Frankenlugers, or Parts Guns vs. Shooters

[Ron Wood]

JRW,

Please review some of the above comments with an unbiased eye. There are centuries of experience on the two forums mentioned...we are not all novices. I daresay that you spend more money traveling to the various gun shows to observe the elusive bargain than most ordinary gun nuts have to spend on the one gun that they have found and are considering for purchase. I have been a NAPCA member off and on for more than the twenty years you tout as the criteria for senior membership, and I assure you I have no lack of input to both of the forums.

You speak from the position of a well traveled dealer and no doubt a well recognized authority on collecting. However, I would submit that you have lost sight of the growing community of shooters and collectors that have real time access to other reasonably authoritative positions on the valuation of Lugers. Your statement: "The data accumulated on firearms identification and values in the periodicals cited remain the standard for the industry now and will be so ten years from now, everywhere but on the Luger Forum?" reflects the dogmatic mind set that if it is published it is correct. I review the BBGV on a constant basis and I am appalled at the misinformation on Luger values it occasionally contains. Yes, it is an honest effort (I hope) but it is a broad brush approach to every collecting category and is therefore subject to myopic evaluation and over generalization. I would hang my hat a thousand times more on the assessment of the members of the active members of the two Luger forums than I would on the BBGV.