...and Here is the story to go with this Luger.
Last week I was approached by a Tennessee municipal law enforcement agency who has received a donated Luger from an elderly widow who told them that she no longer wanted it in the house and would appreciate it if they could take it put it to good use. She said that her late husband had brought it home from WW2, and that he had been part of unit that had liberated concentration camps, and that he took the gun from a german who no longer needed it...but other than that, he would not talk about his war exploits. To her knowledge he never fired the gun after it came home.
The police department would like to sell it and use the money to buy a new (digital) evidence camera and accessories... and asked if I could help them place a reasonable value on the gun. It is a Mauser Banner Police -1942 an the serial number is 3240y.
The gun has a very small amount of surface rust that is revealed by the photos and has TWO matching extruded magazines. The barrel is described as pristine which is suprising since ammunition of the era was corrosive. It is possible that this Luger was never fired after it's last cleaning during the war. There is no suffix letter on the barrel. There is a small mark on the left grip, but otherwise this is a fine looking gun and magazines. The holster is also part of the package, but it is not in very good shape by the appearance in the photo. If an additional photo of the holster would help, I am sure they can take a couple for me...
I inquired of several of our members for their impression of the value of this Luger. I have forwarded their opinions to the police department to make a decision on the selling price...
Jan C. Still was kind enough to provide this information on the gun... I have edited out his estimate of the value to give the police department the widest latitude in setting the selling price.
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From Jan C. Still:
Your police dept. has a:
1942 Mauser Banner police, serial number 3240y, Eagle/L stamped on the right receiver, with two matching blued Haenel Schmeisser (stainless steel center pinned) magazines numbered 1 & 2, complete with a poor condition black police holster.
The condition is about 90% blue with freckling and pitting on the back. It is in very good condition. Or as most dealers would describe it: excellent plus to mint condition except for the freckling and pitting in the lanyard area. ( LOL as I read this part!
)
...This example in very good condition ... (The two matching magazines are a big plus but its hard to tell how much the freckling and pitting would detract from its value without examining the
Luger.)
Note: approximately 25,000 police Lugers were manufactured by Mauser between 1938 and 1942. About 500 are reported. Of these 5,500 were produced in 1942. In short, itâ??s a rather common police Luger.
I hope this is of help. I would be interested in the realized price.
Jan C. Still
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If you are interested in owning this Luger, it will ONLY be transferred to FFL dealers or valid C&R license holders... keep your eye on the For Sale forum for the announcement about the method of sale.