[Guest]

After reading some of the postings in this web site, I am now curious to find out some more about the Luger I have. I purchased it from AIM a few years back as a "shooter grade"; I paid less than $400 for it. I'm sure its been re-blued since the trigger, safety lever and inside of the frame are blue. Barrel looks original since the serial number matches the frame serial and the barrel has the Nazi era eagle on it. Its in pretty nice shape, not too many dings and only very lite pitting here and there, and the barrel is shiny inside. Most numbers are matching, including the one on the 2/1001 magazine, except for the toggle assembly, those 2 digit numbers don't match on any of the pieces. The year on the frame is 1940 and the mismatched toggle has a "42" on it. The grips that came with it are plastic with a little "bulls eye" on them. It shoots quite accurately, except for a issue I have with putting pressure on the side plate for it it fire (this was addressed in a ealier posting). I was wondering if anyone could shed some lite on this Luger's history. The 4 digit serial number is 5062 and the barrel has "Luger P08 9MM Germany" written on it as well as some other faded letters with a "VT" at the end. Would it be one of those Russian captures (I don't see an "X" on it anywhere) or maybe one of the East German Police reworks? Is it possible to tell if this was originally a "42" Luger since the toggle has been replaced? Would the value still be roughly about $400 for this pistol. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks! Mark Nyhuis

 

[Edward Tinker]

Mark, shooter lugers are worth the buyer is willing to pay... However, I know you can't get very many $400 lugers in my neck of the woods, $500 is closer to the truth for retail or more.

Yours started life as a 1940 (year), Mauser made the 42 coded guns (does the toggle have other numbers besides the 42, which is the code for mauser?

The VT is Vermont, which is the import stamping.

Sometimes hard to tell if East German or Russian, probably East German, the magazine 2/1001 is the Haneal (sp) manufacturer code, so I believe you ahve an east german gun.

Ed

 

[Guest]

Ed...Thank you for your reply and information... The only other numbers I see on the toggle is a "54" behind the "42"...but it is crossed out; and an "88" on the end part below the rear sight. I assume these are just the 2 digit serial numbers for the mis-matched toggle.....and I'm not sure if the original toggle would have had a "42" on it. Also, the large pin in the rear part of the the toggle has a "62" on it....which would match the gun's serial number...

Mark

 

[Vlim]

Mark,

All the hallmarks clearly identify this pistol as a VoPo (Volkspolizei) Eastern German pistol. The bullseye plastic grips, the magazine and the crossed-out mismatched parts all point to that direction.

Many VoPo's have a roughly shaped barrrel ring and a crown/N barrel proof, but your's appears to have it's original barrel. Which is not strange, as most of this pistol's parts were only a few years old when it was pressed into VoPo service.

 

[Guest]

Gerben,

Thank you for the information!