Is it ok to get a $2000 Luger... then shoot it often?

[Johnson184]

I've been thinking about spending $2000ish on a Luger with matching parts, excellent bore, and great blue/straw condition. I saw a few posts where others say they only shoot their "shooter" lugers. I understand how breaking a part on a "collector" luger would instantly render it as a "shooter" luger, but how likely is this? Seems like these guns were tested thoroughly for the military, and they should be very reliable, no? Are WW1 lugers not as durable as the WW2 lugers due to metallurgical reasons? I'm trying to understand how shooting even 1000-2000 rounds through it each year would be highly risky.

[Ron Wood]

It may not be risky at all...you may get away with it. On the other hand, you are shooting a gun that cost $2000 and is 70 to 100 years old...you break a major part and it is worth $300 to $600. So go ahead and put 1000-2000 rounds through it. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me but it is your money. But for every one you break, that is one less piece of history that survived...and makes the remaining survivors worth just a little bit more while yours is worth bupkis.
And remember, for fine collectable pieces we are not the owner, just the current caretaker. Destroying a collector piece deprives future generations of the opportunity to collect. But perhaps you are only concerned with your interest and the future can take care of itself.

[Edward Tinker]

There are just too many shooter ones out there to buy and shoot than purposely buy a collectable one and shoot it?

I have broken a breachblock, extractor and chipped grips, and I am not a huge shooter. None of those were my collector pieces.

I know guys that buy a nice collectible piece and by gum go and shoot it. Thats their choice.

I will say that my first luger, which I still have is a 1914 Erfurt artillery, it was buffed hard and reblued. Not a bad reblue and after the last 20 years of occasional shooting, it would pass as a 97% original, if it had been 'restored' and not buffed and all reblued....

[Nomadr]

If you have $2000 to spend on a Luger, why not spend $1400 on a nice collectible one and get a good shooter for $600! That would be a win-win situation to me!

Bob

[Hugo Borchardt]

"And remember, for fine collectable pieces we are not the owner, just the current caretaker."

Well said!

Clark

[newluger]

Nomadr's suggestion is a good one. Buy a collector and then also buy a shooter, this way you keep your collector protected and you have a shooter that you can make noise with. Lugers are kinda like Lay's Potatoe chips. Ya just can't have one.

Peter

[wlyon]

Well said Ron. I couldn't agree more. To me we should preserve collectible fireams for the same reason we have museums all over the country,for the preservation of items for future generations to see and enjoy. There are ample shooter class luger to have fun with. Bill

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by nomadr

if you have $2000 to spend on a luger, why not spend $1400 on a nice collectible one and get a good shooter for $600! That would be a win-win situation to me!

Bob

+ 1

[hansfischer007]

For years I have read time after time....some guy will pop up and say.".after looking for 8 or 10 years...finally found my.........(fill in the blank)...and Ive been wanting this pistol for so long....I carefully wiped it down....and now its going into the safe...to be my SAFE QUEEN"........Great...Go ahead and do it....something you have wanted for years...you get it....you lock it up.....10-15 years down the road....God forbid ...you drop dead of a heart attack.....after couple of weeks...safe gets opened.....and guns get handed out....some will be kept..some shot...and some just plain head to the pawn shop....My take on it is.....life is short....enjoy it.....and if you find the ultimate luger youve been wanting....shoot it..!!!...dont just let it stay locked up until you pass on......take it out...show the grand kids what was carried over 100 years ago.....show them how it works.....and I say this from experience....years ago when I lived in Memphis....worked with a guy that was a Colt .45 WW1 Collector....and all his pistols were "Safe Queens"...never shot them.....and I dont remember him ever saying he took them out.........and he had a heart attack......safe was opened....relatives fought over the guns....and within 6 months....they had all been sold...traded...or just plain lost......so think twice about your "Safe Queens".....

[alanint]

That's why serious collectors have the disposal of their guns stipulated in their will. To preserve them.
I can see that we will never agree but I also believe that we are caretakers of history and have a responsibility to preserve as much of it in intact, original condition as possible. With so many shooters available the firing of an original, pristine example without at least swapping out the critical parts is nothing more than an exercise in ego. (because I can).
It feels exactly the same to fire a shooter versus a collector. What's the point?

In a similar vein, this is why car collectors hate Paul Allen so much. He has bought and wrecked several historic race cars....because he can.

[Edward Tinker]

Originally Posted by hansfischer007

......... ............. .......... ................ ............. ................ ..........so think twice about your "Safe Queens".....

uh okay. I am glad that you think EVERY collector is the same.

Many folks display, study and do things with their collections.

I know several collectors who have their collections displayed or have easy access and pull them out and take pictures of items, such as Ron Wood has done on many occasions.

Ed

[rjk-bw42]

Ron's response was excellent and hit all the key points to consider. As a collector, I have a set of firearms I display, study and keep safe, not only for me, but hopefully for generations to come. Then, I have my set of firearms I shoot, most are 20th-century military arms that have had some arsenal rework done, are mismatched and are safe to shoot.

[nukem556]

I dunno...I can see both sides, but to me a firearm is a machine, a tool....to not use it at all is to deny its identity, its purpose for being. I wouldn't own a functional firearm I didn't personally shoot at least ONCE, otherwise it's just a lump of metal.
Conversely, I agree that irreplaceable pieces of history shouldn't be abused or fundamentally altered (if i had a 1902 Carbine, I might put a dozen rounds a year or so through it, but I wouldn't nickle-plate it!).
While we are still a ostensibly free country, you can't make other folks decisions for them though...it makes me ill that guys take P-51 Mustangs and Hawker Sea Furies and chop the wings shorter, soup up the engines and race them at Reno....but hey, they own 'em.

[Wilhelm]

I shoot almost (there are a very few exceptions) everything I own. However, I've come into possession of some really really nice collectors pieces over the years. Pieces so nice that I felt they should be preserved and that to shoot them would be just a crappy irresponsible thing to do. So.....I sold or traded them to folks who would preserve them and appreciate them for the historical artifacts that they are. I still have examples of most of them. But they are examples that are shooter grade. They still shoot the same worn as they do pretty. For me, the most fun aspect of firearms is shooting them. But some stuff you just simply shouldn't shoot.

[MikeP]

I was a shoot 'em all guy til the day I blew up a CYQ P38.
Slide and locking block ruint.

I don't mind a bunch of safe queens-they good trading stock if nothing else.
I grew up in the 50s around some old time collectors with lots of original matchlocks, flinters, etc.

I learned the concept that some pieces are relics and antiques and that there is no reason to mess with them.

To this day I will not **** or open the action of an old piece without permission.
A serious collector ought to catalog and value estimate his stuff.

A stupid burdon on survivors.

[lugercollector]

Shoot em all ....as long as you don't risk getting hurt yourself...here is a G41m and a Luger Carbine at the range.....they did'nt blow up!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg8RCkS31Qs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndvYN4IgIIQ

[Ron Wood]

They didn't blow up...but if and when they do, they are gone forever. You can't go back in time and undo a screwup.

[mrerick]

So Jay,

I think that the simple answer is that if you buy it, you own it and you can do what you want with it.

The issue of whether it's financially wise or even (from a collecting and historic artifact preservation standpoint) moral is a more personal thing.

My judgment of what's good and right could vary quite a bit from yours. As to original Lugers, I'm personally in Ron Wood's camp on this.

Your results may vary.

Marc

[Michael Zeleny]

Originally Posted by Ron Wood

They didn't blow up...but if and when they do, they are gone forever. You can't go back in time and undo a screwup.

I am unmoved by this argument. If I choose to shoot my pristine C96 and break its breechblock in the process, I can just as well afford to have a replica part made and fitted. The repair then becomes a part of the pistol's history, neither more nor less authentic than the wear and tear that it suffered in the XXth century. If Iraqis are allowed to run Tokarev ammo through their Borchardts, so am I.

"What one man can do, another can do." © 1997 David Mamet

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Michael Zeleny

If Iraqis are allowed to run Tokarev ammo through their Borchardts, so am I.

Just my $02, but 7.63 Mauser ammunition should function well in a Borchardt. I don't have a Borchardt to try it on, but as the C96 was developed shortly after the Borchardt, I think it is safe to assume they both functioned satisfactorily with it. The C96 proved more popular than the Borchardt, but both were sold & shot contemporarily for a few short years.