Import/non-import

Interesting discussion guys. As someone who has been buying & selling imported lugers since the late 1950s, I'd like to add my 2 cents worth. It's only been since the 1968 Gun Control act, that the US govt has required the name of the importer, city, and caliber to be stamped on the pistol. The requirement that country of manufacture (I suspose for tarrif purposes) has been on the books from before 1900 (e.g. "Germany" marked M1900AEs, 1920 commericals, and many WW1 surplus guns brought in by Stoeger et al.) Since almost all of these "commerical" pistols found in the US have these markings, they are considered "factory original" and are not considered shooters. Since so many military used lugers were brough back by GIs or some how imported in the late 40s & 50s without any official import markings, these are considered more desirable than similar unrefinished matching militaries that arrived in the 1970s from Norway etc. I believe that a strong case can be made, particularly for the renumber "matching" E. German reworks, since none of these started appearing here prior to the 1968 law, that these are proper "collectables" as is with the new EG installed barrels, brown plastic grips & post war produced Schmeisser mags, and VOPO markings and are as collectable a rework as the post WW1 Weimar reworked pistols. The collector market just hasn't accepted it yet. Just wait a few years, until these have their own chapter in the luger books. This is already happenig for Post WW2 P38s reworks because of Buxton's Vol 3.