...and the trifecta:

very nice pics guys

I have stories about our two Lugers. First, the Luger was a gun my wife always wanted - so my Luger purchases have always been made for my wife, not me.

The first Luger I bought was a papered bring back war trophy, the soldier who brought it back apparently had it refinished - and according to the gun shop... the man shot it often. The papers were almost an afterthought - as in "oh here, these papers go with that gun... you might as well take them too".

That Veteran died and his widow brought it to a gun shop for cash. I paid $800 for it. Most everyone who saw it claimed it to be a $300 gun due to the refinish job - but this gun had more... the original papers. Some say war trophy bring back papers can easily be created, however these papers were so complete and linked to the service man that they are unlikely false. In addition, who would make up papers for a refinished gun?

As we did more research on the gun, it appeared to be rebarreled from .30 Luger to 9mm. The gun likely saw WWI, WWII, and ended up being captured in Viet Nam. The papers actually show that was 1 of 2 guns brought back by that soldier - and are as complete as they get.

I received unsolicited offers in excess of $3,000... My wife made the decision to sell it (as I had bought it for her anyway) - and we sold it to a man who specializes in Viet Nam papered trophys. We sold it for a couple reasons. First, with offers like we received it was apparent it shouldn't be shot - and my wife wanted a Luger to shoot. Second, it joined a group of guns that together were worth more than separate - and to man who seemed sincere.

So here is the pic of her first Luger, which turned out to not be worth the $800 we paid - "because it was refinished..." - and not worth the $300 a refinished Luger would bring "because of the papers..." - but worth at least $3200 shipped and unshootable anyway.



A few months later, I saw this second Luger which had just come into another gun shop from an Estate. They asked $800 and took less - as a shooter. Wasn't much later than that, when now most any decent Luger like this brings $1000 minimum. So overall we did okay. She has her Luger, I feel $750 was reasonable.



I played a trick on my wife. See, everyday she packs my lunch in a small blue cooler - and every night I bring that cooler home and set it down, where she picks it up... empties it, and sets it aside for the next day. The day I bought Luger number 2, the shop had placed it in a zippered gun rug which just fit in that cooler. I came home and left the cooler where I normally would... then went into my bed room to wait for her reaction. I heard her open the cooler, and she made an pissy kind of remark loud enough for me to hear that she "found the new gun I tried to sneak home"... I replied "damn, you're right - you caught me" - "you might as well go ahead and unzipper it" - when she opened it... she realized it was for her - and that I wasn't such a bad guy.

I'm glad my Luger buying experience is over, I'm no expert - but it seems everyone else is. I made a decent profit, although accidentally on the first one... and my wife ended up with one that she can shoot, and has shot.

They are nice guns, works of art. One is enough for us.

1935 G and a 1938......both from an estate sale. They were inside a trunk, sealed since 1946. The G code was wrapped in the Nazi flag they are displayed on. 8th Armored Division

Come on, I know there are some more Lugers out there! Post'em up!

First Luger of my life. Military, all number matching, Mauser S42 1936 dated, WWII.

A few of mine playing nicely together:



1943 FN Browning M1922 (captured by uncle), 1936 P.08, 1944 BYF P.38, and 1916 "Austrian Contract" C96. All matching and non-import.
I love these old things!!!