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Unread 03-24-2003, 01:57 AM   #5
Dwight Gruber
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OK, here goes.

Jeff,

Long-distance assessment of a Luger's value is a very difficult and chancy thing. Your photographs a litle bit dark to truly show the amount of wear on your pistol, however, hints are that this may be a pretty good one. More evenly lit, better detailed shots will help. Your pictures do show enough to tell that a reblue is unlikely.

Your Luger is a byf 41, that is, a Luger manufacturd by Mauser in 1941. The serial number on the front of the frame should have a script letter underneath it, this is the serial number suffix and is properly part of the number. It may not have the letter, this is also proper, and in itself is an indicator.

Of the three marks on the right receiver of the gun, two of them will be stylized Eagles over a number. Both numbers being 655 is the most commonly expected pairing; two 135s are uncommon, and one of each is rare. This has an effect on your gun's value.

The nature of the magazine base shows that it is not proper for your Luger. I expect that it is formed, crimped sheet metal, either nickel-plated or blued, with numbers stamped into the base. The proper magazine for your gun is extruded steel with an aluminum base pinned through its center.

Have you taken the gun clear down to make sure that all interior parts are matching, including the firing pin?

I will give you a non-binding, completely off-the-wall -guess-, that your Luger might easily be worth more than $700. You got a good buy.

Value of such a gun depends entirely on maintaining all-matching parts, you may want to find another Luger to shoot.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend shooting a Luger, they are great fun. Al's recommendation of cheapo Wal-Mart 9mm is right-on, I shoot several hundred rounds of this stuff a month with no malfunction. I also find CCI Blazer to be highly reliable.

Luger magazines are 60 years old or more, and can cause misfeeding. You might do well to invest in one or two new-manufactured magazines--I find that Mec-Gar mags work reliably well.

--Dwight
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