New member, first Luger
 

Well, I've only spent a little bit of time on this website and already see that I probably made a mistake, but I was at the Elmer Keith Estate auction, which also included a number of guns from Geoffery Sturgess. Just for a lark, I bid on this gun in the after auction remaining items, and just found out this morning that I won:

http://jamesdjulia.com/item/2284-373/

Oh well, I wanted a Luger, and I thought this one looked nice, and I was willing to pay $1700 for it, so I guess I shouldn't regret too much.

Anyway, does anyone have anything interesting to add about this gun from the description? I am completely new to Lugers.

I intend to shoot this.

We have some police Luger specialists aboard, so I hope to hear from them.
To me the price seems a bit high but not too bad, and the finish sounds above average. Once you get it please post photos so that we can compare to their description.
That was some auction, eh?
dju

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have read Elmer Keith since I was a little kid. He is one of my heroes. I just stood there staring at his revolvers. I got a Smith & Wesson 48-3 that he owned, along with a .45 LC repro derringer in the same lot. I thought there were some great deals at that auction. I got to handle the Number 5, the Jim Corbett tiger rifle and just about everything else.

I chose this Luger because I wanted a beautiful Luger with a good bore that I could still shoot, and this one was on the high side of bluing and straw and on the low side of price, so I went for it.

You could have done a heck of a lot worse for $1700! Looks like a good gun...enjoy it.

Also, if someone can be kind enough to educate me on any significance to the fact that the magazine safety has been disabled I am curious.

I'll let those more knowledgeable than I respond on the mag. safety, however suffice it to say that it was, in the end, a failed idea.
Do you recall what the Corbett rifle went for? Now there is an important firearm!
dju

The Corbett rifle brought $230,000, before the 15% or 18% auctioneers fee.

I wrote up a little report here if anyone's interested:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-han...e-auction.html

In case you missed it: http://jamesdjulia.com/item/1038-373/

Welcome to the forum Ben. I must agree with Ron Wood, looks like you you did okay on your first Luger and as he said "enjoy it". You wont have to spend much time browsing through the posts on Luger Forum to see that Ron realy knows his stuff and if he says it's so, believe it. Also enjoyed your writte-up on the auction thanks. :cheers:

Lon

Hi Ben, and welcome to the forum.

You'll probably soon find that Lugers are addictive. It's ok. We have a group of enablers here that can help.

The one thing I would add is that many of us do not shoot collectible Lugers because of the risk of breaking numbered parts. It does happen, and we hear about it far too often on the forums. Breaking a part impacts both the historic and financial value of your investment. Your $1700 Luger would likely not be worth $1100 with a mismatched part even after it was repaired.

You will find a number of Lugers that are already mismatched or have finish issues that drop them from collectible interest. Those are great for shooting, and I particularly like the later Mauser made Lugers for shooting because they have excellent metallurgy.

With that said, enjoy your new Luger. They are remarkable guns.

Marc

Thanks everybody for the welcome. As the grips are unnumbered and the magazine doesn't match, is shooting it still a big risk to value with the metal parts matching?

The mismatched magazine is common for all Lugers, so no big deal there.
I'm not certain if the grips were ever re-numbered if they were applied during the police-overhaul process. But to me, at least, I'd not let un-numbered grips detract from its value greatly. It would be nice to say they matched, but not worth jumping off the ledge over.
dju

Welcome to this Forum of Luger enthusiasts, I totally agree with someof the previous posts, it looks quite a nice gun. Congratulatios your first Luger!

okay, this is from a collector, not much of a shooter, I also know a bit about police lugers.

I hate to say it, but you paid too much, technically its an import marked gun, and they bring way less than a non-import marked gun. That said, I have wondered if Sturgess collection being bought by many folks will change how many collectors think about import marked guns, which could and does happen.

That said, its a very nice police luger and if you paid a bit too much but not incredible amount the important thing is that you like it. I would say most of us have paid too much for something, especially at an auction :)

The mag safety was put on lugers in the mid to late 30's and was very quickly decided that it should not stay. See the FAQ for a full write up.

Ed

Prices realized~~ http://jamesdjulia.com/373_shs/

Nah, you didn't pay too much; you just paid too early. ;) Give it another couple years and your price will likely be in line.

does anyone sees what the marks might be on the left side?

...I am one of those who grew up reading the columns by Elmer Keith... looked forward to it every month when the new issues of gun magazines came out (I subscribed to EVERY gun magazine back in those days). His columns were always humerous and always had a dash or two of exaggerated experiences added in. Kind of like trading stories with a fisherman. :D

Although, not exactly a literary masterpiece, if you want a good example of his writing, you can see if you find of copy of his book titled "Hell, ...I was there!" ...and prepare to be amused when you start reading it.

I hope you don't mind for adding this article~ http://www.gunsandammo.com/gun-cultu...f-elmer-keith/