a SAD Luger Story

[Orv Reichert]

I thought you folks might like to hear a Luger story. This one is true. It happened to me and I start to cry real tears every time I tell it.


In 1945..the winter..I was 16 and living in Pocatello Idaho. I spotted a LUGER in a little second hand/junk store across the street [4th and Center] from my dadâ??s service station where I worked after school. I had always wanted one!


I bought that SOB for about $60 and took it homeâ?¦all happy and excited. My dad jumped in my S____ for buying a gun that ammo was impossible to secure. He was rightâ?¦.there was NO 9mm ammoâ?¦lots of .30 Luger and .30 Mauser but not 9mm!


I was not able to identify itâ?¦all the returning Vets said that it was quite rough compared to the ones they had seen.


Let me describe it!


1. It was a NAVY Lugerâ?¦I KNEW that because it had an ANCHOR on the toggle with the initials HK.


2. It had been captured in 1945 because some GI had hand stamped that date over the chamber.


I got frustrated over the lack of ammo, so I traded it in 1946 for a 30-30 rifle.


Orv Reichert


[for those not sharp on the subtle variationsâ?¦.check in â??THE KREIGHOFF PARABELLUM page 188 ..there are about 6 of these guns now known!]

[John D.]

And not to make you feel any worse - a "1945" HK is worth roughly $23,000 - $30,000. There is one for sale that I know of in today's market, if you'd like to - ummm -- "re-live your youth"...

[Hugh]

But Orv, if you'd kept it, you'd probably have had it nickel plated!

[bill m]

Hi,

There are rumors that there are no real 1945 HK's, as all of them were made up post war. I do know two collectors that sold theirs because they didn't feel they were correct. Just sharing info and don't know what is actually correct.

[Lonnie Zimmerman]

In the middle 60"s, I bought a K-98 at a surplus store for 39.95 with the thought of making a hunting rifle of the action and barrel. In the meantime my stepdad got me a FN action and I forgot about until about 1980. One day I saw it and thought I should clean it and took it apart. I dropped the stock (without the hardware on the floor) and thought I heard a funny noise. I picked it up and shook it, and sure enough there was a clunking noise coming from the stock. I pulled the buttplate off, and inside the hollowed out stock was a Eagle C PPK wrapped in a wax paper type material. That was probably the greatest moment of my life (except for you know what). It was"t mint, but not to bad except for gold or strawed safety, hammer, mag buttton, and trigger. I still have both weapons.


Lonnie

WOW! That is a crazy story, I can't imagine the shock, surprise and how cool that must have been!


What inthe world? Do you think that some German thought they could keep a K98 and not a PPK? That sounds likely or a GI thinking he could sneak two guns home and got scrwed up and lost "his" K98?


Pretty cool story.


Ed

I have heard some good ones before, but this is perhaps the best! After all these years you never noticed that it was a little heavy in the butt? I bet it must have felt like a really well balanced rifle....NOT.