Wow, obviously came to the right place, thanks Marc! And thanks, Gary.
The number two pencil does fit easily down the barrel, with a good bit of wiggle room to spare. I don't know how often it would have been fired with the 9mm Kurz, but I have no need to fire it myself. All the same, I will try to find a gunsmith to check for damage.
What baffles me about the pistol is its condition. Even if refinished before the war, it is hard to comtemplate (for me) it surviving it and coming home like this, much less making it another 58 years in this condition. The only wear in the finish I find is between the grips toward the triggerguard (as seen in the first pics), the backstrap has little to none. The nickel plate on the body of the magazine is substancially worn, though. The trigger, safety lever, retainer part opposite the magazine release button and the disassembly lever under the breach all display a somewhat "brassy" finish.
The question that comes to mind will sound monotaneous and typical, but I assure you that it is asked for a different reason than when usually posed. The guy I got the luger from is a good friend and in really tough financial shape. While I gave him $1,400 for it and would love to keep it if valued there about, if it is worth much more I would feel compelled to sell it and give him the difference. All values are subjective, but was what I gave him a "reasonable" price?
I didn't mention earlier but I have several (now banned) HK items, so the Mauser/HK/DWM connection interests me. Addition of this piece to the collection has a symmetry.
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