ACP (both less than 6-months old), 10 boxes of Blazer brass FMJ 9mm ammo and $300 cash. I paid $1239 (before tax) for the two guns. If I deduct 30% for "used" status it brings the value to about $867. With ammo and cash I would essentially be paying about $1250 for the Luger.

What do you guys think?? Is this a better weapon than a Glock or a Sig or long-term value...or is the pitting always going to be a problem for collectors?

Better photos HERE.


P.S. Sorry about the avatar...I would not have guessed a gun forum to be "G" rated (its the same avatar I use on every other gun forum I belong to with NO issues). Apparently you Luger-folk are wired a bit tighter!!


~

A matching magazine would add about $400 to the value of that luger. Is the "expert" a used car salesman too?

Hey, Ronnie...instead of flexing your "Moderator Muscle" how about giving me an opinion on the weapon.

The seller is an artist. His gallery is next to the WWII museum that the "expert" owns. Its filled with WWII and Nazi paraphernalia. Apparently he's also co-authored a book on Nazi Germany..but whatever.

Well, he might be playing the "Tax Extempt" game with his museum, but this expert knows nothing about the dynamics of how weapons were surrendered at the end of WW2.

Yes, weapons surrendered in bulk may have been dumped into piles with their magazines removed but anything a GI personally captured and declared went home in exactly the condition he found it in. If some rear area officer or policeman walked up to that GI in a small hamlet and turned over his gun, chances were good that it was "as issued". That means pistol, holster and two matching mags in many cases. That's why what we refer to as "Complete Rigs" are a reality, albeit rare. Do you think any GI who captured a prize would turn it over to be dumped into a pile with its magazines in another? Many, many pistols came home with NO declaration to the military authorities, not just at the end of the war but for years afterwards as the US occupied Germany and had the time and inclination to seek out and discover more souvenirs to send home.

I would also appreciate a more polite approach to fellow members, in particular Ron Wood, who has forgotten more Luger lore than I will ever know and who gives freely of his time and expertise in support of all the members of this site. You are getting information and valuations here for free that an established firm would charge you hundreds of dollars for. Meeting our standards of decorum is really not that much of a hardship.

Well said Doug. And I couldn't agree more. Bill

FYI, I also have a 1937 S/42 (which is Mauser BTW) and paid $850 for it (mismatched mag). About the same general condition as your sellers Luger. Glocks are not worth buying, and even if you consider that the total value of your items is $1250, that's still way too much, IMO. :)

That will endear you to Harry, Lou, and Albert...The other members here, not so much... :D