A good Luger, but without the high value
 

Hello, my dad and I have recently started collecting guns after my late grandfather handed down his Carcano rifle to me. Since then we have bought many other guns. Now its time for us to get a vintage handgun, undoubtedly we have decided on a Luger. I was wondering, what is a good first luger to purchase? What Lugers in good cond. is available for about 650-750 dollar range(9mm), pending on matching numbers? Any other information would be nice also. Thanks

I posted in this section because I prefer a Nazi era Luger made for military use opposed to commercial

Brew,

There are so many choices of the Luger variations that choosing one has to be a personal preference.

MY personal preference would be one of the Mauser made Lugers that were manufactured during the 1930's and early `940's - especially if you intend to shoot it. These were made with the latest metallurgy advancements and are somewhat more durable than their early predecessors...

I suggest you buy some reference books on Lugers ( Those by Jan C. Still are the most current ) and after drooling over all the photos, then make a selection of what representative type you would like to own.

I agree with John that any books you buy will be an important part of your investment! Of course this site is a great start, just read through old posts in each section and you will be pleasantly surprised how much info is here! :)

Be careful, it is easy to spend too much, but on the other hand, a good shooter can be had for $450 - $600, depending on where you live and who's selling. BUT, many times a nice "collector" piece can be had for the price range you are looking at, any collector piece will always be worth more ten years from now than a mismatched piece. If you damage a "numbered" piece on a Luger, the value does drop, so that needs to be taken into consideration, but, I have shot many rounds through my 1914 Artillery and have never broken a part either, so...

Another thing, is there a state(on the east coast) where Lugers are more prodominate. Here in North Carolina, at a big gun show you will be lucky to find 12 Lugers(thats not without looking for more than 4 hours). Any state where Lugers are commonly found?