[John Sabato]

Welcome to the Lugerforum.

This gun is pretty common and not a rare specimen. If a standard #2 pencil will fit into the bore, then the gun is 9mm. If it doesn't fit, it is .30 caliber and that would indicated that the gun barrel at the very least has been replaced after the war (World War 1, not 2) and is made up of parts, and not as it left the manufacturing process at Erfurt. Erfurt was a German military arsenal that never produced any .30 or 7.65mm Luger pistols, or any commercial pistols. The original manufacturer of the Luger was DWM, and they were the only one to ever produce commercial pistols in 7.65 caliber until the Mauser company made a new batch in the 1970's.

CAREFULLY remove the grips and soak the gun in PBlaster penetrating oil for a few days and all the parts will slowly begin to move with some exercise. This should also stop the active rust process.

BTW, there was no such thing as a ZIP lock bag 50 years ago, or for that matter, I don't think they even had polyethelene bags back then... so it probably spent some of its storage time in some other place or wrapped in something that attracted moisture.

Parts guns are classified here on the forum as "shooters" because they have little or no collector value since factory original parts have been replaced.

In it's current condition with rust present all over the gun, I would rate it's value at less than $500.00 and possibly lower.

I doubt you will find a book that will quote you even a passing value for a gun covered in pits and rust.

This forum has been in existence for over 10 years with thousands of members world-wide who are Luger enthusiasts and historians, some of whom have authored internationally known books on the subject. I have personally been studying Lugers for over 50 years. You can use this forum as your reference. Let a few others comment on what they believe is the value, and then just show this discussion thread to the present owner.