My First One!!

[Redcoat3340]

So today my package same, the FedEx guy got my signature and I got my Luger! My first.

Here are the details:

Purchased from Simpsons.
S/42 Marked 1938 on the slide.
Serial # is 1745 and on the front of the frame it's marked
1745
h (in script)

All parts match (I've had it apart)
Bore is good.
Mag is not original (need another mag)
Bluing is about 80%
A bit of light marking/pitting on the left side of the sight "band"
A loose safety....it's a bit too easy to manipulate

And I cannot find an import mark....so should I assume it came into the country before 1968?

Haven't had it to the range yet but hope to get there Sunday.

Here's some pictures.

All comments, information, whatever would be greatly appreciated. I paid around $1200 for it...was that a fair price?

[unitedcs]

Very Nice

[sheepherder]

A fair price from Simpson's, I'd say.

Before you start bending the safety lever, take it out and clean/scrub the underside of it (you'll have to take it out if you decide to bend it anyway). You'll need to drive out the pin from inside the frame, after disassembling it. I use a brass brush and I found that a glob of gunk was lifting the safety up slightly, just enough so the the nub wouldn't seat in the depression. After reassembly, mine worked fine - no bending required (a chancy procedure IMO).

[Ron Wood]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

...You'll need to drive out the pin from inside the frame...

From the top not the bottom!!

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Ron Wood

From the top not the bottom!!

Wow! That's pretty! You been practicing???

[wlyon]

The grips are not original. They appear to be Swiss. What do the grip straps look like? Can't tell from the pictures. Should make a great shooter. Glad you got one. Enjoy. Bill

[Ron Wood]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Wow! That's pretty! You been practicing???

A number of years ago I was contacted by an individual that was trying to remove the safety lever. I attempted to explain in writing how to remove the pin. He couldn't grasp what I was talking about and proceeded to grind away on the frame at the top so that he could drive the pin out from the bottom. I repeated the instructions. He told me he ground some more and still couldn't get it out! I then drew that picture for him...never heard from him again. I have been hanging on to that illustration ever since then and have posted it a couple of times when the topic came up.
Ron

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Ron Wood

...I was contacted by an individual that was trying to remove the safety lever. I attempted to explain in writing how to remove the pin. He couldn't grasp what I was talking about and proceeded to grind away on the frame at the top so that he could drive the pin out from the bottom. I repeated the instructions. He told me he ground some more and still couldn't get it out!.

... ...I am speechless...

But many years ago I had a similar experience with a 1964 MG Midget I was selling...The buyer wanted to de-chrome it (thin chrome strips on each side)...I pulled them off, removed the plastic clips, exposing 6 or 8 1/8" holes on each side...I told him to tap the hole in a bit so the bondo wouldn't be hanging in space...Then we'd sand it down...The next day, he showed up with dents a 1/4" deep and three or four inches across on each hole...

My heart literally sank and a deep depression came over me...I knew he had turned a couple minutes of sanding into days and days of grinding and sanding...We had words...

Since that day, we have not spoken or even acknowledged each other...I had dated his sister and had known him since childhood...I still get depressed now just thinking about it...

[ithacaartist]

Rich, I feel your pain.

Sometimes our ability to set forth technical issues clearly is totally overpowered by the recipient's ability to confuse them and totally misunderstand them. Just like Alice's Restaurant, we can have the case really together--all the glossy 8" X 10's and whatnot, and discover too late that the judge is blind!

I once acquired a small sheet of brass that was needed for a memorial plaque to be attached to a project, but I needed it sheared. It was large enough for two plaques, but the BOCES-fresh guy that tried to perform the task in the shop made his first cut so that the material yielded exactly no usable pieces.

[Sky Zero]

Ithaca,

the problem usually lays with the one conveying the message; especially on the internet, people tend to use terms and lingo to newbies that they don't understand. You really habe to dumb down what you're trying to get across to someone unfamiliar with any specific field. you can't use technical terms at first

[ithacaartist]

I sell on Gunbroker and try really hard to make my descriptions clear and accessible. My listings display or link to all the other info--name, address, email, and are explicit about the extra charge for PayPal. When I buy something myself, sending payment is my next step. All the info one needs is right there in everyone's listings. All anybody has to do is read, and follow simple directions.

It seems to me that no matter what steps are taken to make things simple enough to be understood by a beginner, there are always some--including old-timers--who have to be taken by the hand and led every step of the way.

I always leave a dimensioned sketch, materials specified along with any other special considerations, when having outside processing or fabricating done. The kid who chopped my brass couldn't read a tape measure. "Sixty-eight and two big marks and one little one past the halfway mark..."

[Sky Zero]

Originally Posted by ithacaartist

It seems to me that no matter what steps are taken to make things simple enough to be understood by a beginner, there are always some--including old-timers--who have to be taken by the hand and led every step of the way.

You sure do! It's simple to us, but complex to them.

[ithacaartist]

Yes, it takes all kinds. I will lower the bar of my expectations a bit further. If this keeps up, I'll have to dig a trench for it.