Robert, Cirelaw:
Interesting ideas... Taken together they sound like me!
Interesting observations- commercial versus military... I didn't know that. Since we here have less opportunity for online purchases, I would see and handle any gun I would buy. Importing from the US is a lot of extra work... US prices are a bit higher than they are here.. in general
It's very nice to trade thoughts with the different kinds of people here- from "serious collectors" to "shooters" to "accumulators!" It's a great help to define my own position and to appreciate where other people are coming from. Thing with collector Lugers is, one has to have some decent extra cash to part with.... not so easy when , as Cirelaw is saying, "with marriage come more pressing priorities." True for me as well.
Like Robert, I appreciate beautiful original firearms, but.... I am a shooter at heart. I guess I'm in the middle- I'm very happy to have been able to acquire my first Luger (a collectible) but also I'm willing to invest in a reblued matching piece to take to the range.
More than that, the social interaction is wonderful! I'm learning a lot about these very unique guns, I have made new friends, and a new world has opened! Can't do much better than that