What about Baby Lugers

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There were four or five orginial .32 ACP / .380 ACP real baby Lugers made at the DWM factory tool room in 1925-26.
They are so rare as to be almost a myth. But they are real, and VERY expensive.
Like $250,000+ expensive.

Later in the 1980's?, Michael Krause of Krausewerk Collectible's in San Mateo, California built a limited number of exact replaca's. They went for $12,500 or so.

Then there was the Martz 9mm baby Luger made by cutting down full size P-08's in both barrel length & grip / magazine capacity. Gunsmith was/is John Martz of Lincoln, California.
They sell in the $3000.00+ range.

Then there was the Era Werk .380 ACP baby Luger. It was a cheaply made gun with a cast zink frame. They sell for $400 - $500 now.

Probably some others I missed, but those are the top four I recall right now.

I don't think there are any Baby Luger's currently being made on a factory production basis.

rc
 
IMO: Luger's are a wonderful piece of history, and a tribute to a long ago gun-makers level of skill & art that is no longer affordable in mass produced firearms, or attainable with unskilled factory workers.

It is an obsolete 100 year old design that didn't work all that well as a fighting handgun even when it was in use as such.

Today, almost any modern combat handgun is far more reliable, and far more likely to work when dirty, or clean.

rc
 
Then there is Walther and Makarov and who can forget Kalashnikov and now Glock. Browning's 100 year old design still doesn't work well and never will IHO. I won't have one if you gave me one.
 
Browning's 100 year old design still doesn't work well and never will IHO.
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That is a ridiculous statement.
And it has nothing to do with the OP's question about Baby Luger's.

FYI: Try to find one modern handgun that is not based on Browning's short-recoil locked breech design.
It survived not only in the 1911, but in SIGs and Glocks and every other brand you look at.
There are no toggle-locked auto pistols being made today.

Sorry we got off track there OP!

rc
 
Roadkill said:
Might want to rethink that comment.
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Nope, I still would not have one if you gave me one. Military Scrap and justifiably so, glad to see them go! There are far better designed pistols in this world and a blow back Hi Point .45 will fire that same antiquated .45 round just as good in my opinion.

My comment was made to the European gun designers that were far superior to anything Browning ever thought up. His designs was crude at best and lacked refinement that has come over the locked breach gun design world. It is not 1911 any more either. But this is just my opinion. I think the Europeans design and manufacture the best guns ever made. I think Makarov was a far better designer than Browning could ever be. His design is still being used as well as Carl Walther and Kalashnikov. John Moses Browning was not a god and a very crude weapons designer.
 
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hooterman
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadkill
Might want to rethink that comment.
Click to expand...
Nope, I still would not have one if you gave me one. Military Scrap and justifiably so, glad to see them go! There are far better designed pistols in this world and a blow back Hi Point .45 will fire that same antiquated .45 round just as good in my opinion.

My comment was made to the European gun designers that were far superior to anything Browning ever thought up. His designs was crude at best and lacked refinement that has come over the locked breach gun design world. It is not 1911 any more either. But this is just my opinion. I think the Europeans design and manufacture the best guns ever made. I think Makarov was a far better designer than Browning could ever be. His design is still being used as well as Carl Walther and Kalashnikov. John Moses Browning was not a god and a very crude weapons designer.
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Don't stop there.........tell us more.

(I love it when the kids are out of school)
 
If you're looking to buy a baby Luger the ERMA models can be had for under $400 usually, problem is they are prone to breakage and parts are drying up. A search on gunbroker for ERMA pistols will usually get several results.

The originals are so rare as to be unshootable.
 
This post brings up a good point for me at least. I shot alot when I was young my father being a military man. But never paid attention to what I was shooting. Now I'm older and want what I felt were cool guns or good shooting guns so I'm asking him what they were and a big one from my child hood is a Baby Luger which is owned by my fathers friend who will not part with it even for a good chunck of change.

Thanks Hanibal for the flash back that is a dream gun for me also.
 
Lessee, now, hoot, you mean that John Browning who licensed numerous designs to FN which the last time I looked was in Europe and staffed by those fine old world craftsmen? The craftsmen and designers who called Mr Browning "The Master?"

Or the John Browning whose crude designs were so popular that they were copied by old world craftsmen because they could not come up with anything better? Including DWM, main manufacturer of the Luger,who made a very nice knockoff of the FN-Browning 1910 after they realized they could not build .32 Lugers at a competitive price.
 
Jim Watson said:
Lessee, now, hoot, you mean that John Browning who licensed numerous designs to FN which the last time I looked was in Europe and staffed by those fine old world craftsmen? The craftsmen and designers who called Mr Browning "The Master?"

Or the John Browning whose crude designs were so popular that they were copied by old world craftsmen because they could not come up with anything better? Including DWM, main manufacturer of the Luger,who made a very nice knockoff of the FN-Browning 1910 after they realized they could not build .32 Lugers at a competitive price.
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Jim, My dislike for Browning's designs has nothing to do with the OP question regarding Luger in 7.6 or 9 mm. I have a .32 in my safe that I shoot occasionally.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SearchResults.aspx
 
That newbie IS a HOOT !
FWIW the Ermas were fun, but shortlived and rightfully so. A bear of a gun to disassemble and put back together. I sold my .22 and .380 Erma in the 80s before they broke which was about 1000 rounds in the .22 and maybe 150 rounds in the .380. The Stroeger Luger was another turkey that seems to break quickly, but for Hi Point fans they would be happy.
 
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hooterman said:
The Europeans figured out a long time ago that small bullets kill people too. They are the best gun makers in the world in my judgment. Love those old "Knee Action" Luger auto loaders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luger_P08_pistol
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I read your link. What was funny was the Navy model came with a two position site. One for 100 meters and the other for 200 meters. Maybe this was part of their psychological warfare of intimidation. Where I live it is called letting an alligator mouth overload a hummin bird ars.
 
samari jack, ive had a Broomhandle Mauser once, if i remember correctly the rear elevation goes up to something like 900 meters.

oh hoot, nice try trolling
 
It is an obsolete 100 year old design that didn't work all that well as a fighting handgun even when it was in use as such.
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Where did you hear that? Did you ever own a P-08 Luger? It is one of the most highly regarded firearms in history. See the big holster? Its designed to keep dirt out. If they are clean, they work extremely well.

My 1941 Mauser Luger has been 100% reliable in the 16 years I have owned and shot it. Never a hiccup, never even a hint of a hiccup and I don't clean it all that much.

I love the internet. :rolleyes:
 
Did you ever own a P-08 Luger.
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Probably six or seven of them over the last 50 years.

The fact remains they didn't work well in the mud of WWI or the desert sand of WWII.
Big box holster or not.

rc
 
Oh Fiddle Faddle, our poor guys that got shot with them saw that they worked just fine as their last thought in this world.

The gun that scares the holy crap out of me is a 7.625 chambered Russian Tok 33. I saw that round go through both halves, front and back, of a vest at 10 feet. That poor officer never knew what hit him.
 
The Erma made baby Lugers are interesting, but as has been pointed out, parts would be pretty hard to find now. When I worked at a gun shop years ago we had one that we picked up at an auction, a .380 model. We priced it by the Blue Book value, but wound up letting it go alot cheaper because no one was that intersted in it.
I've owned a couple of the Stoeger and Erma .22lr Lugers. I found them to be fun and reliable with good high velocity ammo. When I bought mine, you could find them for $150 or less. Now people want $300 for them and I just can't see that.
 
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