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Unread 07-21-2015, 07:17 PM   #9
Yoda
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Ed:

After my father passed away, the Luger has been in my safe for over 25 years. When he was alive, I never thought to ask him its story.

I like you just assumed it was a Luger 30 because I could tell it definitely was not a 9 MM. So I got a box of Luger 30 and went out to shoot it. But the Luger 30 would not even chamber. So I went to a local part-time gunsmith to have him see why it wouldn’t chamber a round. He measured the barrel and told me it was probably a 32 ACP or some obsolete ammo. We looked through all his gun and ammo books and could not find any reference to a 32 ACP Luger or an obsolete ammo.

I bought some 32 ACP ammo and we fired 5 rounds. They chambered and extracted perfectly. I even have one of the spent cartridges around here somewhere.

So I tried to research it and could not find anything until I found the reference in the note on table 3. I talked with the gunsmith and he said the barrel did not look like it had a sleeve and the barrel looked proper and was proportionately tapered. He said it probably was not a prototype because of the serial number and that fabricating a one off Luger barrel in 32 ACP could not have been done cheaply.

My father was a collector, of sorts, guns, clocks, pocket watches, jewelry, etc. I believe he bought this gun in the late sixties in the Chicago area. Believe me, my father was cheap and would not have paid much for it. So it really does not make sense to me that someone would have gone to the trouble and expense, only to sell it to my father for probably under $100.

It is definitely a standard size Luger and not a baby Luger.

As for pictures, I tried but my hand is not very steady and the parts do not lend themselves to easy photos. I will try again. It is a rather ordinary 100+ year old gun with checkered walnut grips. Although I now wonder if it is a rare item. Anyway, I am not going to fire it anymore and when I disassemble it, I do not force anything.

I live the midlands of SC (Columbia area). Do you know anyone nearby who is a Luger authority or expert that I could have look at the gun?
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