I agree it's super. But, is it so special?

[alvin]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=104217512

Is Weimar Alphabet 9m/m very rare? Is it becase of provenance?

[Dwight Gruber]

That is a very nice Alphabet Commercial made in 1921. The holster is WWI military. Despite the description, the photo of the muzzle looks like it is .30 cal., which would be expected.

Considering the condition, which is really good, I'd say that it's value is not quite half the current high bid.

--Dwight

[Ron Smith]

Somebody's going to pay a lot of money for a $1200 Luger. Hope they don't think it's a good investment at that price.

I just checked the high bidder's feedback. He paid $241.00 for 4 boxes of Black Talon ammo. And $1800+ for a S&W revolver in .32 H&R Mag. that should have sold for less than half that. He must have hit the lottery.

Ron

[alvin]

Not sure the value of this S&W 16.... Regardless the value, the "BuyNow" was $1550, and his high bid was $1850..... whew.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...?Item=99977401

Weird

[Lyn Islaub]

Dwight,
What am I missing? The bid is now up to +$3800 for a 1920s Alphabet Luger??? It's a nice looking rig, but .........................?
Lyn

[Aaron]

And a chipped left grip to boot! I have two 100% alphabet Lugers, and I better put one up for auction while the market is so hot! Maybe I can get $5000 for it.

[alvin]

Aaron -- Please give it a try. There were two unusual points in this auction, (1) the high bidding price, and (2) it started at $1 with no reserve. Not many Lugers listed have no reserve with $1 starting price. 'twopapa' has remarkable confidence in his items. How did he know 'oldindy' would show up initially?

[raygun]

Perhaps its just because it belonged to harry Sandford [a famous gun enthiauist], rather than the gun itself ?

Elvis Presley owned a lot of guns - wonder what happened to them . bet they would fetch a mint !

P.S. what is an alphabet Luger?

[George Anderson]

Apparently oldlindy is a multiple repeat customer of twopapa's

[alvin]

Originally posted by raygun
what is an alphabet Luger?

I just learned this from books not long ago. Initially, only German Military Lugers had letter suffix in s/n. But, DWM also numbered their commercial guns with letter suffix in Weimar era. Those commercial pieces, usually in 7,65, are named as "Alphabet Guns" (by collectors). Detail can be found in Jan Still's book "Weimar Lugers".

[Michael Zeleny]

Originally posted by alvin
Is it becase of provenance?

AutoMag prices have been going through the roof. Harry Sanford's fans seem to be snapping up his memorabilia.

[John Sabato]

Michael, I happen to own one of the original .44 AMP 6.5 inch barrel Automag pistols that were manufactured by TDE in California... I bought it new in 1975...

What kind of prices have you seen for this unique pistol lately? and where?

[Michael Zeleny]

Originally posted by John Sabato
Michael, I happen to own one of the original .44 AMP 6.5 inch barrel Automag pistols that were manufactured by TDE in California... I bought it new in 1975...

What kind of prices have you seen for this unique pistol lately? and where?

Depending on variation, options, and provenance, AutoMags have achieved parity of value with Lugers, from a 1920 alphabet commercial to a 1902 carbine; in other words, from $1,800 to $25,000. The best venue for pricing and selling is Gunbroker.com.

[John Sabato]

Thanks for your automag history Rick. I made all my own cases out of military 7.62mm x 51 (.308 Winchester) cases too... they were free because I was on active duty when I bought my .44 AMP I was coaching the Ft. Gordon Georgia AMU Pistol team at the time and at the end of the day I would just wander over to the rifle range and pick up all the empties that the team neglected to pick up. About 250 of those cases would last a lifetime. I have the RCBS case forming, cutting and reaming die set, but it hasn't been out of the box since about 1982.

My best distance shooting was 3 out of 3 shots on a piece of typing paper taped to an empty 5.56mm Nato ammo crate at a measured 125 yards... That was with iron sights from a sandbag rest and measured about 8 inches shot to shot... I stopped shooting after 3 rounds because I was so excited I figured that the next shot would be a flyer... I packed the gun away with everyone on the range still at a dead stare with their mouths open.

Since the gun isn't for sale, I will tell you that I only paid $325.00 for it brand new in the case... I got it as a favor from a gun dealer in Augusta, GA after doing a trigger job on his pet Colt Python... That was the dealer price. I had done the trigger job for free, but he insisted on paying me "something"... so I told him to order me the Automag at HIS price and that would be payment enough. Wish I could work more deals like THAT one.