Luger p-08

Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
3,516
Location
A Barrier Island
A friend of mine gave this to me after her father passed away last year. He had a large gun collection. I asked for a Luger because he had lot of them. So here I have a 1917 German Navy issued pistol. It looks to be in extra fine condition. No wear marks, no scratches, no disoloration, as shown it is a display. It is real but has had the barrel replaced with a solid one. It has the appropriate magazine. I don't know if it has been fired or could be put back into operating order.

I called a few gunsmiths around here and they all wanted to look at it to give me an idea what would be required to make it functional. I don't think either had lots of experience with Lugers. I know very little about these pistols other than the ones my father brought back from Germany after the war. His sister got them when he died and I've never handled one again until now.

From my cursory examination this appears to be a very nice example.

Questions:

Is it worth the time and $$ to make it work again?
What might it be worth if it does?


16272.jpeg
16270.jpeg
 
you should contact legacy collectables and see what he thinks. he has a youtube channel also.

never seen on like that before and its probably not stock. After war it was common for folks to plate lugers and other guns from the war. in that condition its not worth a lot unless there is provenance that it came that way originally.

are you sure the barrel is solid? could be they filled it with lead ?
 
It looks like it was demilitarized. GIs who went through the official procedure to bring back a souvenir wound up with a non functioning wall hanger as the barrel and internals were intentionally made non functional. I suspect this pistol cannot even have its action cycled. And is it chrome plated? No Lugers ever left their factories with anything other than bluing. And those grips are non original as well. Are the visible serial numbers matching?

A functioning gun with matching numbers would be valued by bona fide collectors, but this one has been ruined.
 
It looks like it was demilitarized. GIs who went through the official procedure to bring back a souvenir wound up with a non functioning wall hanger as the barrel and internals were intentionally made non functional. I suspect this pistol cannot even have its action cycled. And is it chrome plated? No Lugers ever left their factories with anything other than bluing. And those grips are non original as well. Are the visible serial numbers matching?

A functioning gun with matching numbers would be valued by bona fide collectors, but this one has been ruined.
This gun is not a military bring back. It’s a non-firing reproduction. Several companies produced them. You could often find advertisements for them in the back of Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and various hunting or shooting magazines. Franklin Mint was one distributor. It’s for hanging on a wall and nothing more.
Take a look at more examples: https://franklinmint.collectionhero.com/outer/gallery_listings.php?keyword=pistol
 
A friend of mine gave this to me after her father passed away last year. He had a large gun collection. I asked for a Luger because he had lot of them. So here I have a 1917 German Navy issued pistol. It looks to be in extra fine condition. No wear marks, no scratches, no disoloration, as shown it is a display. It is real but has had the barrel replaced with a solid one. It has the appropriate magazine. I don't know if it has been fired or could be put back into operating order.

I called a few gunsmiths around here and they all wanted to look at it to give me an idea what would be required to make it functional. I don't think either had lots of experience with Lugers. I know very little about these pistols other than the ones my father brought back from Germany after the war. His sister got them when he died and I've never handled one again until now.

From my cursory examination this appears to be a very nice example.

Questions:

Is it worth the time and $$ to make it work again?
What might it be worth if it does?


View attachment 134812View attachment 134814
I believe that's where the Ruger Mark I .22lr got it's start. I have held one in rough condition in Wichita at the Cabela's library. I'd enjoy it the way it is. Admire the looks and leave it as it might be quite a bit to make functional.
 
Back
Top