New German Firearm Collector

[SS Wiking]

Hello,

I have been contimplating whether or not to start collecting WW2 German Firearms. I have picked up some great referance material and done as much background reaserch as I can.

The firearm I would like to aquire would be a German Luger, I know very little(only what referance I have) and I'am a "newbie", so I was wondering if you gentlemen could offer any pointers, sellers, or any other general information about the Luger that would ensure I make a sound purchase?.

Also, are German Firearms as heavily faked as say the awards and medals??


Thank you kindly for your time.

[Joe N]

Hello Sir, welcome to the forum. There are many great collectors here that can assist you much more than I can regarding fakes in firearms, and guide you to excellent reference material.I am quite confident that we come across alot of reblued or post war stamped firearms here in Canada. Lugers are very beautiful indeed. Unfortunately they now are classed as a prohibited firearm here, so unless you have a permit for such (12-6, I believe), you can never legally aquire one. I have two, which are my pride and joy. You may wish to consider a P38 instead, which are also great. Take care, and once again welcome!

[Matt Weber]

Welcome to our firearms forum, and welcome to collecting!
I specialize in collecting WWII German pistols.

Your decision to collect lugers is a good one, however I must warn you that there is a ton of information on lugers, and tons of fakerery as well. I'll ask you a few questions first which will help me and others assist you in your search.

First of all, what area of lugers do you wish to collect? There are literally dozens of different types and models, and even calibers. Lugers were made from the turn of century right up to the end of WWII (1945). Many different makers made them, and many different countries purchased them.
When starting out a collection of lugers, most collectors will pick either a country or time period (or both!) for collecting.
Example: You could collect German comercial lugers of the inte-war years (1920s). These are the most common lugers out there, and are easy to find.
I myself collect WWII German pistols. Therefore, the only lugers I am interested in are the nazi examples from 1933-1945.

You mentioned reference books. There are tons of these on lugers as well. I would definately recommend getting "Lugers at Random" by Charles Kenyon, and also "Luger Tips" by Michael Reese. These two books will definately get you started with lugers.
Also, there are tons of websites that have very good information on lugers as well. Just do a search, and type in "luger"
As for dealers, my friend Charlie always has a pretty good selection of lugers for sale. His web site is at- www.checkpointcharlies.com. He also has tons of mags, take down tools, and holsters for lugers! You should find everything you need there!

Hope this helps you out, and good collecting! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! There are a lot of good luger experts out there!

Matt

[pitts duncan]

one of the things that i myself have noticed about the collection of german guns is that those guys numbered everything. the guns bring great money but as was noted in a recent article, only the really high end guns justify the cost of faking every part , as virtually every part on a german gun is numbered. so if your in the cheap lugers it is unlikely its a fake, medium priced lugers are not expensive enough to fake and high dollar lugers no one can afford to buy anyway. i thought that was quite a correct approach. i think i would suggest number one to consider condition first. then look VERY slowly at every number and see how many match. but as important as all the above look at the bore. Be sure its shootable. in my mind no matter what , if the bore is bad its just a correct matching piece of metal. you don't have to shoot it but you have to be able to know you could if you wanted to. watch the grips closley, they are soon to be replaced by owners if not perfect. if bluing scratches real darn easy when safty if shifted , its reblued, but thats not all bad. mine is reblued , but is all matching and perfect otherwise. . you have done your homework and followed the number one rule. first buy expensive books , then expensive guns.