Can I Ask For Luger ID Help Here ?

Hi All !! I'm new to this forum... I just discovered it via browsing over at Ralph Shattuck's site. I own one Luger (that's all!) that I'd like to get some info on (rarity, value, etc (the usuals)). I may be just another newbie with another fantastic "grandfather/uncle" story... so to minimize bandwidth... I'm asking beforehand whether such banter is "OK" here... if not, please advise where I can otherwise bring my ridiculous Luger story that I have to share...


Thanks All !


Billy G.

Of course, there's a "Long Story", and there's a "Short Story"... ha-ha!! Sooo... here's the real Short Story:


My piece is an S/42 "1936" dated specimen with the usual military proof markings (E/63, plus the standard more-feathered Eagle). No parts seem to be "stawed". The only piece of a clearly different metal is the 'bullet-in- chamber indicator'(a dark copper-color).


What seems odd about this piece is it's superb over-all level of finish. It's exterior is of a polished "mirror like" finish... the barrel interior is rifled and also highly polished. All interior surfaces appear to be highly polished (though not quite as mirror-like as the exterior).


Though I'm a "one gun guy", I've seen & handled several hundred Lugers at shows over the years (plus I own a few books - such as Still - on the topic). I've never seen in person or in print any S/42 Luger that approaches this one in quality. I live in a very restictive NE US state... so I've never been allowed to take my piece out for show & tell.


One Luger collecting fellow (I saw his 27 Luger collection)who saw my piece (in 1985) offered me a fantastic story about this being one of a special "celebratory" production of 200 pieces that initially came off of the Masuer production lines in 1936 (only of which 3 were known to still exist in 1985). I've never seen or heard of this story any place since. I suspected the guy was full of hooey... but his cash looked real... and he offered me alot of it (I didn't take it).


The "Long Story" covers where this family heirloom came from (perhaps the all-too-familiar "Uncle-to-Grandfather-to-Me" bit), and the longer details on the hooey-sounding Mauser story of the 1985 Luger collector.


Does anybody have any insight into this ? Are such way-pretty S/42 1936's easy enough to come by... at least, easier than just 3 (ha-ha!) ?


Thanks for your time & efforts !


Billy G.

Billy G.,

There are no dumb questions here.

Sometimes a laugh but always an answer for those who seek to learn.

Just ask away and you will soon have some Knowledge Person coming up with the answer.

That is in most cases, Unless your question leads to debate then -

EVERYBODY ANSWERS !

Welcome to the new guy on the block, Please join in and become a regular participant.

Now see if you can stump the Forum Regulars.

Lots of luck .

ViggoG

[Thor]

1936 Mauser Lugers (S/42 coded and 1936 Chamber dated) are documented as being having strawed parts and with rust blued finish. The extractor color is common for 36-39 dated Mauser Lugers and is a function of the hardness of the metal and time/temp of the salt bath. The lack of strawed parts and the high polish you describe sugguest to me that you have a refinished (not original Luger) Is the color of the bluing gray/blue or gray/black? If you take it out in the sunlight do you see any brownish oxidation under the finish? Is the safety marking "Gesichert" painted in a ivory white/off white color or is it blued steel. I have not heard or read of any special issue 1936 Lugers except the story you have just related to us. ~Thor~

Hi Thor:


OK... there are no signs of "bluing"... "grey/black" IS a more appropriate description... I'm not sure about seeing brownish oxidation under the finish in Sunlight (I'll look for this in tomorrows daylight)... "Gesichert" is stamped - certainly not painted, again, no signs here at all of any "bluing".


BG

Billy G, Welcome aboard. If your 1936 PO8 is in the 6xxxg range and has a sear safety (spring rivited to frame on rear end & a pin that goes thru the top of the side plate on the front end) it may in fact be one of only 200 units made for the police in 1936.

Hi Tom:


My safety appears to be the regular (non-Police issue) variety.


My serial number(s) are a bit confused...


Do you know where I can find a bit-mapped graphic display of the German character set used in the Luger serial #'s ? I don't know this font set, and my character may be either: "a" "o" "p" "q" ... or even something else entirely.


BG

[Thor]

Billy, look under Technical information then go to MARKINGS, then go to Letter suffixes. It helps me a lot! Your Luger would have had a blue tint to the bluing (rust bluing) and have the safety painted in when it was finished by the factory. Thor

[Johnny Peppers]

The 1936 dated Lugers fell into the f to p suffix blocks if this helps to narrow it down.

[bill m]

Hi,

I think there was possibly a very few 1936's with all blue parts and with the salt blue finish. As I remember seeing one gun and hearing of another. They were Navy proof marked and had all blue parts and had the salt blue finish. These were all original and the question was just why did a 1936 Navy have a mid to late 1937 finish? No answer to this, but they were real. The one I saw was all original, and the other one the guy told us he thought it was wrong with the blued parts and had the small parts strawed. When he saw this one, he about fainted. With out the Navy property markings, I'd say your gun was not correct with blued small parts.

[Thor]

Thanks BILL!!! I learned something new today! I appreciate it! Thor (just hope I can remember it now)

Hi Bill M:


I guess that's the conclusion then... this gun is NOT correct: It has no special property markings (Navy or otherwise); No part is "blue" (or of blue hints) in any light (all shades of black & very shiney); No parts are "stawed" (though the extractor is plainly a beautiful deep highly-polished copper); My "Gesichert" has plainly never been painted; My alpha character suffix is an odd-ball emblem that I can't find on any charts (including the 2 posted on this web site).


If this finish is an "after-market" job... it's very consistent and impressive throughout. Like I've said, the few people who've seen it all agree that they've never seen anything like it. That's my reason for originally posting to this site... I was hopeful somebody might know this variety (that I can't find adequate info on anyplace else either).


If I want more definitive feedback then such email speculations as these, I guess I need to smuggle it (past the storm troopers of my liberal state here) to a national show some day. If I can only make one, can you recommend the best show to meet the most amount of Luger afficionados ? Hopefully I don't need to jump through hoops to bring my piece in ?


Thanks for your time & efforts.


Bill G.

Hi Thor:


Thanks for the idea... however, I checked these lists out before I asked, and like every other similar list I've already seen... my alpha prefix character is NOT shown. I suspect that my mark is either an intentional special symbol, or (more likely) a hand mistake of some sort (maybe it's intended to be an "a", a "p", or a "q"... but it's plainly not (looking at all the different translation charts). Maybe too, it's a very old representation of one of the German characters... that's a possibility.


My luger is not "blue" nor does it exhibit any blue tints in any kind of light. It's definitely various shades of black... and very shiney.


My saftey is not painted in.


As Bill M. concludes, my variation here sounds odd and unusual enough to conclude that my piece is not correct. If so... it's some hell of a good "after-market" job... ha-ha !!


Thanks for your time & efforts !


Billy G.

Hi Johnny:


My problem here is that my aplha prefix character is a bit unusual, I don't recognize it, and it doesn't appear on any chart I've seen (including the two we have posted on this site). I suspect 3 different possibilities here: the character is wrong (the workman slipped and created an odd one of a kind mistake character); the character is very old German (that any 1930's literate German might recognize, but that myself in 2001 does not); or... it's an intentional special character of some sort.


Is it possible to post an illustration (jpg) of this emblem here someplace so that others can pass their opinion on it ?


Thanks for your time & help.


Billy G.

[BILL]

Well, you can always take pictures of it and post them here (including the letter suffix). A digital camera is nice but a flatbed scanner even seems to work as long as you save the picture in jpg format.

[Thor]

Billy, it is always hard to give a Luger owner an opinion such as I did today! I always hope that the gun is some special type, there ARE finds out there. I had a gun sent to me to rework that was one of these, and I didnt recongize it (nor work on it), and I got in touch with a dealer and he contacted the owner and he thought it special enough to purchase it. A nice Looking Luger is always worth money! It is fun to find out details but not always the answer at the end you want. I think having some other collectors look at it, is certainly worth it, and you will meet some great people. Good luck on your quest! You have a nice Luger which not everybody can say they have! That to me, is worth a lot! If it makes you feel good, it special indeed! Thor

[Thor]

Yes, it is possible! I would love to see it! I actually do this quite a bit and ask other posters for their opinion of a suffix I am not entirely sure of! If you can scan it and get it into a jpg formate or take a closeup picture with a digital camera you can use the "upload photo" tool at the top of the message board index page! Thor