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How about a Luger love story? (another long, possibly OT, post)

I don't actually own a Luger, but I take care of the one in (I hope this works!) the accompanying photo, taken a coupla decades ago. Here's the story:


I was dating a young lady, and I realized it must be getting serious since she didn't mind my obsession with guns of every kind -- she'd grown up on an Iowa farm, and firearms were like any other useful tool. I figgered it was time to introduce her to my family, and one of the first was a deer-hunting relative in Upstate New York. Around Thanksgiving, we stopped by and of course talk turned to guns, and we decided to retire to the back 40 for some target practice.


Now, my relative had been hunting deer thereabouts since the end of WWII -- he had built a Springfield into a nice mannlicher-stocked carbine, and he always carried a Luger he's gotten from a returning vet -- in case a coup de grace was needed. We took out both of those, and an assortment of other guns.


My girlfriend didn't have much use for guns that didn't have a deer or a rabbit in the sights, but when she saw the Luger, she broke out in the biggest grin. I don't think she shot anything else that afternoon; I don't think anyone else got to shoot it, either.


Of course, I knew I had to get her that gun.


Now, my relative (I'd rather keep him anonymous) liked that Luger -- it was his deer dispatcher -- and had no intention of selling it. It took most of a fifth of Glenlivet, plus $175 and MY only Luger, a battered regimental-marked DWM, to get it out of his hands and into the pretty box under the tree that Christmas.


Of course, I married her, and the Luger is my, well, stepdaughter? My wife shoots it once or twice a year, I sneak it out a few more times, but I'm ALWAYS in charge of cleaning it. She -- the Luger, that is -- is a very late (735-proofed) 1941 BYF, all matching numbers, about 85-90% original finish. When she arrived she wore custom oversize uncheckered grips. As noted above, I bought the gorgeous restored grips from Hugh, but my wife feels (and I tend to agree) the oversize grips make for a nicer shooter. We've probably put 3,000 rounds through her in the last 20 years. And I can't ever divorce my wife now.


Hope this wasn't too off-topic for you guys, and thanks for being there.


Tony K.




http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?...999&p=43943311