Newbie with questions

[Michael Kasun]

I am a brand new member of this forum and look forward to learning more about Lugers. I have scanned some of the threads and have determined Iâ??ve come to the right place for that. I have enjoyed shooting for many years but have only recently become interested in collecting military firearms. Since my father fought in WWII I am particularly interested firearms employed in that conflict.

I recently had the pleasure of shooting a Luger for the first time. A friend of mine showed up with a well worn S/42 that shot amazingly well. I shot far better with his 60+ year old pistol than with my modern pistols.

I am looking to purchase a shooter that is matched and is generally nice condition. I want to be able to shoot it without fear that Iâ??ll hurt my investment or foul a piece of history.

I was greatly encouraged by the thread regarding Mayberryâ??s potential purchase. The photos seemed to show a very nicely preserved Luger and I was surprised that several forum members recommended purchasing the piece as a $500-600 shooter. I was impressed at the detailed analysis that led to that appraisal as well.

My big questions are:

Where can I purchase a Luger and feel confident that I will receive exactly what I am bargaining for? I get the impression that Ralph Shattuck is rather well thought of around here so he may be my man. If anyone has other suggestions Iâ??d like to hear about them. By the way, I saw an article that indicated that Ralph has 1,600 Lugers but on his web site there are only a relatively small number listed for sale. Is this merely because he only means to give web surfers a taste of his merchandise?

Are there models/configurations that are known to shoot better than others? I would suspect that as WWII went on the general quality may have suffered.

Is the Luger a durable/dependable weapon if properly maintained?

Is it as hard to assemble/disassemble as it looks?

Thanks in advance.

MK