1906 american eagle???
 

As many on this board know,sometimes friends refer other friends to you because of your knowledge and appreciation of the german luger.
Well,Saturday a friend called one of his friends that had a luger passed down from generation to generation. He has no interest in keeping it so he showed it to me.
First,it has the american eagle on the front part of the top frame. It has a grip safety that has no markings under the safety lever.
The front toggle does have the "gelladen" written on the firing extractor. "Germany"stamped on the front of the frame below the serial #.
THIS GUN HAS NEVER BEEN TAKEN DOWN IN 50+YEARS !!!
When I took it down it had more crud in the inner workings than I have seen in a while. BUT,all #'s match.It is a 7.65 cal.and has a barrel longer than the standard 4".
Serial #30563
It has surface pitting on the grip area (didn't clean it) from the usual salt on one's hand but is not that bad. The rest of the gun has good straw with the barrel having light pitting.
I am not 100% sure that this IS what I think.
Any pros out there?
Oh,he will sell me the gun. What is your guess it's worth?
GB

You have correctly identified it as a 1906 American Eagle. All the markings are correct for this model and it is in the correct serial number range. Its value is somewhere around $1000-$1100 and can go up or down from there depending on how much blue wear there is, how "bright" the blue is once it has been cleaned, and how superficial and extensive the surface rust on the grip straps is. It sounds like a fairly decent piece that should clean up nicely. BTW, there should be only one "L" in GELADEN.

A recent 1906 American Eagle.
<a href="http://members.rennlist.com/lugerman/GK1906AEA2.jpg" target="_fullview"><img src="http://members.rennlist.com/lugerman/GK1906AEA2.jpg" width="400" alt="Click for fullsize image" /></a>
<a href="http://members.rennlist.com/lugerman/GK1906AEA1.jpg" target="_fullview"><img src="http://members.rennlist.com/lugerman/GK1906AEA1.jpg" width="400" alt="Click for fullsize image" /></a>

Ron or Thor:What are the distinguishing differences between a regular 1906 AE and a "long frame"version.Is there a price difference as I note on guns america or just slick marketing?

GB

The first 1906 AE Lugers in 7.65mm were made with the â??long frameâ?�. The long frame has the appearance of the older 1900 model with a very rounded contour of the forward part of the frame between the barrel and the trigger guard. The picture that Thor posted is a â??short frameâ?� with the more squared off appearance. The "long frame" designation comes about because the frame and receiver are about 2mm longer than the short frame.

Production of the 1906 American Eagle Luger started around serial number 25100. The first examples had the long frame. A few will be marked â??GESICHERTâ?� on the rear of the frame by the thumb safety. One thought is that these safety marked frames used up a few frames left over from the 1906 Navy Commercial production. However, most early 1906 AE Lugers will have the usual unmarked safety with the bright polished area showing when the gun is on â??safeâ?�.

A guesstimate on the number of 7.65mm 1906 AE Lugers produced is probably around 8000 or so. Of this number, the early long frame examples probably account for less than 1000. So after this long-winded explanation, the answer to your question is that the long frame, being scarcer, will generally command a higher price than a short frame in equal condition. A serial number of 30563 is quite a bit higher than the long frame range recorded to date, so I would think that the AE you are considering is a short frame.

nein11, For what it is worth to you a model 1906 A/E short frame commercial 4 3/4" barrel same as you described went at a Canadian gun auction for 1800.00 cdn.$ a month ago, although it came with holster and two mags ,one mag was period correct and the other was a post war swiss,firearm serial # 37454 and in my opinion pitted badly on one side from incorrect storage.blueing was so so, on top of this a 10% hammer price and our infamous GST of 7%. Would of bid myself if in better condition.

Well,I finally consumated the purchase of the 1906 AE as discussed in this thread. Paid $900.00 and the condition seems better than I had thought.As soon as I am able to do a through cleaning will I know for sure.
Need the magazine wood to be repaired. Has a crack in it.Otherwise,it is in good condition. No serial #'s on the magazine.

Any thoughts as to who I can send to repair wood??

Regards
GB
PS.Will take before and after pics for everybody.

Nein, An unnumbered wood bottom is correct for your 1906AE. I have both vg used original wood bottoms or new GT wood bottoms @$30 + S&H. Also have both available marked "Germany" for $5 more. TH