my first spoon! check it out

[NICKG]

well I always wanted one and i found a nice luger at a gun store a few miles from my house. This is a GI bring back and has not been fired in 50 years, it sat in the holster. It is a 1940/42 model, number 4986
it matches with the exception of the side plate. This is a GI take home and has all the waffen proofs and Nazi proofs. I got it for 1200. The magazines do not match, 1 is an original, but it is a very tight fit and the other is a old nickel plated one that fits much better(looser)

my question is about what new magazines to buy? i intend to shoot it and i suspect that i need new ones. what brands work best?




Now I am looking for a GI 45. I have an order in with cmp as well

[Rot 911]

The Pelican of Luger Forums: Pistole Parabellum

[krystar]

wow that's a big leap for a first spoon! hehe grats!

[NICKG]

i was looking at getting a gi 45, i always wanted a luger since my grandfather had one from the war. I was loking at buying a 45 and for what new colts sell for(or a quality one), a GI one is either the same or a bit more $. I can't see buying new and losing $ so i was looking at "real" versions when this came up.

[azasadny]

Very nice find!!

[id10t]

Originally Posted by NICKG

i was looking at getting a gi 45, i always wanted a luger since my grandfather had one from the war. I was loking at buying a 45 and for what new colts sell for(or a quality one), a GI one is either the same or a bit more $. I can't see buying new and losing $ so i was looking at "real" versions when this came up.

Get a Rock Island GI model for $400 or less... inexpensive but they work darn well...

[legion]

Don't fire any +P or +P+ ammo through it. Older firearms aren't built to handle the higher pressures of those loads.

Even if everyone on Pelican agrees that the Luger is stout and can probably handle it, I still wouldn't. You've got something pretty cool that I wouldn't risk hurting.

Oh, and I'm massively, MASSIVELY jealous. You will contact me first if you ever decide to sell.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by legion

Don't fire any +P or +P+ ammo through it. Older firearms aren't built to handle the higher pressures of those loads.

+1

ONLY SHOOT STANDARD AMMO...you do not need any additional clips the ones you have are fine. and they are original military issue mags..

The Side Plate not matching hurts the value...fairly significantly...however you have an orginal holster that makes up for the mis matched part...examine the holster on the backside and tell us what the date of mfg and who the maker is

Your condition is fairly average for these things... at $1200 you done OK..

[NICKG]

the holster is dated 1936 says auwaerter-buseck in VERY faint letters
has a waffenproof as well so it isn't police

I am happy with the price, more because I understand the acual history that I am holding in my hand...it has value that is so much more than a new gun to me. This is the reason why I wanted only the "real deal" in a GI 45.
Oddly since I bought this, I learned that not far from where I worked in Rockland county NY (which has the largets orthodox jewish community outside isreal) is a shop that basically specialises in Lugers...and p38's
I am wanting to get a nice p38 next if I cannot find a nice 45
P38's seem to be all over in values too...

[ODDJOB UNO]

if my memory serves...........some of the WWI artillery models came with 500 meter iron sights. so for all you who think a 9mm is anemic...............well just goes to show how well TEUTONIC ENGINEERING works.


beautiful find. i'm jealous too.


the only reason they were fazed out of production was because building them was labor intensive.

[Henry Schmidt]

Nice find. con grats.
If you're looking for a 1911 model 45 I have a 1918 Colt, a 1943 Norwegian and 1944 Ithica.
All in nice condition.
Since you already have a 9mm how about a 1951 Star model B 9mm box new. It looks and feels just like a 1911 and you only need one type of ammo?

[on2wheels52]

"...........some of the WWI artillery models came with 500 meter iron sights. so for all you who think a 9mm is anemic...............well just goes to show how well TEUTONIC ENGINEERING works."

Some of the High Power's had them also, I wonder what size groups they shot at 500 meters.
Jim

[futuresoptions]

Don't shoot your eye out kid....

[Jeff Higgins]

Cool stuff, Nick. I have a similar WWII GI take-home, acquired from my father in law when I married his daughter 25 years ago. He was the GI...

He gave it to me at a family gathering where I was to meet the extended family, i.e. his siblings and my mother in law's siblings. When he brought it out, one of his sisters exclaimed "why Orv, I didn't know you had a gun!"

"Got it from a German acquaintance in Italy."

"Why, that was awful nice of him..."

He still rolls his eyes over that one. Old Orv walked clear across North Africa and then all the way from the tip of Italy to Berlin. All he has to show for it is a Purple Heart and this old gun.

[azasadny]

Star PD .45ACP from 1978, fired 50 times (by me)

[NICKG]

Jeff, that is one for the future...I am definetly looking for a p38 as soon as I get over this "fundzarlo" I have...

[Jeff Higgins]

P-38's are certainly great guns, but I'm afraid they just are not for me. I'll keep this one forever, obviously, and I have shot it a great deal. It shoots great and is as reliable as the day is long. It just feels weird in my hand. It's very oddly balanced, very muzzle light, with all of its weight right there in your palm. It feels really whippy and flighty, for lack of a better description.

1911's feel much more natural in my hand. They balance better and "hang" better, with a good deal more muzzle weight. The triggers are far better as well. I don't like double action autos in the least. If I were ever in a serious situation, like the war these both served in, I would feel much better about a 1911 on my hip than a P-38. But, then again, I would feel much better with a '98 Mauser in my hands than a Garand, or even an '03A3 Springfield.

The Luger is certainly the most collectable of the military sidearms of the period. They are just plain cool, to boot. A poor third choice in the hierarchy of the period's fighting handguns, with lots of problems with reliability and durability, but we really don't have to care about that anymore. The cool factor carries the day. Neat stuff...

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

P-38's are certainly great guns, but I'm afraid they just are not for me. I'll keep this one forever, obviously, and I have shot it a great deal. It shoots great and is as reliable as the day is long. It just feels weird in my hand. It's very oddly balanced, very muzzle light, with all of its weight right there in your palm. It feels really whippy and flighty, for lack of a better description.

1911's feel much more natural in my hand. They balance better and "hang" better, with a good deal more muzzle weight. The triggers are far better as well. I don't like double action autos in the least. If I were ever in a serious situation, like the war these both served in, I would feel much better about a 1911 on my hip than a P-38. But, then again, I would feel much better with a '98 Mauser in my hands than a Garand, or even an '03A3 Springfield.

The Luger is certainly the most collectable of the military sidearms of the period. They are just plain cool, to boot. A poor third choice in the hierarchy of the period's fighting handguns, with lots of problems with reliability and durability, but we really don't have to care about that anymore. The cool factor carries the day. Neat stuff...

The Colt 1911 has surpassed the Luger as a collectable firearm...a Singer WW2 contract 1911A1 sold this last weekeend for $163,000.00 at Rock Island Auctions...

It is true that an original Luger in 45 ACP that was used in the US Army Trials in the early 1900's has gone for over 300K. and had at one time sold for 1M USD. Lugers required a lot of machining and thus were costly and time consuming to mfg. Their reliability when put into the lesss than pristine world of combat also made them a finicky gun under those circumstances.

I see a lot of Lugers, WW1 and WW2 1911's, 11A1's and WW2 P38's for sale. I saw a really nice WW1 US mil 1911 go for $1500 this last weekend. An average P38 goes from $450 to about $900 and Lugers go from $750 to just under $2000 for a run of the mill...Genrally a nice 1911 US miltary will go for $1200 to $2000 for nice condition...If you want super clean let us try 3K for a Union Switch and Signal...Super clean WW1 military..4K to 5K...or for a Remington WW1 UMC in mint codition...11K...For a 2 matching mag and holster Luger in 95% condition $2500 to $3700. A nice Luger Artillery starts at $1800 and goes to $3000, A Navy Luger $4500 to $7000...and we are not talking about any special contract type of stuff either.

I know a guy who can take any Luger and make it so perfect an expert can not tell it has been reworked the same is true of the 1911's...

To tell the truth I see so much of this stuff it bores me...the only thing that still interests me are the pre WW1 commercial and Military Colt 1911's..especially with very low serial numbers.

Here is what to keep your eyeballs scaning for

1. Walther HP P38...whiich is a pre WW2 COMMERCIAL, they had a nice high polish blue where as the militay contract had a rougher or brushed blue finsih.

2. Colt 1911A1's in the 700,000 to 729,000 SN range...these were the interwar years military contract 1911's, with the bulk being made starting in the late 1930's. These are hard to find in great condition as these were used up and beaten to death during WW2..

3 Colt 1911 Commercials with a SN under 4600, as they had the earlier high gloss finish...the pre WW2 commrcials all have a "C" prefix to the SN. Generally any pre WW1 commercial or military is very desirable.

4 Colt 1911A1 PREWAR National Match 45 ACP or Super Match 38 Super...let us just say expensive..

[on2wheels52]

Another German military model




(and a Colt to keep from being boring)
Jim

[azasadny]

I have some old handguns (Ortgies, M1911A1's, Colt 1908, Remington Model 51) that I don't shoot because I'm afraid that something will break and I'll have to repair/replace parts. I shoot all of my newer guns, but not the "vintage" ones...