1938 Mauser Luger

[K9silva]

Good morning everyone, Thank you for letting me join the forum. I am currently looking to purchase a luger and have one in my sights. A bit about the luger- it is a 1938 S42 Mauser Luger it is all numbers matching including 1 magazine. It also has the original leather holster with Nazi stamps on the back, the luger tool and a mag tool. I am looking to confirm the stamps on the gun and maybe a rough value of the piece. It is nickle plated ( I know its less desirable) but over all excellent condition. Attached are some photo's. any help would be greatly appreciated

[DonVoigt]

K9,
welcome and congrats on deciding to have a Luger. Be careful they are habit forming and you probably won't have just one.

Your prospective pistol looks largely correct; however, being plated pretty much negates any collector value that markings might have. It is essentially a shooter.

If you want to share the asking price of the piece, several of us might have an opinion- but many are reluctant to throw out a price in mid air- I am. I don't mind saying too high or too low though!

[wlyon]

It has been ruined as a collectible. Therefore it is in the shooter class. Some people like these chromed lugers. For a shooter this one should be very good. My best guess would be $800-900 , tops. Bill

[K9silva]

Thanks for having me, So originally it was on gun broker for $2800 and I have had him down to $1250, I had it professionally looked at and my contact says somewhere in the 600-800 range give or take. I explained if he wanted $1000 I would be out at that point and I feel more comfortable in the $700-$800 range at the very top but would feel comfortable at $650-750 range. I agree it is a tragedy but ive heard a lot of old timers coming back from the war had them nickle plated overseas or when they got home... some people said german officers had nickle plated guns but I can't find any research to back that claim

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by wlyon

My best guess would be $800-900 , tops. Bill

I agree with Bill. It's not collectible but is kind of desirable. In years past I had several handguns nickel plated. The biggest problem was 'fit'. If the handgun parts were tight to begin with, it got tighter with the additional thousandth or so of plating. Another area of concern was flaking or peeling due to incorrect surface preparation.

But nickel looks great with contrasting grips. There is a pic on the forum here somewhere of a nickel plated Luger with smooth ivory/white grips. It really stands out.

[rhuff]

As others has stated, it will make a good shooter. If one doesn't like the plating(I do), it can always be stripped off and blued....it will still be a shooter, just more expensive of a shooter. In my part of the country, if it is all matching with the accessories, and NICE, it will bring up to $1000. The "extras" if correct, are worth dollars to say the least. One could sell the accessories and reduce the overall price of your shooter Luger.....just a thought.

[K9silva]

So, Update for today I ended up purchasing the Luger for $750 I think from everything I have heard that is FMV. I have the 2 tools and the holster for it so if worst comes to worst ill shoot it once or twice a year and keep it in my safe and pass it on to someone or maybe sell it and buy a better one

[K9silva]

So my next question would be, is it worth stripping and having it refinished?

[ithacaartist]

Financially, of course not--unless you can have it done very inexpensively, or do it yourself. If you consider the several hundred dollars' value represented by the holster and tools, it would reduce the apparent cost of the gun itself to a level where you might come out about even, after it is restored. Thor (Ted Green) here on the forum is one of the members who could fix you right up! Drop him a PM with pics and he will probably be able to answer your question more precisely.

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by k9silva

so my next question would be, is it worth stripping and having it refinished?

No,
after spending a couple hundred $$ or more, you would still have a refinished shooter worth no more than it is now, JMHO.

If you don't want a chrome/nickel pistol, don't buy it in the first place.

[4 Scale]

There is a subjective component to restoring/refinishing. Ususally, it does not make sense as the cost of the original pistol plus the restore cost is greater than a more desirable original would be. But, in this case you've got the gun in hand rather cheaply and all other things being equal, refinish makes a little more sense.

It really depends on your own preferences. For example, I found a "shooter" once with an excellent bore but a rough receiver,. Having a good looking pistol with an excellent bore was, to me personally, desirable so I had the receiver refinished by Charles Danner (do a search and you will find his contact info). Charles is known for his excellent work, reasonable rates and fast turnarounds. I am very pleased with the result, but it is unlikely I will refinish future 'shooters' unless some other unusual combination of circumstances exists. Each must decide for themselves, but the general rule is that unless there is something special or unusual about the pistol it doesn't pay to get it restored.

In your case, the surface looks very good and all parts were salt blued on '38 Mausers, no strawed parts; those two factors will tend to decrease restore time and therefore cost. If it has an excellent bore, and functions well, and you find the idea of a like-new finish attractive (that subjective factor again), restore becomes an option.

Some, and perhaps many Luger collectors take a sort of pride or enjoyment in having shooters with finish issues. They tend to view the matter as, if you want a pretty gun there's plenty of new (non-Luger) choice at Cabela's. That view makes sense too. I would suggest enjoy the pistol for now, learn about it and defer any decision on refinish.

[alanint]

The fact that the pistol has an original, matched magazine, (according to the original post), makes restoration a little more compelling.