Help: Value of Lugers & P38

[Gary Campbell]

Yesterday a friend asked me to look at some WW2 pistols her father had brought back. He was on Eisenhower's staff in London & got these in trades. I know nothing about firearms. Can anyone give me a ballpark value on them? Or tell me what markings I should be looking for?

Item #1 is a P.38 with clip. It came with the holster shown in photo #2. From what I can see all serial numbers match. On the side, above the trigger guard it says "P.38 514h ac44". It appears to be in great shape and has been carefully stored ever since the war and has not been deactivated.

[Gary Campbell]

Photo #2 (holster for the P.38?)

[Gary Campbell]

Duty calls... I gotta run (work always gets in my way!). I'll post the lugers later today in a separate thread. Thanks for your help.

~ Gary

[Daniele C]

that holster is the luger's one.
i think a P38 is around 1500 euros?im not sure about the luger

[P08]

The holster is for a P08 as already stated. The P38 is a very nice one it seems. Still has the old style slidestop lever. Nice grips. I like it, but 1500 Euro might be a bit too high. 1000 Euro might be more appropriate. Probably cheaper in the US (?)

[Matt Weber]

I'd say $500-$550 on the gun.

The holster is for a luger, which actually increases the value, so I would say $200-$250 on the holster.

Both look very nice.

Matt

[Paul G]

I agree with the $550 price for the P-38 in the US. Maybe a little more because of the capture history, as long as there are no import marks. AC44 maybe a tough sell, as the earlier dated P-38's seem to be more in demand because of workmanship. However, I would love to own a pistol like that!....Hint, Hint..

PG

[Gary Campbell]

Thanks for all the advice. By the way, what exactly are 'import marks' and where will I find them on P38's and P08's?

~ Gary

[ottomaton]

I've been thinking about this guy for a couple of days and looking at my guns and I think people are undervaluing this guy a little bit. Yes it is a fairly common poor finish late war gun, but it is far from the most common, and what particularly impresses me about it is the state of the finish. Assuming what I'm seeing is representative of the rest of the gun and the bore is in the same sort of condition this gun comes close to 100%.

Almost always (and I can't tell for sure on this guy) the blue is worn from the end of the barrel and on a large percentage of the guns it is much worse. The state of the blue is such that on the basis of the photo my first thought was a reblue. From what I can tell the only worn places are the somewhat common (holster?) mark to the rear of the saftey and maybe a handling mark or two.

If the photo is actually representative of the state of the gun I think $700 is a much more legitimate number and perhaps more depending on how long you are willing to wait to make a sale.

If this gun were import marked you'd know it. This page has some examples. I believe it currently entails stamping the importer's name and location, the type of ammo, and the country of origin with a sizable stamp. A simple comprehensive visual inspection would reveal it very easily.

[Gary Campbell]

I've been thinking about this guy for a couple of days and looking at my guns and I think people are undervaluing this guy a little bit. Yes it is a fairly common poor finish late war gun, but it is far from the most common, and what particularly impresses me about it is the state of the finish. Assuming what I'm seeing is representative of the rest of the gun and the bore is in the same sort of condition this gun comes close to 100%.

Almost always (and I can't tell for sure on this guy) the blue is worn from the end of the barrel and on a large percentage of the guns it is much worse. The state of the blue is such that on the basis of the photo my first thought was a reblue. From what I can tell the only worn places are the somewhat common (holster?) mark to the rear of the saftey and maybe a handling mark or two.

If the photo is actually representative of the state of the gun I think $700 is a much more legitimate number and perhaps more depending on how long you are willing to wait to make a sale.

If this gun were import marked you'd know it. This page has some examples. I believe it currently entails stamping the importer's name and location, the type of ammo, and the country of origin with a sizable stamp. A simple comprehensive visual inspection would reveal it very easily.

Thanks for all the info. I'm afraid I only have the one photo of this piece but when I first saw it I could hardly believe it was WWII. It has nearly 100% of the original blue. Also, there is no import mark.

~ Gary

[Doug Kenwright]

check to make sure the pistol is not loaded.
work the action to make sure there is no cartridge in the chamber
now,remove the magazine and look into the magazine well,or opening
sometimes,import marks show as a little tiny "u" stamped into one of the 4 sides...