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1910 DWM Luger value?

3.9K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  superc  
#1 ·
Can someone give me a rough idea what a fair price would be for this Luger? All matching except for magazine. Bore has some minor pitting towards the muzzle with strong lands.

http://m.imgur.com/a/tIpL7
 
#4 ·
I would suggest checking Simpson's inventory (on sponsor's page) and compare with their prices minus about 15-20%.
 
#7 ·
Bob's Luger prices are usually more reasonable than those asked on Gunbroker and I personally consider them a good guidance. I also mentioned the 15-20% dealer overhead.
 
#15 ·
It is an early military P.08. Made before the German Army requested they all have stock lugs (end of 1913). What is called an early P.08. Some folks collect only those. Congratulations on the purchase. On the one hand we can argue that obviously it isn't worth more than $850 or the seller would have gotten more. Create an account on Gunbroker, then do a search under Advanced for 1910 Luger and check out past sale prices. That will tell you how much to ask for this week. Sure we have folks here who won't go over 850 because they already have a dozen Lugers sitting in their attic/basement, etc. But as a perusal of past sales on GB shows there are plenty of folks willing to pay 950 to 1400 for a Luger without a matching magazine. BTW, because it is still all matching except for the magazine, I wouldn't classify it as a shooter. I would wait a while. Say until the extractor breaks, or the firing pin, or the breechblock cracks. All those things can happen when Lugers are shot. After you replace the broken part with a non-matching part, then it is a shooter. Until then it is a collectable.
 
#19 · (Edited)
No. I think it depends how you define collectors and also how ancient you are. Certainly no import markings is preferred to a gun with import markings. But we don't intentionally damage an all matching by shooting it just because it arrived in the US after the gun laws changed. Consider Eva Braun's PPK which is believed to be the pistol used by A. Hitler for his own suicide. After the fall of Berlin it fell into Soviet hands (last seen in the Soviet video of Hitler's autopsy) and is presumably in some dusty NKVD/KGB/FSB box in an old Moscow warehouse. Should it be offered for sale to Century Arms, and sold on Classic Firearms, would you refuse to consider it because Century put import stamps on it when bringing it into the US? Fire damaged of course it isn't a shooter anyway, but you get the idea I am sure. Import marks have to be considered in terms of what would otherwise make it a collectable.
If G. Lugers own Baby Luger was re-blued by its current owner or even chrome plated, would you have no interest because of that? Would you decide it is okay to shoot it because it had been re-blued, even though many of the parts are custom parts and you will probably never find a match on Ebay?
Refinished guns fall into two classes. Professionally redone, and amateur jobs. Re-blued by the Wehrmacht itself is also quite acceptable to most collectors. We agree an all matching re-blued or nickeled by someone using a belt sander and a jar of Numrich 44-40 cold blue is worth much less than one not suffering such treatment. Then again the belt sanding probably removed some of the serial number stamps anyway, so it's still being an all matching becomes dubious.
If someone took an all matching and stored it in a damp holster so after a decade or three it was coated with pitting and rust and then it went to one of the four or five professional restoration guys for TIGing up the pits and fully recreating the original blue and straw, would I consider that gun a shooter? No. If I got it at a shooter price I would be overjoyed, but I wouldn't treat it a shooter. Likewise I would expect it to cost more than a true shooter (mismatched with nickel flaking off, etc.)
 
#17 ·
+1 what superc said. That is straight up, to the point, and in your face reality. Velodog is in the hunt with a good dog too. Most milsurp weapon systems are designed to be as bulletproof as possible with the end user firmly in mind and no thought at all to later generations of "collectors". But some systems miss the mark. The P08 is one of these, becoming a status symbol almost form the getgo. Only the wealthy at first, then, when in service, only your superior officers. Then as a war trophy to be envied and a collectible to be coveted. So heed these words. If you want to shoot a Luger and won't rest easy until that is off your bucket list, then get a shooter grade shooter and don't turn a collector grade Luger into a shooter. There are enough of them to go around already. Unless, of course you are wealthy, then we are back where the P08 started and it just won't matter. Even a firing pin replacement will take a biggg bite out of your lunch money.
 
#18 ·
I see you paid a fair price and I'm glad. That wooden bottom mag is also good. I didn't see the overall condition until now and don't think shooting will diminish long term value in the case of this particular P08. Before doing so you should strip/inspect/clean/lube to be safe. Lugers are fussy about lots of different things so do your homework. If firing pin is ok,you are ahead of the game. Never dry fire without a snap cap or an empty case in place. I've seen a broken tip fly out of the barrel more than once and the look on a mans face when he had to pay for a matched American Eagle that he just had to play with. All the gentleman said as he laid down the money (lots of it) was, "Thank you."