please tell me if this P08 is correct

[andy_ita]

hi guys
andy in italy here.
im an collector of WW2 guns, and i got Yesterday my first luger.
i got a normal military P08, Byf 42 as know as "black widow".

as i know nothing about luger, i wish to post some pics here and ask the espert here to let me know if , based on serial number, he pistol is all correct.
a guy told me that for my serial number the pistol should have wood grips instead black bakelite.. so.. im getting info..
please share with me your idea. thanks
andy

[andy_ita]

more pics

[alanint]

Hi Andy,

Welcome to the forum. While the gun looks largely correct, it will never be original given the various stampings and caliber change mandated by the Italian government, I assume? The grips look original, but photos with a lot less glare would help in fully determining this.

[andy_ita]

Thanks Alanint
Well in italy the 9x19 is not legal :-(((

[ChannelIsles]

The recalibration is stamped on the barrel as 9 x 21.
Must make for a more powerful round?

[andy_ita]

No well the 9 luger here is not allowed. Its for police use. So civilian have 9x21. Identical except that the case il 2 mm long

[John Sabato]

The grips appear to me to be reproductions made of a soft plastic, and the checkering does not appear in these photographs to be of the original patterna for a "black widow". The border around the checkering seems wider than what it would be on genuine original grips.

The original grips would be made of bakelite, and not plastic. If you heat the tip of a needle to red hot and carefully touch the inside of the grip in an area where it would be less likely to be noticeable, the grip material will smoke, melt, and "blob" if it is plastic.

Bakelite grips will not react this way.

[andy_ita]

hi John
well fortunatly, my job consist in trade and work plastics.....lol
so i can identify almost all the plastics burnig and sniff it...

but i made the test anyway, right now.
with a very sharp knife i cut ( hardly) a very little part from internal, and burnt it. the plastic became red, but it doent burn, and the smell is a tipical bakelite smell..
so i can confirm at 100% thath the material is bakelite ;-)

[mrerick]

Hi Andy, and welcome to the forum.

Congratulations on your Luger.

I can't tell what is causing it, but from your pictures the finish does not look like the appearance of an original finish. It's more like a dipped finish with minimal polishing afterward (perhaps to retain the pistol's sharp edges). The lack of paint in the safety lettering would tend to reinforce that it has been refinished.

This, and the re-chambering would eliminate it from collecter interest in the USA, but this varies with each geography.

This finish appearance might also be caused by the lighting of the photos, or perhaps a coating of lubricant or grease.

The unmarked S/42 magazine is an armorer's replacement magazine.

The "10717" stamped under the trigger plate is unusual, and perhaps was done during refurbishment to your Italian legal 9x21 caliber.

[John Sabato]

Originally Posted by andy_ita

hi John
well fortunatly, my job consist in trade and work plastics.....lol
so i can identify almost all the plastics burnig and sniff it...

but i made the test anyway, right now.
with a very sharp knife i cut ( hardly) a very little part from internal, and burnt it. the plastic became red, but it doent burn, and the smell is a tipical bakelite smell..
so i can confirm at 100% thath the material is bakelite ;-)

If you can confirm that the material is in fact bakelite, then the grips are probably genuine original grips. I have not seen reproduction BW grips in bakelite... only in plastic. Congrats. The grips alone are worth a few hundred dollars in the U.S. collector market (dependent on condition).

[andy_ita]

yes. from my experience in plastics..100% bakelite