First Luger

[Robert in NC]

Originally Posted by RShaw

Maybe I should collect shooters!!

What I DON'T want is to mess up a higher priced all matching original collector. As one person on this forum said, "They just ain't makin' these no mo...."

I'd say I'm a 'shooter collector'.

I'm new to Luger collecting, although I've been looking at Lugers for 30 years, just actually bought my first one a few months ago (1920 alphabet commercial). I've already decided that I'll be collecting 'shooters'. Mainly because I shoot my all of my guns, if I can’t shoot it I don’t want it.

My first goal is a DWM (4 inch barrel) from each year of WW1. Must have year appropriate magazine (wood base). Actually, that’s pretty much my total goal, although I’d also like to get a 5 digit serial number commercial to go with my alphabet commercial.

I find all matching shooters at various places, like Simpsons, in the $1000 to $1500 range. I guess condition is what makes them shooters, since they are all matching, except often for the magazine. For Lugers I think that's important because of the close tolerances, non-matching guns I understand are more prone to functional problems. And on an aesthetic side it looks nicer for all the external numbers to match.

It’s fascinating to read all the information about the variations, but I myself wouldn’t pay any extra just because a particular Luger variation was rare.

I guess that relegates me to the realm of ‘non-serious collector’. I appreciate those real (‘serious’) collectors for all the information they provide, I’m just not one of those. Yep, “shooter collector”, that’s me.