[Hiaboo]

Linked from his webspace, helping him out.

The pictures are not linked except the first one becuase it's rather large -- I'm thinking it's a luftwaffe, but it's polished? becuase it's either polished (no bluing) or plated. He got it from his grandfather who brought it back from germany -- papers included.

http://webpages.charter.net/paul21/Gun/Big.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/paul21/Gun/Logo.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/paul21/Gun/Safety.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/paul21/Gun/Inspection.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/paul21/Gun/Magazine.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/paul21/Gun/Serial.jpg

[SDC]

I'm certainly no Luger expert, but going by the longer barrel, the stock lug, the grip safety and the rear sight, I think it's a 1906 Navy that has been re-polished and nickeled (:what: ). No idea what they're going for, but you can bet that it would be a lot more if it hadn't been "pimpified".

Edit to add: This guy on gunbroker is asking $2400 for one in the original blued configuration.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=65355239#PIC

[Jim K]

I agree that it is a 1906 Navy (crown M marks). Whether the gun has been polished and plated or just polished down is not really important, it has been destroyed as a collectible. The magazine is not original; it is WWII.

In nice condition, that gun would bring around $5000; as it is, it would probably not bring a fifth of that.

After WWII, it was a fad for returning GI's to have their souvenir Lugers nickel or chrome plated, and plastic "ivory" or "pearl" grips put on. They did their descendants no favor.

Jim

[Hiaboo]

From looking at the pictures, I gotta agree that it's a 1906. That's really too bad about the collectible value. Although in his case it's more of an uh, family heirloom and so forth.. I think it'd be really nice if it was left in its present state but cleaned up.. But that's just me.

[Trebor]

Yep, that's a Luger that a GI obtained as a souveniour and had nickeled in Europe. That was a really common thing to do to war trophy pistols right after the end of WWII and during the occupation of Germany.

There is still some collecter interest in these GI bringbacks in some cases. Does he have the "capture papers" from the original GI who brought the gun back? If so, someone may be interested in the whole package.

The gun will never bring as much as if it was unmolested though.

[Jim Watson]

It is getting to be socially acceptable to have Bubbaed or worn examples of otherwise desirable guns professionally restored. A restored gun is not worth nearly as much as a correct original in good shape, but it will fill a niche in the market as the pristine originals retreat into museums or are swapped around among affluent collectors at ever higher prices.

Real restoration is not cheap, though. Doug Turnbull described paying, as I recall, $2000 for an uncommon but beat up and altered Winchester, putting $3000 parts and labor into it, and selling it for $7000. It would have been worth $12,000-$15,000 if original.

There was a Luger specialist mentioned here a while back but I did not bookmark his site because I no longer own a Luger.

[popeye]

Yeah who knew. I remember seeing Lugers in Outdoor Life magazine in the '50's for $50. I should have bought all the '55 Chevy Nomads I could find about 45 years ago.

[Jim K]

I doubt any reasonable restoration is possible with that gun. It looks like a lot of metal was removed in polishing (spelled "grinding") it down for the plating and usually that can't be replaced. Working the parts down to square the corners will ruin them, and building up with weld is tricky and potentially dangerous.

Just planing a slide or doing a CH job is one thing; restoring metal can be done but is extremely costly.

Jim

[Jim Watson]

You are probably right about the difficulty of a full restoration on this Navy, but if he gave it to me, I would at least look hard for somebody to get the bumper chrome off of it and make it blue again. Friend of mine has one of the Finnish surplus 1923s with Tikka 9mm replacement barrel and "arsenal refinish" apparently done by the newest apprentice at the arsenal. It won't stand close examination but it sure looks better than if it were plated.

[Gordon]

I'd shoot the heck out of it! Nice shooter! Also the holster is a modified USGI rig.:uhoh:

[Jim K]

Even those WWII GI holsters are getting pricey these days. That guy really was into wrecking collectible stuff.

Jim

[Hiaboo]

Who knows about wrecking stuff -- It was a bring back by his grandfather. I doubt he was thinking of the value of it down the road. Thanks for your information and help!