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Malcolm P. · 10-26-2004, 08:29 PM

Gunsndogs,

As you probably have already figured out, the Navy Lugers are fairly rare and in recent years seen a lot of fakes made. I do not pretend to be anything but a newbie myself, but the Luger looked "too good" and was not being sold with a 3-day inspection period for return. I will go ahead and share what I have learned just getting started myself.

I have been strongly encouraged not to deal with anyone offering wares online that does not agree to an inspection period. There are a lot of refinished or reworked Lugers floating around priced as 100% original. This includes Russian reworks and VOPO reworks that are anything but original. There are also a fair number of high quality restorations around. Finally, there are some very high quality "fake" Navy Lugers that have been manufactured in recent years. The only way to really tell what you have is to have a chance to examine the Luger hands-on or have good quality digital photos to examine.

Also, no matter how you look at it, a restocking fee of $1000 is not a good thing! I think a lot of board members will agree that that is a red flag from the start. That along with the lack of any holster wear raised a huge red flag with me. Others can correct me if I am wrong, but the Lugers that have seen use do have some holster wear on the side plate. That is what I have been told is one tell tale sign that the gun may have been refinished. For an 85 year old gun, this one looked too good.

If you are interested, I would contact the seller and ensure that you can indeed have a 3-day inspection without any restocking fee. Try to have someone knowlegable available to verify that it is what is purported to be.

Good luck and welcome to the board.

10-26-2004, 08:29 PM	#25
Malcolm P. User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 57 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Gunsndogs, As you probably have already figured out, the Navy Lugers are fairly rare and in recent years seen a lot of fakes made. I do not pretend to be anything but a newbie myself, but the Luger looked "too good" and was not being sold with a 3-day inspection period for return. I will go ahead and share what I have learned just getting started myself. I have been strongly encouraged not to deal with anyone offering wares online that does not agree to an inspection period. There are a lot of refinished or reworked Lugers floating around priced as 100% original. This includes Russian reworks and VOPO reworks that are anything but original. There are also a fair number of high quality restorations around. Finally, there are some very high quality "fake" Navy Lugers that have been manufactured in recent years. The only way to really tell what you have is to have a chance to examine the Luger hands-on or have good quality digital photos to examine. Also, no matter how you look at it, a restocking fee of $1000 is not a good thing! I think a lot of board members will agree that that is a red flag from the start. That along with the lack of any holster wear raised a huge red flag with me. Others can correct me if I am wrong, but the Lugers that have seen use do have some holster wear on the side plate. That is what I have been told is one tell tale sign that the gun may have been refinished. For an 85 year old gun, this one looked too good. If you are interested, I would contact the seller and ensure that you can indeed have a 3-day inspection without any restocking fee. Try to have someone knowlegable available to verify that it is what is purported to be. Good luck and welcome to the board.