New P.08 Owner - Pictures and Questions

[tmoncmm]

Hello all,

New to the forum and to the P.08, but not to guns. Have (relativley recently) begun collecting military wepons and just aquired this P.08 at a gun show. I just wanted to get you input and hear some of your comments about it and I have a few questions also.

As I said, I purchaced this Luger at the local gun show for (what was to me anyway) the astonishingly low price of $650.00. While looking at it initially, I noticed that all the SN matched (except for magazine, it is definatly aftermarke and probably recent) and that it appeared to be in good mechanical condition.

After a complete breakdown and cleaning, I confirmed that all the parts have matching SN and that mechanically it seems to be in good shape.

I fired about 25 rounds at the range prior to cleaning to check the functionality. All worked fine except for a few jams, but i have read that this can be expected if the gun is very dirty. The only other problem i noticed with it is that the hold-open wasn't working. I originally chalked it up to a crappy magazine, but after cleaning, the hold open seems to working fine. I have not fired it since cleaning and I not sure I should be either.

The only major problem with it is the poor finish and pretty severe pitting on the right side of the frame.

The story I got when i bought it was that it was a vet bring back and that the German officer who originally carried it apparently blead all over the holster thus causing the blueing damage and the relativly low price for an all-matching luger.

It seems that I have read something about damage to blueing and gun metal caused by blood, but i can't remember where i heard that from or how true it is.

Anyway, the few questions I have are as follows...

While cleaning, I noticed a kind of brown, micro-fiber grease everywhere. I remeber reading a mention of this grease in the FAQ, but there was no information about what it was. Does anyone have any information about it?

Will post pictures and additional questions below.

Thanks for any input or comments.

[tmoncmm]

Here is a picture of the left side which is the good side.

[tmoncmm]

Here is a picture of the right side which is the side with the suposed blood damage." I have heard the old saying "Buy the gun, not the story."

[tmoncmm]

Here is another

[tmoncmm]

and another

[tmoncmm]

Here is another question. I have read about unit markings and mine seems to have none. What is the story on that?

[tmoncmm]

My last question (at least for now) is how can you tell if the grips are original? These cirtinaly appear to be, but they do not have any sort of markings on them. They were loose on the gun, but following some advice i read here, I placed half of a rubber o-ring under each grip screw and that took care of the problem.

Thanks for looking at my long-winded post. Any other information that can be provided would be much appreciated.

Thanks again.

[Vlim]

Hi,

I think the 'blood pitting' story is interesting, but not very close to the truth. The pistol was most likely stored in the holster in moist conditions. The holster worked as a sponge and rusted the side of the pistol that was resting on the holster.

Many 'captured' rigs were taken by second echelon staff who simply picked them up from the piles of turned in weapons.

Many frontline soldiers rarely had the time to scout for souvenirs.

As a result, many capture stories were invented by those who simply reaked through the piles of turned in weapons in order to have a more interesting story to tell at home.

[Edward Tinker]

Oringinal grips - they might have the last two of the sn on them (not sure of 1939's display that, also be careful taking them off, take screw off, then gently push from inside and prying from outside.


unit marks - only a small percentage of guns have them, PLUS ww2 era ones usually do not have them to start with, as the markings were no longer required

grease - many times it is attributed to original cosmoline. My take on it; while in the army, I knew I was going to be overseas for 3 years, so I used thicker grease / gun oil before I left. When I got back, you could easily have thought this dried grease was put on these guns from WW2 and it was only from a few years before...


ed

[Fishpaw1]

I read on another board about blood pitting. In that case, it was on AK47 magazines. They tested some pitted spots that appeared to be from blood, and some of them actually were. I can post a link if you like to that thread. It also has pictures to show what they are talking about.

[HerbZ]

Certainly a pistol could rust if left in a holster, but wouldn't the tendency be to leave a holstered pistol holster laying on its left side? I've a byf 42 that is not so severely rusted, but most of the rusting and pitting is on the right.

[waffen]

I notice that the serial # is 2473 but the locking bolt is #75; a bit odd for an all-matching 42 code. Must be a trick of the light!

- Kevin

[tmoncmm]

I thought that too at first, but after further examination in good light with magnifying glass, it is definatly 73.

[Edward Tinker]

Someone did a blood testing several years ago, he took a few blued items and coated them with blood, left them for several days. (I could not find the posting, but remember reading it) If I remember correctly, blood damaged the bluing... Although I many times "pooh pooh" the blood pitting stories, as folks said, you leave the blood or wet on the luger and it'll rust.


Ed

[tmoncmm]

Thanks for all the comments. So what is your general impression of this gun? Did I make a good purchace for $650.00? Is it something i can take to the range a couple times a year or should I not shoot it at all?

[HerbZ]

tmoncmm,

I'm still pretty much a newbie myself since I've still only one Luger, and for not quite a year yet. But I've been doing a bit of looking, both on the Internet and whenever I can get into town or to a city. I believe that you've purchased a Luger that at the very least would make a good shooter. It may also be a candidate for refinishing by someone who knows what they're doing with a Luger. I've seen a Luger in a shop marked DWM, no date, with no matching parts, many showing extensive wear, and with only slightly better finish for $500. While I have no desire whatsoever to purchase such a $500 Luger, I might be tempted to purchase one like yours for $650 if I saw it in person.

I'd get a new Mec-Gar magazine for it and a box of Wally's Winchester white box and take it to the range.

HerbZ

[RylanBrissette]

The pitting is pretty bad, but the most important thing is that the mechanical parts (all parts that move) are not at all rusted and work nicely. I would not buy a Luger if the internal parts were badly damaged.

[tmoncmm]

The gun is in good working order. The pictures are deceving because of the lighting conditions I suppose. The only place there there is any rust is under the grips from the moisture venting from the grips over the years. Otherwise there is no rust on any of the external serfaces or on the internal parts.