Bought a near mint 70s era Interarms Luger P08 as a shooter. Would like to adjust the

[gunbugs]

There are those that consider only "how much a gun is worth" in monetary terms. Good for them. I'm not concerned with "preserving" a gun for a future owner. I'll let the next guy worry about that. All these guns were fired at the factory, so none of them are actually "unfired". Some folks are only worried about what they can sell a gun at some future point for. I'm concerned with how much I'll enjoy using a gun while I'm alive to do it. For me, that means taking it to the range. The Germans weren't afraid to shoot the Lugers. It's why they made them.

[big open]

Reading the above remarks concerning firing new in the box lugers has caused me to have second thoughts about a "luger" I've ordered and expect to receive in the next couple of months. The luger is a repro of the Mod. 1907 in cal. 45 acp test trials piece made by LugerMan. It will come in a box with two mags. and a mag loading assist tool. I'd appreciate opinions from one or more of the members in this forum. Should I fire my new acquisition or keep it in near mint condition upon arrival?

[Kiwi]

My opinion should be irrelevant to you.
Why did you decide to buy the item?
Are you a collector?
Are you a shooter? (I guess yes to this)
Does the value of the item matter to you, is it an investment where you intend to resell and hope to profit, or is it for your enjoyment and future value is unimportant or maybe just less important.

If you are a collector and hope to retain value - do not shoot, be very careful with handling and storage, and keep all paperwork for provenance.

Today there is no historical significance to a Lugerman repro. In 100 years it would be very valuable for your great grandchildren. A pristine, never fired, in original box.
This is entirely your decision

[Vlim]

If you want to shoot a luger, buy a shooter grade P08.

At the moment you are buying investment pieces, not suitable for long term (fun) use, unless you like wasting money.

Get a nice looking reblued, plated or mismatching pre-1943 P08 in 9mm and shoot it as much as you want.

[big open]

Kiwi, Vlim ----- Thanks for your remarks and opinions. I'm a shooter and an accumulator (maybe a collector). My luger accumulation is not large, 16 pieces currently including two shooter lugers. I do enjoy shooting the shooters but don't intend to make the LugerMan's piece a shooter. I'll most likely fire it just to make sure it functions properly with both mags then thoroughly clean it and return it to the box. I suppose over time the LugerMan piece will increase in value as will the other pieces in my accumulation. Just since I ordered my LugerMan piece the asking price of the .45 lugers have increased $1,000. That might not be an increase in value however, but time will tell if other folks are willing to pay that kind of $$ for one. That would determine future value. Thanks again for your remarks and opinions.

[gunbugs]

There is a difference between an increase in value, and an increase in price. The price is up because the value of the dollar is down. The price is the number of dollars. The value is what you get for a dollar.
As a friend once said, "Americans, they know the price of everything, but the value of nothing."

[big open]

gunbugs ----- Those of us Americans born during "depression" days and grew up in the 40's & 50's learned the "value" of a dollar (nickels, dimes & quarters as well). I can remember if I had a quarter in my pocket I felt pretty %# @& good. Sometimes during my college days I'd pull into a cut rate gas station with my old cheve. and asked the attendant "Please give me every drop 11 cents will buy". We would eat fried baloney rolled up in a slice of bread sometimes two or three times a day. Those kind of days taught "VALUE".

[STEINBVG]

Some time ago I bought brand new Interarms Mayser Luger, Russian contract anniversary edition. The only Luger I own.

I decided to shoot it, but also didn't want to wear it out.

I decided to go with a completely different upper and a New Mec Gar mag.

I acquired an s/42 armorer's upper, decent bore. A member here , named GT fitted it with a good quality toggle kit[ thanks again]
I had to buy a side plate from Sarco and adopt/machine it to fit this frame/upper combo.

I even replaced the grips with Sarco remake[ fitting it for the grip safety my gun is equipped with].

The uppers are easily swapped for shooting and back to the 'collection' shape.

This seems like a compromise between the views of the strict purist collectors and the more liberal ones who would like to shoot their valuable guns they own as I do. [ Damn, I even shot my extremely rare Schwarzlose 1898 a few times]

I posted a thread about my 'shooter' conversion called
'My shooter upper. Thanks GT!!!'

Cheers