Here's some good non-PC Luger talk for ya...
 

The March '67 issue of Guns & Ammo had a big Luger spread written by Mason Williams. In it he mentions the Luger's fine machining, dust and load sensitivity, and inconsistent trigger pull.

Here's a paragraph to ponder in the current social climate, the guy would be run out of town today -

Yep. Doesn't age well. The comment, not the gun.

:-)

G2

Hi!!

Today they would call that "Fake News"!!

Respectfully,

Sieger

Has there ever been anything "politically correct" about our Lugers?

Consider the origin (between Borschardt and Luger working for DWM); the constant negative depiction in media ("evil guns")... The numerous variations and risks of counterfeited markings...

Even many that would consider collecting them consider it risky because so much knowledge is needed...

In fact, I wish we could break through that barrier better for the average collector. This forum is one of the most constructive things I've seen toward doing that.

The "evil gun" taboo is one reason that I want to focus my collecting on commercial guns and Imperial guns. I also have a greater affinity and interest for WW1 and before in general, but the "eevul Nahtzee gun" trope is also one that I would rather avoid.

The average person wouldn't know a 1900 Luger from the last Mauser Parabellum. If they connect Nazis with Lugers it won't matter when it was made; it will be a Nazi gun in their minds.

Apart from the fact that other guns could much better be identified as the real "Nazi pistol" like for instance the P38.

The media abuse of Lugers comes down to the basic argument of the tool versus what people do with the tool.

The Germans have always made really good precision tools. Yet, people don't associate Zeiss optics with evil, or Siemens electrical or communication products with evil.

Most people are completely unaware that the Swiss made what may be even higher precision Lugers; nor do they associate Lugers with the Swiss.

Yet, possibly more than any other firearm, the Luger is labeled by media as "evil" itself. The truth is that it's all emotional. Really clever producers, writers and actors have constantly pushed their audience's emotional buttons for 100 years.

The truth of the Luger is always intriguing. The truth of it's history is even more so.

The fact that the name includes "Luger" doesn't seem to stop the distribution and use of the most popular handgun round in the world.

I agree with your comment on the riskiness of collecting them, and along with the knowledge required and the cost, the plethora of dealers willing to enhance and outright lie about guns is a huge discouragement to those who would like to collect what I consider the pinnacle of early 20th century firearms manufacturing.

That's why forums like this with knowledgeable, forthright and friendly collectors are so needed to give people reason to believe that they still have a chance to acquire original, collectible guns that weren't fabricated from a parts bin in some shyster's back room.

I am always fascinated by the attention WW2 Mauser Lugers command. As Ron Wood notes, they are reproductions :-) The same thing applies to the Walther PP versus the Sauer 38H and the Mauser HSC. The PP is certainly not a standout in function or quality over the other 2. But Nazi/SS affiliations, real or imagined, run the Walther price up. And my last controversial observation: the Death's Head 1918 Luger. A contingent wants this to be the original SS pistol. I feel that is a needless smear on the Death Head legacy. I would rather own a fake than an SS pistol, which saves me a lot of money.

The iconic "Evil gun" Luger image began with the concept of the "Evil Hun" of WW2.
Empirical Germany gets no pass in the bad guy department.
Certainly no death camps, but they cast a dark cloud that created a lot of suffering the world could have done without.
Some old movies of the period show gangsters and other miscreants wielding Lugers.
My grandfathers were both WW1 vets who's lives were disrupted by having to serve as were most of the guys of that age where I grew up.
My father and his cohort were WW2 vets. There were a number of local Luger souvenirs I saw and handled as a kid. Still a couple around.
Bought my 1st in 1962 or thereabouts.
My grandfather took a dim view of my interest is such things.

My grandfather was a Swedish machinist that immigrated to the USA when he was 8 years old.

During both wars, he worked as a machinist making commercial sewing machines for Union Special in Chicago. He worked there through both wars and the entire depression, and must have been quite skilled.

His son, my Father, served in the Navy very early in WW-II - and had no interest in firearms whatsoever.

So... here I am collecting Lugers.