[mrerick]

This board reflects and embraces many decades of experience collecting and evaluating Lugers.

I think that the preferences for Luger characteristics must have evolved over quite a bit of time, and quite a few people interested in Lugers.

There are so many variations, and so many defining characteristics that this niche of the collecting hobby can sometimes be daunting. For that reason, you'll find quite a few people (dealers, gun-shows, isolated "experts") ready and willing to "help" you by misidentifying and over-valuing lesser Luger pistols. Thankfully, you won't find those people here. This website is something of the antidote to cheating people that haven't studied Lugers enough to judge them on their own.

As David said, Luger collectors value Luger pistols in as close as possible to original factory state. That means all matching and in original finish condition, without modern import marking and with as little finish and operational wear as possible. There are not that many of these available, and they don't come onto the market very often. Thus, they are valued highly, and priced accordingly.

Magazines were routinely swapped and lost in the field, which is why it's so unusual today to find a pistol with it's matching magazine or magazines. This increases value when found.

Things move from that ideal condition through mismatched refinished Lugers that don't work very well.

Clearly, if a numbered part on an all matching Luger is broken, and has to be replaced, you've departed quite a bit from the ideal collectible pistol. For that reason, many of us never shoot all matching collectible Lugers.

There will be no more original complete Lugers in close to factory state. When someone shoots one and breaks it, my Lugers become more valuable. As more become interested in this fascinating pistol and it's extensive history, demand rises and my Lugers become more valuable.

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It's interesting to see how many people stop by the board with preconceived notions and related anxieties. Members here will tell the truth as they perceive it, based upon cumulative centuries of collecting experience with Lugers in hand and rather expensive reference libraries. That is what I call "Luger University". Books are a great first investment.

Some people find that difficult to accept. If it's refinished, often a studied eye can determine that, and the person that was sold an all matching original Luger doesn't like hearing that. If Grandfather brought back a Luger from the war, and the photos show it's a 1920s Alphabet Commercial with import marks, it's hard to accept that Grandpa didn't know or made up the story. If someone paid a very high price for a "Navy" Luger, only to find out it was actually manufactured in Minnesota in the late 1990s from old commercial Luger parts and modern die stamps, it's hard to accept the loss and being cheated.

So, welcome to the forum. Listen a a lot, and contribute when you can, especially as you gain experience and study.


Happy collecting!!!