stolen luger

My grandfathers luger was stolen during a breakin to my house on 11/5/01. It is a 7.65mm,4"(?)barrel, stock lug, checkered toggle, no grip safty, Ser# 5861. The gun is in good condition. Any help as to a value, or the return of his gun would be appreciated.

[Joe]

Brian

Sorry to hear that this Luger was stolen, but they are very attractive to any burglar who sees one. Once the police are notified they will enter the serial number into the national computer, it will show up somewhere, sometime.

Joe

[Thor]

You need the subscript to complete the serial, unless it was a very "ns" or no subscript one! Chances are, it had a subscript. Not having that subscript recorded and reported can cause misidentificaton IMO Thor

[BILL]

It is always bad to hear that a Luger has been stolen. Unfortunately, and this has been my experience, the nicer the pistol is the lower the odds are that the police will ever notify anyone even if they should get lucky enough to find it. Sad commentary, but if the gun is beat to crap it gets turned in.

Sorry to hear about your Luger. I really sucks that it was a sentimental part of your life. I will dispense with the unpleasantries associated with this type of theft, as i'm sure you are aware of them better than most people. I wish you a great deal of success in locating your pistol. The first step is to inform every Gunshop, Pawnshop, ect within your area regarding the theft. I have even put up posters in every public spot I could think of, offering a reward for it's return. I would mention that it was a war trophy of your grandfathers, this sometimes helps. People are greedy and even "friends" of this theif will be motivated by the reward money.


Best Regards,


Tim Canney

[schwob]

Brian, I was in Law Enforcement for 30 years. One of our tools was the N.C.I.C.....National Crime Information Computer. All stolen items, with a serial number and a good description are to be listed in the NCIC. Concerning your weapon, the full and complete serial number, especially if it has a lower case letter is of prime importance. The maker, i.e. DWM, ERFURT, MAUSER, whichever makes applies, the barrel length, caliber of the weapon, any and all pertinent markings and numbers. Better too much info than not enough. Every weapon that goes into NCIC remains therein indefintely. Guns don't go away. If by some chance you have a brass case once fired from that gun and maybe a recovered bullet unmarred, would be a great help to the ballistic expert, should such a situation ever come to pass These items must be virgin, once fired components, no reloads, and MUST have come from your weapon. Time date and place of the firing would also help. All of this info could be useful advice to all our members. Many of us have pictures of our weapons, some have digital images with info placed on a disc. The bullet & case would be just another added piece of insurance. Food for thought. I offer this as a help to all our many members.

[John D.]

Schwob,


This is really terrific information - thanks for sharing it!


One quick question, if you don't mind.. If one of our Lugers are stolen, would we turn in the brass with the report? Also, I presume you mean factory "new" brass would be the best (since reloaded cases would have marks for potentially several weapons?)?


Finally - what is the best way of retrieving an unmarred bullet??


Wow - OK - so I guess I used up "one" question!!


Thanks again for posting this info!!!

Most PD's wouldn't take your brass at the report stage, but if you have it available, then they could "prove" the Luger is yours later if need be. And yes, the new brass is because of the marks from a used round would have from other guns or multiple marks if you used it in your own gun more than once.


To get a unmarked bullet, you can shoot it into a barrel of water or into a large area of sand or large barrel. Either way still might deform the bullet, but is one of the best ways to retrieve a round without messing up the grooves on the bullet.


Ed

[schwob]

John, your very welcome, pleasure is all mine. Keep the fired brass case and recovered bullet for yourself. This is to assure it not getting misfiled. Bullet recovery is an art. Some use a water tub, just be sure it is deep enough. If it strikes the tub bottom or side it will cause a blemish or deformity. A large bale of waste cotton or most anything this is soft, that will absorb the energy and not put a mark on the slug. Caution, if you shot into some of the soft materials fire can be a danger. Recovery of the bullet is always by hand, no impliments. Put the recovered parts, brass & bullet in a clear plastic baggie. Yes, the brass should be from a factory new cartridge. So to speak, from the box directly to the chamber. The cartridge should be hand fed into the chamber, Using a magazine may/will leave marks on the case or bullet. Do not mark either the brass or the bullet. Pertinent into should be on the container, which should also be of a soft material. This is an extreme description, but doing it right, eliminates questions, if they arise, at a time in the future. Hope this helps.

[Thor]

One of the things I do when I want to recover a bullet is to load a bullet with a 1/4 load (no slow burning powder). Such as a grain or two of bullseye, keeps the velocity down and makes the energy level low enough to make the bullet recovery easier, but you have to be careful you dont get the bullet stuck, then you will have to drive the bullet out from the back with a rod and mallet. I use to shoot cockroachs when I was in college with rubber bullets (wadcutters) that I cut from a big rubber eraser with only 1 gr of fast powder, fun stuff, but those bullets bounced and richoeted a lot! Thor

[schwob]

Thor, not as a contradiction, but I think it would be better if the case were not reloaded. Just a thought relating to indentification.

[Thor]

Sure, you are right about the case, you dont want it scratched up from the die, I guess I was looking at it from a bullet retrieval aspect only! Thor

[Bob Egan]

Do not, repeat do not, fire it into the toilet! A hard learned lesson by a friend long ago!

[Thor]

Is that like "Where were you when the bullet hit the $%%%"

lol, that is too funny Bob! Thor

Sorry, but war story time. TI was on duty and this guy comes into the Emergency Room, he was "cleaning" his .22 and shot himself in the foot... I didn't believe him, but if they tell the story and stick with it, then you have to go with it, or more than likely, it will be investigated by Military Police Investigations.


don't shoot it in a toliet, now many drinks did that guy have?





Heh, heh


ed

[schwob]

This is priceless->! Just do the mental picture, especially if the toilet is on an upper floor. It takes a little more water than is available in the ceramic throne.