Looking for a bit more information about this K date and holster. (34 pictures)

[LugerNewb]

Hey you guys, I was poking around and found my grandpa's Luger at his place and he gave it over to my dad (something he'd been meaning to do but lost it). He served in WWII, brought it home, and when I asked him about it, all he said was "Its original owner couldn't use it any more" so I assume he got it off someone in the field. Unfortunately he won't talk about his war days (which is a shame because it's a tragic loss of breathing history, but I understand the reason) so I don't know much about this. I know it's a K date, which makes it a 1934 manufacture, and I know Mauser made it, but beyond that, not much. All the serials match except the magazines and the inside base of the barrel (so close...), but it's in relatively poor aesthetic condition upon close examination.

The holster is in good condition, just a bit scuffed up. The belt is in terrible condition, as it seemingly fused with itself and had to be worked apart (you could see where bits of it had melted together though, so it's not like it could've been saved), but it's still pretty cool.

Specifically, I'm most curious about:
- What style of holster it is.
- The potential meanings of the markings on the holster (notice the damage in 7? Wonder what they decided to gouge out? Guess we'll never know).
- Any kind of information on the magazines (16 and 17)
- Meaning of the markings in 25
- What the part in 29 is called so I can mark specifically what it is that doesn't match (just for my records, not planning on selling this). In that same photo you can notice two obvious gouge marks too. This gun has seen better days.
- What the 'D' marking on 33 means
- Opinions on rifling in 34 would be appreciated, though it's probably too hard to tell. Was the hardest thing to photograph.

Also any and all knowledge on this thing is appreciated, as I don't know much about it and would like to share with my dad and granddad. Also advice on restoration and an estimation of value would be appreciated too. My dad wants to bring it to a local gunsmith but I'm afraid they'll conveniently 'lose' it and it'll never be seen again (at least not by us...) so I figure if I could attach some value to it he might be more careful about who he brings this thing to for restoration/safety checking (to see whether it's safe to fire). He thinks it's only worth a hundred or so bucks, I think it's worth several hundred at the least so I'm not real convinced it'd be returned, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

Anyhow, thanks for any and all help!
- Newb

[LugerNewb]

Pictures 11 - 20

[LugerNewb]

Pictures 21 - 30

[LugerNewb]

Pictures 31 - 34

Thanks again for any information you've got!

[alanint]

This is a rare and valuable pistol!! The true collectors on the site will give you a better feel for what it is worth. The first thing you need to do is explain to your Dad that refinishing this pistol in any way will reduce its value by at least half. I don't think I've ever seen an example with the "S" so profusely stamped on virtually every part. This is from the very first run of the 1935 year. Much of the condition issues can be cleared up with a little TLC. DON'T take it to a local gunsmith unless you are really sure of his credentials!! Most run-of-the-mill smiths are not familiar with Lugers. You don't want a guy taking it apart with one hand while reading a disassembly manual with the other!
Many members will jump in on this one! Congratulations on a great find!

[Patronen]

That's a nice Luger. Keep the pistol in it's original form. I would not refinish or restore the pistol. Just preserve the condition. I would also advise against firing the Luger. Why run the risk of breaking a matching number part. -Dave

[lew1]

It is good advice not to refinish it.

Check the Blue Book for values for the pistol.

[wlyon]

I agree with the above comments. I do not see where the barrel does not match? K dates are rather difficult to find and quite valuable. Probably the worst thing you could do is to take it to a local gunsmith. Lugers are a special weapon and value can be ruined very quickly . Give it a good cleaning and leave it alone is my best advise. A nice and valuable luger . Thanks for sharing.
Welcome to the forum. Bill

[Norme]

Hi Steve, The barrel is original. The number 8,84 is the bore size, land to land, in millimeters. Regards, Norm

[Aaron]

The holster, while in nice condition, was made in 1942 and was mated to the pistol at least eight years after the pistol was manufactured.

[LugerNewb]

Oh I didn't really expect the holster to be much of anything. It's just nice to have and I know some people like them in their own regards.

For clarification, what I'm talking about when I say 'the barrel' is the round portion in picture 29 where the base of the barrel (I don't know what that specific part is called) is stamped with a 3 instead of a 65. I figure they took it apart at one point and replaced it or, something. I can't really think of why it'd need replacing, but then again, the replacement 3 part already has two gouges that you can see, so the original 65 may have been even worse off.

I don't think I've ever seen an example with the "S" so profusely stamped on virtually every part

Ha, yah that struck me as a bit...OCD, maybe? :P I mean it's even on, what I assume to be, the magazine release holder-inner (extremely technical jargon).

Check the Blue Book for values for the pistol.

I don't really know what this means, ha.


Will try to talk him out of refinishing it. Don't know that I could talk him out of shooting it though. He and, admittedly, I both want to shoot it but, as said, we are concerned about whether the gun could take it or not, or if it's currently even fit to shoot at all.

Anyhow, thanks for the feedback. Always looking to learn more about it.

[alanint]

That "3" is an assembly and/or factory inspection number, not part of the serial number. The correct number "365", stamped on the left side of this piece, (known as the upper receiver), identifies it as being matched to the rest of the gun.
While the gun is of course your property and you can do with it what you wish, I also strongly recommend that you do not ruin its historical and intrinsic value by refinishing it. I can understand shooting it once or twice but I strongly advise against that, as well. If you must shoot it buy Winchester White Box, available at most Walmarts. It has the right bullet weight and cartridge pressure to function well in Lugers.

[William Hull]

Hello Steve,
Great set of pictues. Would you mind removing right grip and taking picture of inside grip? Then take picture of left grip thru the frame. This way you don't have to remove left grip and no chance of damaging it around the safety.
thanks
William

[wlyon]

Steve
Since you asked about value I will give it an estimate. Very difficult to do unless you have the pistol in hand. If,and it appears to, all match and finish is original luger is worth around $3000. K dates are hard to find so may be off a few hundred. Holster around 200 to 250. If you have it restored it will cost in excess of $500. Also restored the value will decrease by at least half. The value in lugers is original condition. Bill

[LugerNewb]

Yah turns out he never wanted to get it restored, just when he said restored he just meant cleaned up, like getting some of the smudges and dirt off of it. Bit of a miscommunication.

Anyhow, as requested, here's the pictures of the grips. Wasn't quite sure which part you wanted to see so I just took several of the general area. Didn't know it had a serial number on the grips themselves, but it does match so that's good.

Also found it really interesting that the grips were wooden. Not really sure what I expected them to be, but was surprised all the same. Some interesting machining that went on to get the grip textured like that, I'd imagine.

[William Hull]

Steve,
Thanks for the pictures of the grips, glad to hear they have matching numbers.

William