Very odd luger

trimatic · 06-03-2007, 03:07 PM

I just bought a 1938 S/42 with a serial #of 994. I bought this from an elderly gent who says it is a ww2 bring back which he personally took of a dead officer in Italy. All the number stampings are perfectly matched 94 the odd thing is it is NICKEL. I asked him if he had it plated he said that is the way he got it and until I bought it last week it has not been out of his oversea bag since he got home in 45. It appears to be a factory piece but i can find nothing that says they ever came in nickel. Ant help will be appreciated I am trying to post pics but my camera is giving me a fit I will post them as soon as I am able...

Pete Ebbink · 06-03-2007, 03:15 PM

Hi Larry,

Welcome to the Forum

As far as I recall from readings and postings on the Forum and other gun boards, I do not think WWII or other era Lugers came from the factory plated....with the exception of some high-dollar presentation HK Lugers.

I suspect this old fellow told you a "tale". Many Vets had their take-home Lugers plated States side in an attempt to make them look good or be less suspectible to corrosion and rust.

More recently these are not accepted well as a "collector" piece...so some fellows are inclined to "swear and claim" it was that way when they took it off some poor fellow in the war in hopes of getting more money for it when they try to sell it off.

Steinar · 06-03-2007, 03:20 PM

Hello Trimatic, and welcome to the forum.

I have a feeling that most Lugers are claimed to come from officers, just to add an extra value. Most Lugers however came from enlisted men. In the eyes of soldiers from other nations, their uniforms often looked like an officer uniform. Anyway.. your Luger is not as odd as you might think, quite a few Lugers have been nickel plated post war. As yours is. If the seller sold it to you with false information, I would suggest bringing it back for a refund.

trimatic · 06-03-2007, 03:20 PM

Thanks for the reply if this d@#& camera would get to working arg. You may be right but seeing as he would only take a hundred dollar bill he sure was not trying to get rich LOL. Either way its a nice piece all the #s match and both mags so i guess i got a deal

Pete Ebbink · 06-03-2007, 03:29 PM

Any Luger that is all matching and shoots and puts lead down-range is worth at least $ 500 or more now-days as a shooter...!!!

"Shooters" are considered Lugers with non-mathcing and replaced parts or an all -matched Luger with loss of significant original factory blue and straw finish or a combination of the two.

Most folks I run around with at gun shows also consider any plated-luger a shooter as well.

Congratulations on a great deal !!! Cannot say anything bad about a $ 100 Luger that shoots straight...

Steinar · 06-03-2007, 03:41 PM

darn.. you're fast Pete

Congratulations on a great deal!
I was going to write something about how the world has become when even elderly gentleman are telling tales to rip a customer off. And that it would seem as the Luger selling buisness has become rather messy in the US recently..

But will bite it in me, 100$ is a very good price!

So.. what will be your next Luger?

Edward Tinker · 06-03-2007, 04:07 PM

folks either don't remember that long ago, or literally he could be telling the truth.... many guns were plated / chromed before coming onto the boat back to the USA. I have heard many tales / stories of nickle jobs being done for a pack of cigarettes. So, he is probably telling the truth

Quote:

... it has not been out of his oversea bag since he got home in 45.

Pete Ebbink · 06-03-2007, 05:21 PM

" ...which he personally took of a dead officer in Italy..."

and

" ...I asked him if he had it plated he said that is the way he got it and until I bought it last week it has not been out of his oversea bag since he got home in 45. "

Edward Tinker · 06-03-2007, 05:41 PM

Pete, I just assumed that "part" of his memory was faulty, not all

I just know that NO lugers left the factory for military use that were plated or nickled...

trimatic · 06-03-2007, 06:05 PM

LOL yeah thats the skinny as he told me it was very odd in itself how I got the two guns from him. I built the transmission in his car and we got to talking when he came back. I am a ww2 history buff and was kinda ticked about working on memorial day. We got talking and I told him I collect ww2 firearms. I have a C+R lic and he told me about the luger and the A-1 he brought home and the fact he has no living children and asked me if I wanted to buy them which I did. He also said his wife hated guns thats why they stayed in the bag wraped up and in the attic ????

BTW I just went out back and shot it it hit the paper 5 for 5 thanks again for the info I was not going to shoot it till I had a little history!!!!

Larry

thegundude · 06-03-2007, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Morgan Kane
I was going to write something about how the world has become when even elderly gentleman are telling tales to rip a customer off. And that it would seem as the Luger selling buisness has become rather messy in the US recently..

Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can 'ni' at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land. Nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the Monty Python correlation...

Steinar · 06-04-2007, 08:19 AM

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." - Buddha

thegundude · 06-04-2007, 08:49 AM

Buddha didn't know anything compared to Monty Python...

Ron Smith · 06-04-2007, 08:59 AM

Dis-honest people never change. They just get older...

We had an old gent(reeking of cigarette smoke and stale urine) come in with a Muzzleloading rifle not long ago, wanting to sell it.

He told Joe, the shop owner, that it had been in his family since 1850 and had come out to Oregon on a wagon train. It was clearly marked (under the rust) "Junkar, Made in Spain, For Blackpowder ONLY", on the barrel.

When Joe politely pointed this out, he got very angry, yanked it out of Joe's hands, and as he stormed out yelled, "You don't know S#!T!!".

They don't change...

Ron

Rod WMG · 06-04-2007, 05:07 PM

Ron, are you sure it didn't read "Junker?"

Quentin · 06-04-2007, 10:15 PM

My first Luger cost $100, too - thirty years ago.

Nonmatching numbers but it's been a heck of a shooter all that time.

Great deal trimatic, no one can complain, even if it is plated.

hqbmw · 06-05-2007, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by thegundude
Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can 'ni' at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land. Nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the Monty Python correlation...

Thank you so much for bringing a smile to my face before going to bed. The Holy Grail pleases me to no end. Today was so bad that even in the middle of viewing the movie "Mr Brooks," at a theatre of 23 screens, the movie stopped, all were told to evacuate due to a fire. This in typical Phoenix 109 degrees!

Always a pleasure can be found on our Forum.

thegundude · 06-05-2007, 07:15 AM

Glad I could help...

I hope no one was hurt in the fire. I trust the fire stayed away from the popcorn cache and didn't fill the streets with tons of popping, buttery goodness...

Quentin · 06-05-2007, 12:58 PM

Bummer about the movie! I was in Phoenix when they had to shut down Sky Harbor Airport because most planes had not been certified to operate properly at temperatures over 120 degrees - gotta love the Valley of the Sun!

Big Norm · 06-05-2007, 01:06 PM

Even well done chrome plated Lugers are going up in price. Not as crazy as the collector Lugers, but still up. I got a chromed Luger from a widow who just wanted to get rid of her husbands guns. I only wanted the two original aluminum bottomed mags and offered her some replacement mags and $100 for the originals, She refused and hesitated selling anything. So I bought everything she had (a 1100 12 ga. Winchester, a .357 Ruger SS snub nose and this 1936 S/42 matching w/ two original but none matching aluminum mags) for $650. Money talks, BS walks. Someone did a very nice job chroming the Luger and puting some nice replacement grips on it and the rest of the guns look like they have never been shot. I figure that the shotgun and the snub nose were free.
Big Norm

It ain't bragging if you can do it. Mohammed Ali

06-03-2007, 03:07 PM	#1
trimatic New User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chesnee SC Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Very odd luger I just bought a 1938 S/42 with a serial #of 994. I bought this from an elderly gent who says it is a ww2 bring back which he personally took of a dead officer in Italy. All the number stampings are perfectly matched 94 the odd thing is it is NICKEL. I asked him if he had it plated he said that is the way he got it and until I bought it last week it has not been out of his oversea bag since he got home in 45. It appears to be a factory piece but i can find nothing that says they ever came in nickel. Ant help will be appreciated I am trying to post pics but my camera is giving me a fit I will post them as soon as I am able...

06-03-2007, 03:20 PM	#3
Steinar User Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1,538 Thanks: 18 Thanked 36 Times in 21 Posts	Hello Trimatic, and welcome to the forum. I have a feeling that most Lugers are claimed to come from officers, just to add an extra value. Most Lugers however came from enlisted men. In the eyes of soldiers from other nations, their uniforms often looked like an officer uniform. Anyway.. your Luger is not as odd as you might think, quite a few Lugers have been nickel plated post war. As yours is. If the seller sold it to you with false information, I would suggest bringing it back for a refund. __________________ Previously known as Morgan Kane

06-03-2007, 03:41 PM	#6
Steinar User Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1,538 Thanks: 18 Thanked 36 Times in 21 Posts	darn.. you're fast Pete Congratulations on a great deal! I was going to write something about how the world has become when even elderly gentleman are telling tales to rip a customer off. And that it would seem as the Luger selling buisness has become rather messy in the US recently.. But will bite it in me, 100$ is a very good price! So.. what will be your next Luger? __________________ Previously known as Morgan Kane

06-04-2007, 08:19 AM	#12
Steinar User Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1,538 Thanks: 18 Thanked 36 Times in 21 Posts	"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." - Buddha __________________ Previously known as Morgan Kane

06-04-2007, 08:49 AM	#13
thegundude User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Western NC Posts: 1,137 Thanks: 3 Thanked 16 Times in 3 Posts	Buddha didn't know anything compared to Monty Python... __________________ Keep your knees in the breeze and your iron in the air. ~Steve

06-03-2007, 03:15 PM	#2
Pete Ebbink User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The USA Posts: 5,919 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Hi Larry, Welcome to the Forum As far as I recall from readings and postings on the Forum and other gun boards, I do not think WWII or other era Lugers came from the factory plated....with the exception of some high-dollar presentation HK Lugers. I suspect this old fellow told you a "tale". Many Vets had their take-home Lugers plated States side in an attempt to make them look good or be less suspectible to corrosion and rust. More recently these are not accepted well as a "collector" piece...so some fellows are inclined to "swear and claim" it was that way when they took it off some poor fellow in the war in hopes of getting more money for it when they try to sell it off.

06-03-2007, 03:29 PM	#5
Pete Ebbink User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The USA Posts: 5,919 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Any Luger that is all matching and shoots and puts lead down-range is worth at least $ 500 or more now-days as a shooter...!!! "Shooters" are considered Lugers with non-mathcing and replaced parts or an all -matched Luger with loss of significant original factory blue and straw finish or a combination of the two. Most folks I run around with at gun shows also consider any plated-luger a shooter as well. Congratulations on a great deal !!! Cannot say anything bad about a $ 100 Luger that shoots straight...

06-03-2007, 05:21 PM	#8
Pete Ebbink User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The USA Posts: 5,919 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	" ...which he personally took of a dead officer in Italy..." and " ...I asked him if he had it plated he said that is the way he got it and until I bought it last week it has not been out of his oversea bag since he got home in 45. "

06-03-2007, 05:41 PM	#9
Edward Tinker Super Moderator Eternal Lifer LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: North of Spokane, WA Posts: 15,966 Thanks: 2,066 Thanked 4,595 Times in 2,116 Posts	Pete, I just assumed that "part" of his memory was faulty, not all I just know that NO lugers left the factory for military use that were plated or nickled...

06-03-2007, 06:05 PM	#10
trimatic New User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chesnee SC Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	LOL yeah thats the skinny as he told me it was very odd in itself how I got the two guns from him. I built the transmission in his car and we got to talking when he came back. I am a ww2 history buff and was kinda ticked about working on memorial day. We got talking and I told him I collect ww2 firearms. I have a C+R lic and he told me about the luger and the A-1 he brought home and the fact he has no living children and asked me if I wanted to buy them which I did. He also said his wife hated guns thats why they stayed in the bag wraped up and in the attic ???? BTW I just went out back and shot it it hit the paper 5 for 5 thanks again for the info I was not going to shoot it till I had a little history!!!! Larry

06-04-2007, 08:59 AM	#14
Ron Smith User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Orygun Posts: 4,243 Thanks: 118 Thanked 245 Times in 150 Posts	Dis-honest people never change. They just get older... We had an old gent(reeking of cigarette smoke and stale urine) come in with a Muzzleloading rifle not long ago, wanting to sell it. He told Joe, the shop owner, that it had been in his family since 1850 and had come out to Oregon on a wagon train. It was clearly marked (under the rust) "Junkar, Made in Spain, For Blackpowder ONLY", on the barrel. When Joe politely pointed this out, he got very angry, yanked it out of Joe's hands, and as he stormed out yelled, "You don't know S#!T!!". They don't change... Ron __________________ I Still Need DWM side plate #49... if anyone runs across a nice one. What ~Rudyard Kipling~ said...

06-04-2007, 05:07 PM	#15
Rod WMG User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The Edge of Texas Posts: 514 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ron, are you sure it didn't read "Junker?"

06-04-2007, 10:15 PM	#16
Quentin User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NorthWest USA Posts: 124 Thanks: 59 Thanked 11 Times in 4 Posts	My first Luger cost $100, too - thirty years ago. Nonmatching numbers but it's been a heck of a shooter all that time. Great deal trimatic, no one can complain, even if it is plated.

06-05-2007, 07:15 AM	#18
thegundude User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Western NC Posts: 1,137 Thanks: 3 Thanked 16 Times in 3 Posts	Glad I could help... I hope no one was hurt in the fire. I trust the fire stayed away from the popcorn cache and didn't fill the streets with tons of popping, buttery goodness... __________________ Keep your knees in the breeze and your iron in the air. ~Steve

06-05-2007, 12:58 PM	#19
Quentin User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NorthWest USA Posts: 124 Thanks: 59 Thanked 11 Times in 4 Posts	Bummer about the movie! I was in Phoenix when they had to shut down Sky Harbor Airport because most planes had not been certified to operate properly at temperatures over 120 degrees - gotta love the Valley of the Sun!

06-05-2007, 01:06 PM	#20
Big Norm RIP Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: SE Michigan Posts: 1,864 Thanks: 1 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	Even well done chrome plated Lugers are going up in price. Not as crazy as the collector Lugers, but still up. I got a chromed Luger from a widow who just wanted to get rid of her husbands guns. I only wanted the two original aluminum bottomed mags and offered her some replacement mags and $100 for the originals, She refused and hesitated selling anything. So I bought everything she had (a 1100 12 ga. Winchester, a .357 Ruger SS snub nose and this 1936 S/42 matching w/ two original but none matching aluminum mags) for $650. Money talks, BS walks. Someone did a very nice job chroming the Luger and puting some nice replacement grips on it and the rest of the guns look like they have never been shot. I figure that the shotgun and the snub nose were free. Big Norm It ain't bragging if you can do it. Mohammed Ali