Luger Collection Question
 

I have a small collection of Lugers that I'm trying to help an elderly neighbor value and sell. These belonged to her husband who collected guns in general, and military pieces specifically. I'm not a Luger guy myself so I'm looking for some experts here to help me to put a value on these. Anything you can tell me as well about anything special in the lot based on proof marks or something else you see would be greatly appreciated. Here's what I have been able to determine so far:

#1 1913 DWM - All numbers match except mag
#2 1937 S/42 - All numbers match except mag
#3 1939 S/42 - All numbers match except mag
#4 byf 1942 - All numbers match except mag
#5 Franken luger put together as a shooter from what I can see. Has a longer barrel than the others, is not 9mm like the others, and other than the DWM marked slide I can find no markings on it anywhere. Looks like it was "cleaned" at some point with steel wool decades ago and any other markings it might have had are gone.

I also have 4 holsters and approx. 10 mags, but none of them match the pistols by SN.

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Lots of pics available at the photo album linked below.

I did not go to the link, I am at work, so don't have time.

The main thing is if anything has been refinished.

I can say, that i paid $5,000 for 5 lugers several years ago, resold four and had one to to keep and made a profit. two were shooters for sure, two were collectables for sure and one was 2 matching mags, but had been 'restored'.

A professional opinion is best, but $600 is a low shooter price (non collectable) and up - I would expect if all original, that the value of each (not counting the shooter long barrel) is $1500-$2200 each RETAIL. If original, all matching as expected, and don't assume you'll get high end retail for everything :)

Ed

Thanks for the info Edward. Is it safe to assume those values you mentioned are for the pistols only, not the pistols with the holsters?

Everything depends on how you are selling.... when buying a collection, I expect the holsters are included. helps make it worth my while in case I screwed up on one of the guns :)

other wise, holsters, if not messed with (cut down on the inside, etc) are worth $100 for crappy, to $350+ for nice ones. Several of these look very nice. One had an issue, I don't remember which one, after I looked at the photos. I looked, bottom right is a Portuguese, these are worth less, but it has the cleaning rod, so around $200 all together, the others, I would need to see an inside to ensure they are not cut down (I have had several, VERY nice ones, but their value was in looks and not collectablity)

Same with the lugers, 2 looked much nicer than the other two - not bad, but condition is everything in collecting (after originality).

Ed

Ed pretty much hit it on the nose. Guns alone, figure about $1500 each, a bit more for the 1942, and a bit less for the WW1. Maybe $900 for the shooter, which just MAY have original Bakelite grips, and 6" barrels make great shooters). Holsters averaging $250 each, magazines from $100-$200 for originals, $25 for repros.
Mind you these are all wild guesses and could change dramatically once the guns are in hand and details come to light.
And deduct a bit for faster sale or to a seasoned collector, deduct a whole lot if you take them to a gun store for sale, and pretty much plan to give them away to a pawnbroker. Add a bit to my figures if you wish to hold out for top dollar or for sale to the general public.
Hope this helps.
dju

Thanks Ed and Dave. Good info. Sounds like if i want to buy one and keep it for myself the most economical way to get into it would be the 1913 then? Obviously the shooter would be cheaper, but it's not a 9mm either so in the long run if i was going to shoot it it might wind up being expensive i guess for the ammo.

I missed that the shooter was a non-9mm, so that may hurt it's value and marketability a bit too. But there are guys right here that love to shoot the .30 Luger too, so all is not hopeless.

And if I may suggest it, this forum is a great place to buy and sell. It costs nothing and you deal with a lot more honest and educated group here.

If you want to give it a try here, post each one individually in this column for discussion,lots of photos, then once you get a better idea of value open a for sale thread below.

Good luck!
dju

I'll definitely be doing that dju…thanks.

pretty sure the 1913 is during the transitional phase (tag says that) which means it does not have a stock lug. which, personally I like :)

holsters can surprise you if it might be rare. best to take more photos of holsters from many sides and markings so you can get better ideas of value.

OK..here we go..I guess I'll start with this one. This is the S/42 dated 1939. Give me your thoughts. Put some pics of the 1940 Holster as well as I'm assuming that would be the best holster to go with this pistol.

Lot of bluing loss on the grip straps but overall very good. I'll throw out, as a possible starting point, the figure of $1750 for the gun, holster with tool, and one aluminum base WW2 magazine. That is a ballpark figure and I hope others chime in here. It is a starting point. And once listed you may get offers on either the gun or holster, so be flexible.
How does that compare to what you were thinking?
dju

I didn't know what to think honestly. It's in line with what I was hoping which was ~$1500 for the pistol and $200-250 for the holster. Thanks for the info, and I hope to get some other opinions as well. I'll try to get the second one posted up tomorrow.

Thanks.

S42 1939 Mausers are not that common on the market. Is there a difference in size on the first two E/63 on the receiver? if so this makes it one of Franks hard to find group. With holster my guess is closer to $1900. Again hard to judge without it being in hand. Good luck. Bill

Hard to say 100% Bill but I think they are different. The one on the left looks a little bigger and possibly slightly harder struck. Here's a pic I had on that. What's the significance of that?

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ps3ff16411.jpg

Here's the next one I have some pictures of. This is the 1937 S/42. Pics aren't great. Breaking it down to the firing pin, all numbers match as they should, including the grips. Just no matching mag.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ps331814ab.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ps6998b088.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...psf493b494.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ps5ce9fadc.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...psa60d8dcb.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ps15875c01.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ps3d55d38d.jpg

I'm going to hold on my original estimate of $1500 on this one, maybe a bit less. If it were mine $1400 cash would buy the gun and one alum. base magazine.
dju

Thanks dju.

Frank confirmed that the 1939 is one on his difficult to find list, so it has that going for it I guess. Here are a few pics of the 1942…tons of pics at the link. This one is in really great shape, all numbers match with the exception of the mag, and I guess the grips. Grips look of the right age, but I can't find any numbers stamped on them at all.

Any thoughts on the 42?