Hello Thor,
Yea, it would be nice to know the survival rate of the Lugers. In Whittington's books, he give the total made and a rating of 1 to 5 for scarcity, but that is based on the manufactured quantity.
What Orv Reickert has done with the P.38, is to compile a one page document with a rating system from "A" to "L". The higher the letter, the more rare the pistol is. Orv's system is based on the survival rate of the P.38, and is based on his knowledge and the number reported to him over the years. It would be nice to have the same document for the Lugers, but it may be an almost imposibility due to the variations.
Just think what it would be like to have every Luger, currently in the US, to be reported to a central file with it's Technical Information. This would sure be a big help to researchers! All reports would not contain any person information, just pistol info.
Marvin
AMMOMAN