Russian capture Luger question?

[lonegunman]

Anybody got one? Anybody know anything useful, entertaining or of historical interest about them? How about just an opinion of the one I bought?


I picked up a Russian capture BYF 42 Luger the other day and was wondering the usual stuff, did I pay to much, are they desirable in any way does anyone else have one and what shape was it in?

It has a few mixed parts but quite a few of the small parts, barrel and frame are all matching, the toggle and sideplate are not. It has a fairly decent set of wood grip panels with a chip missing near the safety and a slight frost in the bore. One faint "X" mark and most of the German proofs are intact. The mag is pretty run of the mill and non-matching. It has the typical Russian black dipped finish.

I was interested in it because I like WWII era guns and it was about as reasonable as a Luger gets in price. I also have a BYF 42 marked P-38 and 98K so it had an appeal because of that. The P-38 is a bring back my Dad collected on the battlefield.

 

[Dr.Rob]

You probably have a pistol worth 800-1000 depending on finish wear aka a 'shooter grade' Luger. Pics will help but a Luger's value start to drop when anything but the magazine is non matching. www.lugerforum.com has all manner of info on these neat old guns.

 

[jonnyc]

A good Russian Capture is worth about $800-900, depending on how much is matching. Mine is all matching except for the side plate. I really like mine and it's an excellent shooter. Mine came with the "slanted groove" Russian grips, and I actually prefer them to standard Luger wood grips. They look good and work good. What more could you ask for in a Luger?