1917 dwm

[22 short]

[Geo99]

Welcome Paul,

Gun looks pretty good - nice beech grips. Not easy to find nice 1917 Lugers, most were used & abused a lot during the war. Judging from the limited pictures, your gun looks to me like it probably has a lot more than 90% finish - at least 95% or more if the grip straps and underside are as nice as the rest of it.

Don't know what to do for it? Learn how to take it apart and gently clean and oil it like you would any other gun - with Hoppes, CLR, gun oil, etc. Just don't overdo it! In my experience, the only thing that will really hurt a rust blued finish is strong abrasive or acid - including vinegar, lemon juice, pickle juice, and blood - so don't leave it on the table while you're eating! (LOL) The strawed (golden) finish on small parts is pretty thin - clean & oil it but don't try to polish it up, or you will end up removing it.

Be real careful if you take the left grip panel off. If you chip it, save the piece so it can be glued back on (happens a lot).

Here is a link for you to read and hopefully avoid the mistakes I made cleaning my first Luger:
http://luger.gunboards.com/showthrea...ow-to-clean-it

another one:
http://luger.gunboards.com/showthrea...light=cleaning

- Geo

[22 short]

thanks Geo99, the underside and grip straps look as good as the rest of the gun, the pics don't do it justice. I have no intention of shooting it so I'm not going to do anything to it except wipe it down with a gun cloth once in a while. Its a very pretty gun! Thanks again Paul

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I'M thinking of selling this, do you think it's worth $1800? I don't know much about Luger's but have been playing with firearms for 60+ yrs the bore is mint I think the gun is unfired as there is still cosmoline on the bolt face. Its just a real nice clean Luger I see the prices all over the place, beat up one sell for $1400+ thanks Paul

[DavidJayUden]

Yes it is worth that IF and only IF you can get someone to pay it.
You can always come down if necessary.
That is a bit higher than most, so you will need to do some good camera work and marketing to convince a potential buyer that it is worth more than the others.
Good luck and keep us posted.
dju

[22 short]

Thanks!

[DonVoigt]

I didn't see enough pictures to have an opinion of the value of this luger; but if the magazine does not match- I think you will have a tough time getting $1800 for it.

Are the numbers matching? Maybe I missed that , this has been going on for a while!

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Yes it's all matching mag doesn't match thanks

[RShaw]

nice gun from your first photos!! I too have a 1917 DWM- serial no 7097 (no suffix). I have only been here for two months - learning about these historic firearms can become a great passion Mine turns out to be more of a collectable, so I have elected not to shoot it- and soon found a shooter which I can't wait to try out. (Have to wait another 7 months by Dutch law) in the meantime, browsing the stickies and other threads, and getting hold of books on the subject has been great fun and very educational.