1937 S/42 Help with ID

[Richard]

First time on this forum and it looks like I came to the right place for help in ID'ing my inherited P-08. My father bought the pistol in Oklahoma in the early 50's and we have never done anything to it. The pistol is marked as follows:


1937 on the top of the receiver just behind the barrel, S/42 on the top of the toggle, serial number 26XX on the side of the receiver near the barrel and on the front of the receiver under the barrel, no scripted letter at all with the serial number, all small parts numbered with the matching "XX" number, straw coloring on the extractor (on the top of the toggle), on the ejector (narrow strip of metal on the right side of the receiver), and on the safety block that contacts the toggle when the gun is put into "Geschert" mode. I didn't see any other exterior visible straw coloring. It is mostly bright blue with the appropriate wear on the barrel tip and side plate, guessing about 80-90% remaining. The checkered wood grips are original with a few scratches/scuff marks. There are only two proof marks on the exterior of the pistol, located next to each other near the front of the frame on the right side (looking from the rear of the pistol toward the front sight). It has a lanyard loop at the rear of the receiver and the backstrap has been groved at the bottom (for a shoulder stock?). The barrel is 4" in length. The proof marks (without a magnifying glass) appear to be some sort of wings over smaller marks that I can't read. The magazine that came with it has an aluminum bottom, but is cracked near the feed lips and I have replaced it with a couple of Stoger stainless mags.


Anyway, does anyone out there have an idea of what I've got. I want to know if it has any special value, because if it does not, I was thinking about taking it to Gary Reeders shop, which is just around the corner from where I live, and have it specially engraved with our family name, refinished, etc., as an heirloom for our family.


Sorry about the longwinded post. I really appreciate any help you can give me.


Thanks,

Richard

Don't want to sound like a smartass, but, you have an S/42 1937 date. {early with straw parts)


Standard Catalog of Military Firearms gives value of $1100 for VG-$1300 for Exlt


DON'T ENGRAVE-EMBELLISH-MODIFY-CHANGE-MARK-ENHANCE THAT GUN!


The Shadow Knows

hehehehehehehehe

[bill m]

Hi Richard,

Something is not quite correct with this gun. The 1937 S/42 started about the P suffix block and ran into the B suffix block. From the P suffix to about the mid T block these Lugers had strawed parts, and after that they switched to the all blue salt blue finish with all small parts being blued. If your Luger does not have a letter suffix on the frame below the serial number,(under the barrel), then it should not have strawed parts as it is a late made 1937 S/42. The serial number range went from P,Q,R,S,T--U,V,W,X,Y,Z,no suffix,A, and B -- so you can see where approximately in the year your production was. ALSO, the extractor is never a strawed color, and is always blue.

[Thor]

Your Lugers worth will probably go down if you refinish or engrave it. If it has the original finish, I would leave it as it, a great heriloom in existing condition! ~Thor~

[Johnny Peppers]

A 1937 S/42 in the no suffix block should have all blued small parts. The extractor would not have been strawed even if in the strawed range. Production of the 1937 S/42 started in the p suffix block and the strawed parts ended in the t suffix block.

Look inside the sideplate, and the first two digits of the serial number should be found there.

In its present condition, it is a valuable heirloom. If you engrave it, it will lose most of its value. Engraved, polished and otherwise altered lugers are a "dime a dozen" but unaltered lugers are "scarce as hen's teeth" (I am suffering from a cliche bug today).


Many owners seem to have chromed, engraved soc sec number or service number, or reblued their old lugers. They appear all the time at shows and in junk gun piles. Yours, on the other hand, is a prize of originality that your heirs will thank you many times over for NOT engraving or messing up.


Congratulations. I suspect your 1937 date, Mauser-made (that is what the S/42 means), luger has a script suffix letter on the front of the frame below the barrel. Look closely. Don't shoot this gun unless you use substitute grips because the right grip has a fragile rib on the inside and the left grip likes to chip (old walnut--use new substitute grips). The mag has value even thoug it is cracked and especially if it is orig to the pistol (look at serial number).


Dave

My experience has been that most folks, including some gun people, would not know a Luger suffix if it ran over them!


Take another look....it is probably some kind of 'squiggley thingee'....that does not look like a letter to us yanks! It may be quite a bit below the SN on the frame [front of the frame....under the barrel]


The Shadow

[Richard]

You guys are great. In response to your helpful replies I offer the following information:


Shadow: No offense taken about stating the obvious, I was just trying to get more specific information about my pistol. I read through some of the archives on gunandknives.com and previous posts on this forum and was confused by why I had straw parts where there should have been none. My engraving moment of madness has vanished. I looked and looked without a magnifying glass and could find no script letters anywhere. When I get a visual aid, I'll post if there is a script letter to be found.


Johnny Pepper: There are no marks inside the sideplate. The last 2 digits of the serial number are marked on the outside of the plate and they match all the other last two numbers. The straw parts I noted earlier are definitely all straw and numbered to match all the other small parts. the ejector(?) on the right side of the frame is almost a reddish/straw color. The extractor (on top of the toggle) is also definitely strawed.


bill m: See Johnny Pepper response above. No suffix anywhere.


Thor: I won't engrave it!


mlm: Again, no script letter. Maybe the origial magazine isn't cracked. I saw what appear to be diagonal cuts in the top of the magazine, at the upper end of the thumb button slot, on both sides of the magazine. I took them for cracks, but they appear to be intentionally created. The magazine is blued (fairly shiney) with an aluminum bottom. I couldn't find a serial number (where might it be located?).


NEW DEVELOPMENTS:


I think I may have discovered a fatal flaw. The trigger does not have the same number as all the other parts. It appears to have the nunber 03 or D3 on it.


The barrel also has the same serial number as the rest of the pistol, marked very faintly on the bottom of the barrel near the frame.


SUMMARY:


It appears that I have a 1937 S/42 pistol in the no suffix range, with a mismatched trigger and matching number straw parts that should not be there. Does the mismatch trigger destroy the guns value?


The mystery continues.

Thanks for any additional responses.


Richard