New Luger Arrived

[Marvin]

Greetings to all from the middle of the Everglades! I finally had the time get on the Forum to see what new is going on in the world of Lugers.


While home on Monday, I received the "K" date Luger I found while here in a Pawn Shop. The pistol is in approx. 98% condition, is all matching including the magazine, and the bore is excellent. This one is serial number 32xx ns! I think this is the Second Variation. I would appreciate some help from someone to verify this for me. It has the mixed script and gothic "S" on most parts.


What else could a Luger lover ask for in this deal and the price was only 25% of what I ever expected to pay for this nice of a "K" date?


OK, the truth is that it is an East German rework with an import stamp! Just had to pull everyones leg for a moment, but seriously, it is in very nice condition with a new E. German barrel, new blue job, with just a small amopunt of holster wear in the normal places. I said I would not get anymore import marked Lugers, but this one was so nice AND a "K" date, I could not turn it down.


I have always felt that the East German reworks were another variation since the rework was offically done at a governement arsenal, but it is still in the shooter class for now. Anyway, another addition to the collection. I will shoot it and the Double Date Ted just send back to me when I ever return home for more than 1 day!


Marvin

[Jon]

enjoy your new found pride and take a few boxes of 9mm and blow out the cob-webs. take care jon

Marvin. I agree with you on the fact that the East Germany Lugers are another variation and will come into their own some day. You should see my "K" date that Ted did, its beautiful. Hasve fun.


Bob

[Thor]

Thank Bob, I appreciate it! ~Thor~

hello guys. i told you a few weeks ago, that i have got a k-dated luger. I think, that it is also an east-german rework.

the frame and the barrel and the chamber are not reblued. there are also some points, wich are blued-off through wearing in a holster. the inside is completely new blued. but not the outside. the troggle is completely new blued, also the firing pin and the safety-lever. the side-plate was a new east-german one, not matching number. but the rest (inclusive the barrel) has matching-numbers and is original. the gun has no rust and looks like new. there are also script-s and gotic-s mixed on every part. the grips are plastic-parts with the nva-circles. i choosed a very good haenel-schmeisser mag, blued with alu-bottom, an original one wasn't available and the vopo-mag i didn't want to have. i want to rebuild it in its original condition. i will take off the plastic-grips and put some original old (not new ones, i hope, that tom will find some) wooden-grips on it. i will take off the inner-blueing, and try not to injure the original outside blueing. i have a dealer here in germany, he has the original side plate with the neccesary S 57 on it. it costs DM 160,- (80$) and i think ill buy it. My gun has the number 5057 without any suffix. i will see, that i put some fotos into the forum. how can i take off the blueing???

wich parts have to be yellow? does anybode have a list, how my gun was original blued (every part please)???

has anybody nice pics from inside and outside of an original k-datet luger? i'm waiting for your kind answers.

greetings to all from germany. dieter

i payed 900 DM (for you cheap: 410 $!!!) for it.

[Marvin]

Hallo Dieter,


Congratulations on your purchase, you certainly made a nice purchase for that price. I paid a little over 50% more for mine and considering the condition, I was happy.


I also thought about having Ted rework the pistol back to it's original condition, but decided to leave it as-is and hope that the Luger collecting fraternity will recognize it as another "variation" some day. I hope to buy an orginal collectors "K" Date soemtimes early next year to go along with this "shooter" K Date.


I don't have any reference material with me so I hope someone can answer your questions in your previous post!


Marvin

[Thor]

Marvin, I cant find my copy of "Third Reich Lugers", but in "AXIS PISTOLS", Still reports the second variation K Date Luger to be in the serial range of 2000 ns-5250 ns so your 32xx ns would indeed be in that range. He further reports that this second variation has mixed Gothis S and Scriptic S on the parts. First Variations were 001-2000 ns, Second as described, Third 5250-9100 ns and Fourth

9000 ns-700a suffix. Or approximately 2000 of #1, 3200 or #2, 4000 of #3 and 1600 of #4 for a total of 10,700. Sounds like you have a real keeper there! ~Thor~

[Marvin]

Ted,


Thanks for the information! I sure wish I was home to get to "play" with the pistol and take it out to see how it shoots with the new E. German barrel. Oh well, maybe in a few weeks when I get home.


Does anyone else have one of the East German reworks with a replacement barrel? Have you fired it and how does it operate? Is it resaonably accurate?


Marvin

[Hugh]

Marvin,


I have a couple and they seem to work and shoot just fine. I also have a Erfurt that has original finish and matching numbers except the bbl has been replaced and is stamped with the West German E/N nitro proof and the 65 Ulm proof ( antler). The reciever and frame also have the E/N proof. So what would the status of this one be; shooter or collector?

[Marvin]

Hello Hugh,


Thanks for the information on your E. German reworks. The way I see a pistol that has been reworked by, and for a particular goverenment entity to use, would be a variation. I get this from the reworks by Switzerland which are accepted, the reworks by Portugal, and a few others I can't remember off hand. But these are acceptable as collectible, and the price is less than a non reworked Luger. The import marked, dip blued pistols could also be classified as a particular variation, but lower in value and collectiblity. The regular import marked, dip blued were reworked for resale in the US and other countries to make them appear better and more saleable. Some "purist" collectors don't want these pistols, but again, I feel they definetly have their place in a collection or as a shooter. There are many people who now own and enjoy Lugers because they were affordable.


Now, as a direct answer to your question, it was reworked by a Governement entity for that Governements use, so I would consider it a variation. There may be others that disagree, but that is OK and what they believe. Personally, I love them all!


Marvin

Hi Marvin, i have a 1918 erfurt reworked by east-germany. it has also a new barrel, no matching numbers, but the rework is done perfect, and its shooting top-excellent with magtech 9 a (115 gr.).because it's a rework, it doesn't matter, if something breaks. i shot till today ca. 3.000 shots. i'm shooting every week in my club and i always hit min. 170 points of 200. my maximum was 184 points. if i lay it on, its possible to hit hole in hole. i am only shooting since 2 years and i can become better through training. my gun is perfect. try it. of course its neccesary to find out the best ammo. dieter

[Marvin]

Dieter,


Thanks for the information on how your E. German rework shoots. If this "K" Date shoots as well as it looks, it will be a great shooter. I feel that this pistol is another Luger variation, but also one that can be shot without losing any value if maintained properly. During the rework, the E. Germans did not buff any of the metal before blueing, so the blue is a little on the dull side very similar to the Russian dip blue, but a little better. I have been thinking about having Ted remove the existing blue, polish the metal a little and salt blue it back to it's rework condition. This way, the pistol will look nice, and maintain the rework appearance. When I get home again, I plan to shoot this one and I will let you know how it shoots.


Marvin

[Mikey]

Hello all from a newbie!

I have a K-date with all serial #s matching, #701. The small parts are blued but I do not think any non-original proofs...what would I look for? All my parts are the gothic "S" Just to drive you all nuts, I paid $270 about 15 years ago thinking I was just buying one to play with. It was missing the magazine and the small spring that holds the take-down lever. I fabricated one from a safety pin. This one seems all original until I was reading about the strawed small parts. Now I'm a little confused. Anyone that can shed light, please respond. I noticed Dieter is in kinda the same boat. Mine fits the "Lugers at Random" description perfectly.

Thanks,

Mikey

hi, is it possible to get a pic from your gun (esp. the side plate)? thanks. dieter

[Mikey]

Dieter,

It will be quite awhile to get you a photo as I must photograph it the old-fashioned way, then scan it in. I do not have any photos developed yet. Please feel free to email me at home as a reminder in a few weeks as the camera roll is almost finished.


Do you have any specific questions and I can look at mine?

Mikey

[bill m]

Hi,

Serial number 701 is an early K-date and should have the Scriptic S on all parts. This is the funny looking S with the tails on the tips. The small parts should be strawed. K-dates are usually not found is excellent condition because they saw use from the beginning of WWII. The small parts being blued probably indicates that the Luger has been reblued.

[bill m]

The barrel band should be sharpe and not rounded. They are faking a lot of K-dates now, and some have the wrong barrel on them. The serial numbers will match, but they are fake. They will aso have the wrong amount of rifling. They have the correct proofs, but some of the S's are not the correct size and some of the digits are not correct for the K-date.

[Mikey]

You are right, the "S" is like the old script with the swirls on the ends...kinda like what a calligrapher would do for a diploma. I got my terms mixed.


Mine is not in excellent shape with some minor pitting around the barrel tip. I don't know the difference on the barrel bands...I would need to look at a couple of pics.


Is there anything else I can check?

[Mikey]

If my Luger is all original with the original small parts re-blued, how will that affect the value? The blueing on the small parts have some wear that really blends in well with the rest of the pistol. Would it be worth while to consider re-stawing the small parts? Which parts should be strawed?


I guess it's academic since I would never sell but I was just curious.


Thanks,

Mikey