Rear Sight on 1900 American Eagle

[skeeter4206]

I have been trying to figure out if all lugers rear sight are dove tailed into the rear toggle mechanism. I recentlt bought one and all the SN match on the toogle for the gun. in fact all numbers that are stamped match (SN 8372). My rear sight is not the V-shaped sight, but a peep sight. I have yet to see another on any of the pictures I have seen on the internet. Im sure the original was lost some time ago and they just replaced it with whatever would work. But the way most of the toogles look on line, appears to be all one piece and not a dove tailed design. I have been curious about this, so if anyone can help me out I would appreciate it.

[IMG]C:\users\gbarnes\desktop\guns\luger\img_4091[/IMG]
[IMG]C:\users\gbarnes\desktop\guns\luger\img_4092[/IMG]

[alanint]

If your pistol is the standard barrel model then there are NO dovetails on a standard A/E Luger's rear toggle link.

A gunsmith machined this for a previous owner. This modification has ruined any collector value the pistol might have had, (but may make it easier to shoot!)

[skeeter4206]

Thats what I was thinking. That really sucks cause everything matches number wise on this gun. I tried to add the pics, did they upload?

[skeeter4206]

What gets me about that part if it was machined to fit that sight, is that it still has the bluing down in the groove. Interesting!!

[alanint]

That would indicate at the very least a reblued toggle link. It is possible that the entire pistol has been reblued. Your photos did not load. If you want to try to upload photos, go the the "advanced" reply button and scroll down until you see where they offer to manage attachments.

[skeeter4206]

[skeeter4206]

These are the pics of my luger. I was reading about how guns that have been reblued have rounded edges, mine are pretty sharp. And when you look at it under a bright light you see some rust stains coming thru, but its hard to see.

[skeeter4206]

I have another question too about the stamp on the inside of the gun. Ive heard it called the flaming bomb and that if it had that stamp it went thru some military inspector. Not saying its one of the test lugers. But I was curious what that stamp meant. Ive seen it on 3 different parts on the gun. An one being the middle link on the toggle. The other 2 are on the actaul body next to the takedown lever and the other next to the barrel.

[Edward Tinker]

no, that is old style thinking about the flaming bomb, it was a DWM inspection marking on earlier guns, it has nothing to do with the military

ref rebluing, it really depends, the reason things get rounded is that folks use a buffing wheel and buff it hard. if done by hand and someone knows what they are doing, then it will be much harder to tell, especially on a old reblue.

What you look for on a luger for reblue is the obvious first, blue inside, the rear toggle link whacks the rear when shooting, when in the blue or barely whacked, that is a good sign it was reblued, look for rounded edges, look for acceptance or markings are not just lightly struck, but seemingly 'wron' off, which would be a reblue

A reblue is cleaning all the old blue off, then rusting it, cleaning (carding the new rust off), then keep doing that until it appears the right color.


Ed

[skeeter4206]

saying that, my american eagle, DMW and 4 diget SN aint very deep. There is pitting around the american eagle and around the inside of the barrel.

Saying that all the known issues with the gun, what kinda value would you put on it. I paid a grand for it 3 months ago. it has the wood base magazine with germany stamped on it. I have shot it, but only 1 clip thru it. But it chambered fine and seemed to shot good. But that damned Ol' rear sight. I knew once I started looking at guns on line, that wasnt right for the gun.

[Ron Wood]

That is an interesting modification. It is no bubba hack job. It was done by a qualified macihinist for someone that liked to shoot. It is a nice early piece with its own unique history and although the collector value has been diminished somewhat it is still a neat gun. For a grand you didn't come off too badly. To me, the pitting around the chamber crest is more of a detraction than the sight.

[Edward Tinker]

I paid a $1,000 for heavily buffed and reblued 1900 in the 10k range 3 or 4 years ago; I would say value would be slightly less now.

The price you paid is about what they go for, saying that, commercial guns sell less than say a military.

I have a couple of 1900's for sale at Legacy Collectables, to include a very nice Test Luger and although there is interest, they just don't sell like say a 1941 byf....


Ed

[John Sabato]

I agree with Ron Wood that this is a very well done modification. It is unfortunate that it was done on a rare model. While the modification could be reversed by a qualified professional machinist/gunsmith...if you price the work required, I am sure that you would find that it would not be inexpensive, and I doubt you would ever recoup your investment in the reversal of the modification back to a standard rear sight.

I recommend that you enjoy it for what it is... a quality shooter that you got for a good price.

[skeeter4206]

Well, I look at it that at least I finally got one and it shots. So thats a plus. It kills me Ron that the american eagle does have the pitting around it. Well I guess Ill stock up on 30 cal and emjoy shooting it and let some others enjoy shooting it as well. Its always cool to have a piece of history.

I do appreciate yall giving me some feed back on this gun. I think I may just have to save up and get another. These old guns are so addictive. My closet is getting full. I just got back from shooting my arisaka 99. It dont have matching numbers, but it is fun to shoot.

Thanks guys!

[Ron Wood]

Enjoy the gun for what it is. Very few folks have a M1900 that is a shooter and even less that have one that was formerly owned by a marksman who modified it to be a tack driver. I don't have a spare $1000 to spend on such a gun, but if I did I would buy it and relish the experience of punching holes where I intended them to go! These early guns were works of art and we sometimes forget that when they were new people shot them, and shot them well.

[skeeter4206]

The one time I did shot it, I was a little impressed. The recoil on the gun was so small. Dont know if it was because of the 30 cal or what. But the 8 rounds a shot (one full clip) had a good grouping at about 30 ft I guess. That day I was just curious if it shot at all. But I had torn the gun all the way down and looked at everything and oiled it up. I had a feeling it would. It took me a minute to figure out how the trigger fired the firing pin though. I would see the pin all the way out until it was almost all the way closed. But I figured it out though.

But either way its a keeper to me. Hell now the rear sight is even more of a conversation piece.

[sheepherder]

I also admire the addition of the peep sight; something I had not thought of...But the aperture is awful big...

I have been putting Redfield peep sights on Enfield No 1 'carbines' lately, and all the peeps like yours are threaded to take whatever size aperture you desire...Which makes me ask, is the inside of your peep threaded??? If so, you could mount different size apertures to it...

...Just a thought...

[skeeter4206]

There are no signs threading. It has a counterbore on one side and flat on the other. and honestly size wise and too bad for the gun. Just my opinion!

[skeeter4206]

Im glad I posted this about the peep sight. It makes me like it even more knowing it may be a one of kind or not many like anyways.

Appreciate yalls thoughts on this

[skeeter4206]

Here is another stamp on the inside ofthe toogle. It is a number "1" and is on the rear part of the toogle that has the peep sight. Is this an inspectors stamp and common. Whats yalls thoughts on this stamp.