1938 s/42
 

Hello ,

A friend of mine,now in his 70's owns this Luger and asked my opinion about it since he wants to know his current value.
It is all matching , but the magazine does not fit the period of this gun ? It has no import markings. I would appreciate your opinion on this one and a fair market value. Also,the grips are numbered with a 27 which are not the last 2 digits but the 2nd to the last ?
Thanks in advance

I can't see much detail in the photos, but my first impression is that the wear on the side plate (trigger plate) is considerably different than that of the rest of the Luger.

Check the inside of the side plate to see if the numbers stamped inside the plate track to the first two digits of the serial number. Either 42 or 43.

Sounds like the grips are replacement and a mis-match. A more minor mis-match, but one none the less.

Looks like it's in pretty good condition. Wrong period magazine, of course.

So, I'd value it above a shooter, but below the value of a matching collectible Luger. So, anywhere between $1150 and $1350 or so...

Marc

Thank you Mark for the quick feedback. I will check the plate.

I would say that the same die set that marked the grips also force matched the magazine.

I don't know why people insist on doing this.

Because they think there is someone out there (as dumb as they are) that will believe the changes and pay "big bucks" for an all matching (including the magazine) authentic Luger.

Also, there are spots of finish that cause concern, including, but not limited to, the takedown lever. Almost looks like flat black spray paint?
Considering the skullduggery we have seen, I'd be very cautious on this one. I'd probably drop the value to that of a shooter until I had my hands on it for a good "check up".
dju

Thank you for all the replies. My friend bought this pistol years ago and he was told all matching
He did payed in the 80's a $ 1000 which was probably too much for back then. Now he wants to sell
his guns. He has one more Luger which i will ask for opinions as well as soon I have taken the photos. This one looks like a police issue since it has a bar connected to the side plate and no markings on top of the receiver and toggle.

guw3ch, I wondered how you took the photos above. It looks like you may have used a light box. I'm thinking about buying one, and curious about your technique and nice results.

copy this to your browser....easy to make light box.....



http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Ine...raphy-Lightbox

Yes i did use a lighth box. You can build one as suggested or look at e- bay for one . They are fairly inexpensive .