Luger Inheirited part 2
 

My wife has inheirited a Military Luger that is now part of an estate to be divided. You can see quite a few pictures of it at this link. Xavier's Luger

Unfortunately, more pictures will be difficult to take at this time, as the pistol is out of our hands at the moment. My wife will likely receive this pistol in division of the estate at the expense of other valuable assets. What I need to know is what is this pistol's fair market value. A range is OK. If you are an experienced appraiser, please state your credentials, as this thread may be used to clarify things. Because a hands on apparaisal is so valuable, I would also like to know of any reputable Luger appraiser in the Little Rock, Arkansas or Monroe, Louisiana area.

Many thanks for any help given.

Original thread on this Luger

I doubt anyone will want to "appraise" a Luger without physically seeing it. A wide range for an Imperial would be shooter grade $350-$550, and a nice one $700-$1200.

Can be more, any holster, tools etc with it?

The M on the grips can detract to most collectors.

If you take it to a gunshop, they will pull out a blue book and probably tell you $400-$800, but the only way to get a good appraisal is to send it to a well known collector / appraiser or find one in the area.

Ed

Ed, I agree with your analysis of this Luger. Frankly, it does not appear from the photo's to be in a collector status. Pretty rough shape from the looks of it. I agree with your opinion about anyone wanting to appraise it without seeing it in person.I also do not believe an appraisal that costs any money would be a wise idea. It is unit marked and that has some appeal but the grips cancel that out for me.

From what I can see I would appraise this pistol no higher than $700.00 and I have no credentials whatsoever. Jerry Burney

Jerry,
I would say your estimate is pretty close. The Kurassier marking and the 1910 date are both somewhat difficult to find so this adds some premium to the gun, but the overall condition does detract. It is definately a cut above shooter grade but the value to the familiy because of its history probably outweighs the market value.

Do a search for "peppers"... and when you find a post by Johnny H. Peppers... he lives in Calion, Arkansas and should know someone who can assist you...if he can't himself.

Send him a private message and he will be notified by email that you did...you can mention my name when you send him the message... I am sure he will be glad to assist.

This pistol is rather in rare in the unit mark to a Kurissaier unit. You mention Little Rock, perhaps you could have a reputable collector evaluate the pistol for you in Tulsa. The Tulsa show is in October.

Xavier, you’re probably blowing smoke up your backside if you really think those M carvings are pre-capture. Those defiling letters fit into the same crude style of all the other bring-backs I’ve seen that a vet carved his initial on. Also, notice that the carving on the left grip has obviously less patina and crud in it than the rest of the grip. Looks like some American chopped it after the pistol had seen 7-8 years of hard use. It also wasn’t uncommon for captured P.08s to have a string of owners (poker games, debts, stealing, trades, etc.) before a final owner. To be blunt, those M carvings make that pistol look like hell. So if I were you, I’d send those grips to Hugh to be re-checkered, he might be able to machine out the M’s. (No collector value now anyway to start.) With cool looking re-checkered grips, and a massive cleaning, you also might be able to fake out non-collectors into thinking it’s a collector’s piece. I used to have the stock for a G33/40 that had the same style of M carved into the bolt handle cut-out that your Luger has on its grips. Made me wonder for a sec.

I've looked at so many Lugers for sale in the Nashville, Tennessee area recently that I feel like I ought to be an appraiser (I'm not). Unfortunately, these other guys have already forgotten more than I'll ever know about Lugers. However, one thing that did finally sink in from all my searching is that if the gun functions, has all matching numbers, and no importers marks it will bring a minimum of $600 in the Nashville area regardless of finish. You have to really luck up here to pay less than that for one meeting the criteria above.
-Robert W. Simms