I bought my first Luger

[mrerick]

Hi Brent, Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new Luger.

Take your time and go slow. Don't try and "fix" things that you find "wrong". You can do quite a bit of damage without realizing it.

If there is active rust (red oxide) you can carefully remove it with a well oiled "0000" steel wool after oiling the blued surface. Don't overdo things.

We'd need more pictures to give you good feedback on your Luger, but on first glance it looks like a good collectible one.

Be very careful when removing the grips, especially the left one. Many get chipped up by the safety lever because they get lifted too far off the frame before sliding them down and out.

Check for a number inside the trigger plate that relates to the first digit(s) of the serial number. It's probably either a "9" or "10".

There is likely a suffix letter under the numeric digits on the front of the frame. That letter is a part of the full serial number, and a suffix letter like "924x".

If it's in original finish, and all matching, and in fairly good finish condition avoid firing it. If you shoot it and break a numbered part the value of the collectible is lost and financial value drops quite a bit.

Is the magazine of the same era as your Luger? Aluminum base? Markings?

Post better pictures showing details in sharp focus of the external markings.

Study the dis-assembly and assembly advice you can find on this site. Check the internal parts for matching numbers (should be "24").

If it's all matching and in 90% original finish with an original magazine you paid about half it's collector value.

1936 was the last full year of rust blued / strawed Lugers before Mauser switched over to salt bluing. It also doesn't have the "hump" that they milled into the rear of the frame ears starting again in 1937.

Marc