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Dwight Gruber · 02-17-2002, 03:05 AM

As a buyer of low-priced Lugers, I am beset, as are many of us, it seems, by the question, "what is this gun actually worth?" I have before me an example which may prove instructive, and I am curioius about everyone's reactions.

The gun is a DWM 1920 Commercial, .30 caliber 3 3/4" barrel, all matching. It has been reblued, looks like the grips are original. Its not really a shooter, because the chamber is worn in such a way that it allows the brass to 'belly out' a little bit on one side, which is probably unsafe in addition to not extracting properly. The magazine catch is extremely worn (looks like it may have been filed a bit), and lets the magazine slip a bit, not letting shells feed properly.

I suppose the question is, what level of armory work to restore functionality increases the value of such a piece (if any does), and what decreases it?

Does replacing a faulty part, the magazine button (not numbered, in this version) count against its value?

What about replacing a faulty barrel? Does relining an existing barrel retain more value than replacement?

Or, does such a gun retain the most value by staying unchanged, a wall-hanger?

This doesn't, of course, address the issue that any such work is likely to cost more than the gun is actually "worth", making this kind of effort simply a labor of love.

02-17-2002, 03:05 AM	#1
Dwight Gruber User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,908 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,330 Times in 435 Posts	Work and Valuation As a buyer of low-priced Lugers, I am beset, as are many of us, it seems, by the question, "what is this gun actually worth?" I have before me an example which may prove instructive, and I am curioius about everyone's reactions. The gun is a DWM 1920 Commercial, .30 caliber 3 3/4" barrel, all matching. It has been reblued, looks like the grips are original. Its not really a shooter, because the chamber is worn in such a way that it allows the brass to 'belly out' a little bit on one side, which is probably unsafe in addition to not extracting properly. The magazine catch is extremely worn (looks like it may have been filed a bit), and lets the magazine slip a bit, not letting shells feed properly. I suppose the question is, what level of armory work to restore functionality increases the value of such a piece (if any does), and what decreases it? Does replacing a faulty part, the magazine button (not numbered, in this version) count against its value? What about replacing a faulty barrel? Does relining an existing barrel retain more value than replacement? Or, does such a gun retain the most value by staying unchanged, a wall-hanger? This doesn't, of course, address the issue that any such work is likely to cost more than the gun is actually "worth", making this kind of effort simply a labor of love.