What is my Luger (and what's it worth?)

[mrerick]

Originally Posted by lugermom

So you could have the barrel replaced and still keep the same serial number?

Which is bringing me to my next question--how much can we tell about the history of a Luger just from the marks on it? I assume some of the marks show the factory in which it was made, and that the barrel was replaced in Erfurt. I know we can't get to "this pistol was owned by Fred Schmidt and was a gift from his wife" or "this pistol was used in xyz regiment" without further markings, but--

--how close can we get?

Part of studying Lugers involves understanding:

• things that the factories that produced them normally did
• the ways that the factory and it's workers marked them
• the ways that the Lugers were inspected by the factory and the military that ordered them
• how they were marked when they were tested including firing proof testing and acceptance
• the ways firearms were reworked

In most cases, the factories and inspectors used metal dies to stamp markings. These are often prolific on Lugers, and have very specific characteristics, as does their use either before or after the steel was finished in one of several approaches to bluing (really oxidation of the steel).

With enough study and experience, you can start to recognize things normally done by the factory, and things that were done later. This takes time to develop, and never is completely finished.

These things make a difference to the value of Lugers, which are most highly valued in as close to their original manufactured state as possible. These are the ones considered collectible by collectors today.

There are some that are so rare that even when parts have been changed, or they have been refinished they are still considered collectible - but the preference is still for Lugers in their original state.

Understand that in rare Lugers, there is a cottage industry in faking the markings and other manufacturing characteristics. A $1500 Luger could be quintupled in value by manipulating the right markings in a way that would fool an experienced collector. "Luger University" has some self-protection motivations.

Welcome to the addiction.