[Dwight Gruber]

It looks like I'm late to the party with this discussion, I just got back into town--a leasurely drive north over the last 2 1/2 days, instead of the 12-hour marathon drive down last Thursday.

This was a particularly memorable show. In addition to meeting--or re-meeting--all of you Luger Forum folks who were there, there was the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the major names in Luger collecting. You already know Jan Still was there with a table, a terrific and friendly person. But at one point I found myself sitting at a table with Jan, Bob Hogan, and Don Rousseau (look in Jan Still's books for his photo credits). You know, you cannot -buy- the kind of knowledge and experience that simply sitting near folks like this and listening, fly-on-the-wall style, affords you.

Of course, these were not the only expert collectors who were there, and this kind of personal meeting and experience is the real value of a show like Reno.

There is another interesting aspect to meeting and talking to these people. For me, and I'm certain for others on this Forum who went, there were Lugers galore--literally dozens of examples to view, examine, compare. And yet the experienced, long-time collectors bemoaned the lack of Lugers--"There's nothing here..." was a repeated comment. And in a sense I suppose that's true. It was very interesting to see the examples presented at the show through the eyes of experienced, advanced collectors rather than just those of us--I suppose I should really only speak for myself here--who are merely advanced accumulators.

As far as a Luger report is concerned, it was very daunting to deep track of all the Lugers at the show. A lot of guns moved around on Thursday (dealer set-up day), on any given table you could look at a bunch of guns, turn your back to them, and when you turned around again half of them would be gone. I missed making notes on quite a few Lugers because of this.

(By the way, the secret to going to the Reno show is to go on Thursday and spend the $50 for an Honored Guest Pass--it gets you in for the Thursday dealer setup day and also into the show the rest of the weekend an hour before the general public admission.)

But back to the Lugers:

Several Lugers on one table:
1914 Erfurt LP-08, very nice, $1,995
1937 S/42 $1,195
1916 Police conversion (not a two-date) $895
1923 Commercial (five-digit serial#) Safe/Loaded, $1,995
Police Banner, Eagle/L with matching mag, $2,700
1906 Royal Portuguese Navy, perfect shape, $9,000

Pete has already mentioned the two 1906 Navys, along with them were a 1916 LP-08 and a 1906 Swiss (no price tags) and a 1920 Alphabet Commercial. During the weekend a a gorgeously cased and accoutred pair of 1906s showed up here--a .30 and a 9mm, both about 98%--which could have been picked up for between $6-$7,000.

Bob Lewis had half-a-dozen Lugers, didn't get a chance to record them, same with Ralph's dozen or so guns.

Another table:
1900 American Eagle, decent but overpriced at $3,650
1906 Commercial .30, $1,350
1920 Commercial, $850
At least four guns left this table before I could note them, and he accumulated 3 Interarms Swiss-pattern guns in the course of the weekend.

Yet Another Table:
1938 S/42, nice, $1.2k
1920 Commercial Navy, $3.5k
1918 Erfurt, $1.1k
41/42, $1.2k
1937 date Krieghoff, $4k

Thats pretty much the serious Luger tables, but there were quite a few scattered around the hall pretty much on their own.

1938 S/42, very nice with proper (not matching) mag, $900

1940 42, fair, $1,050

1906 American Eagle with Ideal grips, fair, very overpriced at $2.8k

1938 S/42 with holster and black-base fxo mag, $1,450

1914 DWM misc. mismatch parts gun, $550

Simson blank chamber, $2.5k
byf 42, $1,250
1940 42, $1,250

1906 American Eagle, 9mm with proper mag, overpriced at $1,750
1918 Erfurt with Crown/III holster, $1.9k
1st issue military DWM, $1.8k

1912 Erfurt mismatch (wrong frame) VOPO, $1,150

1917 DWM, $1,095

1916 DWM, $895

1900 American Eagle w/Swiss + barrel, $1,750
1906 AE, didn't catch price

1920 Commercial Artillery, modern reblue and suspect, $2,150.
1908 Navy, reblued with suspicious C/M proofs, in the neighborhood of $3k

The odd Luger of this show was a blank-firing Luger, apparently originating in a Hollywood prop shop. The gun started out as a 1918 Police pistol with a sear safety, but it had a constrictor ring inserted into the .30 barrel and two short pins inserted into the receiver under the toggle ears which kept the action from locking, although one couldn't tell it from casual observation. The gun would chamber blanks with full-length crimped cases, and the breechblock closed close enough to fire the weapon. The barrel constriction provides enough power to cycle the action and chamber another blank from the magazine. Asking price $450, and the seller would provide the name of a guy who makes blanks for it.

There were a dozen or so Interarms Mausers at various tables, mostly (but not exclusively) Swiss frames, going for $800-$900. There were also quite a few 1920 Alphabet Commercials scattered around, going price seemed to be pretty consistently $850, save for the one totally overpriced at $1.1k and a real junker for $475. No one would offer more than about $400 for one if you had one to trade however--I know, I tried.

Pete's right about another thing, the hit meal at the Steak House restaurant is the Elk--totally delicious, and a portion almost larger than one person can eat. I looked forward to this almost every day since the last Reno show I went to in August last year.

I mustn't leave this subject without thanking Russ Withem and his friend Ken Coyle for offering their tables as a base of operations for the Forum, and providing several interesting Lugers to consider at the same time. Russ also put me onto a rather nice early 1900 American Eagle, which I will present in the appropriate Forum very soon.