Please help identify P08

[John Sabato]

Dear Kippjones,

You are a welcome addition to the Lugerforumâ?¦ we always welcome new Luger enthusiasts whether they own a Luger, or just like them. You wonâ??t find a friendlier gun forum on the internet. We have internationally known experts who are proud members of this forum who constantly dispense their opinion at no charge on items brought to their attention. I consider it a privilege to be able to post here on this forum.

I have a few additional comments now that you have posted your photos.

I have considerable experience in taking old rusted guns that were not properly cared for and restoring them to â??shootableâ?� conditionâ?¦ and I have owned, collected, traded and worked on Lugers for almost 50 years. Your â??newâ?? Luger bears the marks of such a necessary cleaningâ?¦ just as TAC said above.

I have moderated this forum for over 10 years. I take the responsibility of maintaining civility and order in all discussions on this forum very seriously.

I personally found nothing that resembled a â??flameâ?� or the â??toneâ?� that you referred to in your criticism of TACâ??S comments which by the way, were factual. Bluntness in reply is not a â??toneâ??, it is simply an expedient in the typed form of speech intended to get the point across. â??Toneâ?� is a characteristic of the spoken word, which cannot be correctly interpreted with any measure of success by reading the words someone has typed.

I am not sure why you seem so sensitive about input that YOU requested, but when you post a question in a public forum, especially in an international public forum and request input on a firearm, you should be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. It is now I who request that in the future that you not shoot the messenger who bears factual bad news.
---that said, letâ??s put that behind us all and here are my comments about your â??newâ?? Luger.

This Luger, regardless of how many times it changed hands in your family absolutely did not have itâ??s finish worn off by handling. The blue finish was intentionally removed (obviously by some member of your family) with a wire wheel to remove the preponderance of rust that had accumulated over itâ??s entire surface because it had been neglected for an extended period of time in an area that was too moist for a gun that wasnâ??t properly lubricated for the environment. The swirl marks in the bare metal finish are unmistakable.

The value of your once finely finished Luger pistol has been severely downgraded by allowing it to rust, and subsequently removing the rust with the wire-wheel. It may be a family heirloom, but it is now a shooter class Luger, not a collectors item any longer. I place itâ??s value at about $500-600 dollars, instead of the $1000 to 1200 that it would have been worth if it had not been neglected over time.

If you want your heirloom to be â??prettyâ?�, then by all means have it refinished if you wishâ?¦ itâ??s your gun.

I completely disagree with byfMostlyMatching about the use of the original grips, because the grips are 60+ year old bakelite and are extremely fragile. They still are a collectorâ??s item because the finish on them has not been fooled with, and they are not cracked. If you wish to shoot the Luger with these grips, you are risking grips that are currently worth over $200, and once cracked, their value will be reduced to nothing and there is no way to repair themâ?¦ again that is your option.

Unless you keep this bare steel gun constantly bathed in oil or some other rust inhibitive, it will continue to grow active rustâ?¦and continue to lower in value.

If you have any other questions on the specific technical details of the manufacture of your Luger, you have only to ask and someone, including TAC, or myself will likely answer you if they know the answer.

Treasure the life of your father, we owe his generation a debt we can never repay... he is also irreplaceable... I lost my WW2 hero two years ago, and miss him more than I can put into words.

I look forward to your reply.