German Luger

[DeanoBeanCounter]

I know I will never own a German Luger. Makes me cry, I'm of German decent. But does anyone know of a look alike?
Dean

[Conditor22]

Find a Walther P-38 It replaced the luger because it is a far superior gun, the Lugers were high maintenance and had to be cleaned frequently. 1940 - 1945 were the best models, the post war P1 is nice but not as good and much cheaper.

https://i.imgur.com/OdiCYa1.jpg

[Walks]

My DAD's Luger, a 1920 Commercial & early P-38 were stolen by his stepdaughter's boyfriend in 1974.
She gave him a key.

Got 2 boltguns back.

I still miss everyone of those guns. ESPECIALLY the Luger.

[dale2242]

Not a 9MM, but Ruger MK IV in 22 LR?...dale

[lightman]

I often kick myself for passing up a nice one a few years ago for a fair price. I was just at the point that I decided that I didn't need anymore guns that I probably would never shoot. We were actually at Tulsa for the gun show. A few of us were sitting around in the hotel, having a drink and talking guns. On of my friends brought out a Luger that his Grandfather brought back from WW2. Probably would have rated very good with matching numbers and the original magazine. Yup, still kicking myself! I just didn't need another safe queen.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I know I will never own a German Luger. Makes me cry, I'm of German decent. But does anyone know of a look alike?
Dean

Cheer up! One is bound to eventually cross your path. After all, many, many were made, and most of them that survived now reside here in the U.S.

[RED BEAR]

Stoeger made a 22 lr replica of a luger that can be had fairly reasonable.

[bedbugbilly]

I've been able to handle a few Lugers over the years - most of them Vet bring backs as well as a couple of P38s. Interesting pistols. My Dad used to talk about a guy he used to hunt with when he was a kid - the guy had a Luger he'd brought back at the end of World War I. Dad said he hunted with an old "Zulu shotgun" and the guy with his Luger could take more rabbits with it than he could with a shotgun - I would imagine "sitting shots".

I'm no expert but I asked on a site one time why, for example, the 1911 Colt is vastly reproduced by so many but the Luger never was. The simple answer I got from those that collected Lugers was that it was because the cost would be prohibitive - the Lugers were hand fitted according to them and the reason for the switch to the P38 was because they could be made quicker, more cheaply and the tolerances were not as tight on them for function as opposed to the Luger. That/s the basic answer I got anyway.

I can remember P38s floating around when I was a kid in the gun stores as well as Lugers - wish the prices today were what they were then but then the pay scale was much less too.

A father of a guy I graduated HS with had a Luger he had brought back - he'd picked it up at the "Buldge" - not in the best of shape as it had been run over by a tank.

Take a look for one of the Stoeger 22s - I've seen them once in a while and the prices weren't that bad - not sure how well they functioned. About the only one close in "profile" is the Ruger but even though it has the "general shape" - it's not a toggle action.

[redhawk0]

Why won't you own one? They turn up every now and then. I got mine (P-08 with 60% SN) from a collector that passed away. It's has no collector value and its just a shooter. I got it for $350.

If you want one...keep your eyes open...one will turn up.

redhawk

[Winger Ed.]

Check out Gunbroker, it has a few P-08s from $800 to $2500 or so, depending on what its collector value is.

If you really want one, you'll make it happen. It's just a matter of priority.


Had a guy tell me one time the $35. a year to join the NRA was too expensive, and he didn't have the money for it.
I asked him if he could come up with $35. to get out of jail? He said 'sure'.
Then I told him, it wasn't a matter of the money---- it was the priority.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I have a Luger that I paid around $300-350 for about 25 years ago.
It is not collector grade...just a shooter,but that's good enough for me. All matching numbers but the grips don't match.
I take it to the range a couple of times a year

[RED BEAR]

If you look at an exploded view of a luger and a 911 you can quickly see why no one reproduces the luger.

[Gewehr-Guy]

The Ruger 22 Auto pistol feels pretty close to what a Luger feels like. I lucked onto a mis-matched Luger at a Cabelas store for around $375, but it jams and can't hit a barn with it, the bore is terrible. Might be fun to build into one of those stocked carbines that I can't afford, or just sell it on an auction and maybe double my money and get a nice Smith. Anyway, just keep looking, I think lots of old collections will be on the market in the coming years with fewer buyers to absorb them.

[Hick]

Next best thing to a P-38 would be a later version of P-1. The first P-1's tended to wear badly where the barrel hits the ledge in the frame. The design was changed to add a steel pin at the impact point. Those later P-1's show a hex-shaped pin just below the barrel in the frame, and they are fine pistols. For details of the variations from P-38 through the various versions of P-1 go here: https://www.vffwts.de/en/articles/pistol-p1-the-bundeswehr-handgun-part-1.html

[Cast_outlaw]

I owne a p08 my grandfather brought back from his time in Europe in ww2 but in Canada they ar almost worthless as they are prohibited and we can’t apply for the license anymore except for a grandfathered witch I have

[abunaitoo]

I have a P38, post war, aluminiun frame.
Stoeger .22 Luger
And one of my prize possessions........
A Artillery Luger
I just couldn't pass it up when I came to me.

[Bent Ramrod]

A friend of mine collected Lugers for a time. Had 6 or 7 of them, IIR, all in VG or better shape (except for an Artillery that was nickel-plated), though most had mismatched magazines.

The only one I remember that got through a whole magazine without a jam was the new one that Mauser had revived about that time. The pointability was nice, but the squooshy trigger worked against that, and every one he had shot under the sight picture, which was not the best anyway, being a triangle in an inverted triangle.

They are marvelously made and look cool, though. He eventually traded them all off for less frustrating shooting irons.

[trapper9260]

Years ago I seen one in a store that I was getting reloading supplies from and seen one in the glass case for handguns and they wanted $2,000 for it. My dad was with me and told him to get me out of there, because first I did not had the money to get it and the other thing is make up bill that I did not need at the time. It was a WW2 German Luger ,9mm

[EMR]

Here’s one in 30mauser for $796. Mechanically sound with good bore.

https://simpsonltd.com/dwm-1920-commercial-53/

[3006guns]

I had a commercial Luger, chambered for the .30 cartridge, YEARS ago. Incredible firearm, but the cartridge was somewhat hard to find at that time so I had the barrel replaced with a 9mm.......kind of a dumb move now that I look back, but I never experienced any of the problems that were supposed to curse the pistol. Of course, I cleaned and maintained it faithfully too. Lost it in a trade, unfortunately.

There WAS a reproduction by Stoeger (I think, the gun was made in Texas) made of stainless steel. I know, because my wife bought one for me at Christmas time. Of course, that was over twenty years ago. The gun is beautifully made and came with two mags..........and lived up to its reputation of being finicky almost immediately. The instructions warn the used NOT to use reloads, which sounded dumb to me, so I used them anyway.

That thing would fail to feed on every other round. Very frustrating, until I began shooting it on a regular basis when it finally smoothed out and started acting like a handgun. Just factory tight, that was all. Man, it's accurate! A two handed hold will put those bullets on target at 100 yards, and I now carry it on any of my expeditions to the Nevada desert. Jackrabbits tremble at my approach. Like any Luger, it's muzzle light but if you pay attention she'll do the job. You might be able to find one on Gunbroker for a heck of a lot less than an antique.

As for all those feeding problems you hear about, most people don't realize that the Luger is fitted like a target pistol and it simply won't stand for dirt and lack of oiling. Treat it right and it will perform.

Way back in 1969, one of the folks where I worked was selling his collection of Luger and Borschart (sp) pistols.......over forty of them, with a couple of Mauser C96's for good measure. He wanted $10k for the collection........this when I was making $99.50/week. Talk about torture!

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I bought a Luger in a sporting goods store 1960 for $42.00. That was about the going price at the time. What was unusual about it was , it was made by the Simson Co. of Shul. After WWI Germany was restricted to a one K man army. Their was even a limit on the length of their pistol barrels. The army put in an order for ten K pistols. The contract was awarded to Simson who happened to be Jewish. They filled the odor by 1932 which was the year Hitler came to power. He promptly cancelled their contract. I took my pistol on vacation to Missouri later that year. My Dad, my brother and I were in an abandoned lime quarry which are common around Cape Girardeau, Mo. We were shooting the Luger and other pistols. The Luger would jam every few rounds. The ammo I was using was new Remington. I became disgusted with the pistol and traded it off on the way home. About two weeks after returning to California I was reading an article in a gun magazine. In the question and answer article a man wrote in telling of the same problem I experienced. The problem, he was told was American ammo, it was too weak. The Luger is equipped with a very strong slide return spring and requires strong ammo to operate it. I have been sick ever since. I never saw another Simson for sale. At the time I bought the Luger they and all other pistols were really cheap, which I will show when I post pictures. Surplus 1911 would bring about $ 35.00 max. By the way, there never was a pistol named the Luger. It was a trade name registered by Stoeger who was an importer in New York. When Mauser brought their remake in the early 1970s and called it the Luger, Stoeger forced them to drop the name. Actually Luger didn't invent the pistol, It was Hugo Borchardt. Luger was just hired to improve it, which he did, and very well I might add. Hugo was working in America when he designed the pistol. He had worked for several gun companies including Sharpes where he designed the best single shot rifle ever built, In my opinion, and the was called by his name, The Sharpes Borchardt. I owned one of those and was no smarter with it than I was with the Luger. Mine was made for the South Carolina National guard and it was in excellent condition. It would bring a few thou in that state today. When Borchardt returned to Germany he lived in Berlin and so did George Luger. When they passed each other on the street Borchardt would not speak to Luger. The history of the Luger pistol is fascinating and nobody knows all the story. Borchardt did come up with one idea that all semi autos use today. He put the cartridges in a magazine and put it in the grip of the pistol instead of in a clip in front of the trigger as Mauser and others did. I am having a problem uploading pictures. I will start a new post with them in it.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

For whatever reason the site will not allow me to upload any picture. When I figure out what is going on I will post the pictures of an ad offering Lugers or P38 for $39.95. Well, it let me in.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Deano-- Sometime in the past I posted a thread entitled "Let's Talk Lugers", or something similar. You can probably bring it up with a search. It became 2 or 3 pages long with lots of good photos and stories; only bringing it up for your edification and entertainment.

Just to ramble on a bit (find myself doing it more and more now days) there are lots of Lugers around. Yes, the problem is finding them at an affordable price. The guys that brought them home from WW II are dying out, and their guns being sold off. A Luger in 90%+ condition will always bring a high price, just because of the condition. Then, there seem to be an infinite number of collector variations, some more valuable than others, mostly again depending on condition and scarcity of the variation. But, the more common specimens in Very Good Condition can usually be had for right around $750 current price. If that's too steep for you, and you're unable to save it up and set the funds aside for one to come along, then you've got to look for the bargain. The owner that needs money, or the heir that doesn't really know the value. I'm not really suggesting anything unethical here...but some who inherit guns actually dislike guns and want them gone.

You would do well to acquire some of the books that have been written about Lugers, among them being "Lugers At Random", Charles Kenyon Jr., and "The Luger Pistol" by Fred A. Datig. They cover many of the variations, and the history is fascinating.

Although I own several, I would never claim to be an expert. A Simpson Luger was mentioned. I have never seen one, nor have I ever seen a Vickers. When I first started looking for one, about 1958, a gunsmith friend of mine advised me that the best Lugers were made by DWM. They made most of them, and based on my experience I'm inclined to think it's true.

I've heard the statement made many times that Lugers will never be produced again due to the intricate machining required and a degree of hand fitting. But, I do remember two or possibly three Luger offerings that came after the war. One was imported by Interarms and I believe it was made by Mauser. What was unusual was that it was of the Swiss pattern, different from the common German variety in minor details. They weren't cheap for the economy at that time, and should they ever be made again I think they won't be cheap at that time either. However, I would not be one to say "never", as CNC machining has made a lot of things possible, as has the investment casting process. One thing is for certain though, they'll never made any more of the originals, and in coming years they'll be spread more thinly among more collectors and shooters.

Getting back to my personal experiences, all of the ones I have work quite well. They do like hotter ammunition, but beware of submachine gun ammo which will batter them unnecessarily. There's a German ammo company that uses the brand name GECO, and their stuff seems well suited for the Luger, but it seems like they mostly produce hardball. If you ever do acquire a Luger and might want to use it for self-defense, then by all means test fire the round you wish to use to assure proper function. Honestly, I view them as a work of art, admire their form and function, but choose a 1911-type Star Model B for personal self-defense.

I guess that's enough. Best wishes in your quest.

[reloader28]

I've always thought my Browning Nomad looked and felt like a Luger even tho its only .22