Will pickup my first P08 over the weekend.

[Itsjohncena6969]

Hello all, I recently purchased my first luger, I've always been a big history and fire arms enthusiast and I finally had the opportunity to buy one.(though I suspect I paid too much for it)

I am still as of today in the waiting period to pickup my gun. So I don't have it in my possession at the moment. I do have one photograph of it I took on my purchase date: (screenshot attached)


Seller claimed it was in shootable condition.
Idk if it's the light but it appears to have some scratching on the metal.

Receipt says It's stamped s42. Didn't have the opportunity to check serial numbers.


I paid $1500 for it which I know is kind of steep and I'm kind of kicking myself for it. But i cant honestly say I will be disappointed unless it turns out to be of very bad quality.

[rhuff]

Congrats on your FIRST Luger of the Luger addiction!! It is hard to tell much from that photo, but when you receive it, we will expect to see more and better photos. We have ALL paid too much a time or two, especially early in the hobby. Better photos,, and more of them, will get you a lot of information from this forum.

[Itsjohncena6969]

Yeah that's what I'm figuring right now honestly.

Stay tuned more info to follow

[jeb111]

$1500 for a good shooter isn’t too bad. Look forward to more pictures. Congratulations and welcome aboard! This is a great hobby albeit a bit expensive so do your research before you acquire another.
Jim

[Stu]

As mentioned, pics will reveal a lot of info, but any reasonable condition P08 on the open market seem to fetch close to that nowadays. If it's matching I'd say quite a fair deal.

[Itsjohncena6969]

Ok heres my update, picked up the gun no problem poked around at it
haven't had it apart yet, and it looks like it has matching serial numbers on everything except for the side plate. But strangly enough it looks like someone hand engrraved the "correct" serial number onto the sideplate, Im pretty sure it didnt leave the factory hand engraved lol.



so I suspect everything's original to the gun except for the side plate, picture attached.


theres also some stamped markings on the right side. im not entirely certain if they have any meaning.

also in the image i obscured the full serial number becuase it felt like something i shouldnt show off, even though im sure its perfectly fine

[Karl]

Joe,

The style of plastic grips, the "dip blue" reblue, and the electro-engraved sideplate number are all elements common to VoPo (volkspolizei), East German reworked lugers. Others with more knowledge will undoubtedly weigh in. Photos are dark and better photos would be useful.

KFS

[gunbugs]

It's usually best to take your photos outside away from direct sunlight. Use a neutral background,(not white or black) and avoid flash. Your camera or phone will auto correct for a white or black background and over, or under expose the shot, making the gun too dark or light.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Karl

Joe,

The style of plastic grips, the "dip blue" reblue, and the electro-engraved sideplate number are all elements common to VoPo (volkspolizei), East German reworked lugers. Others with more knowledge will undoubtedly weigh in. Photos are dark and better photos would be useful.

KFS

The VOPO's I've seen have bullseye grips, not seen that style on them before ?

[Vlim]

Grips are easy to swap around. Many VoPo's did have their grips swapped to camouflage their origin.

I don't see any direct VoPo evidence yet, but it does look refinished. The barrel is still original to the gun, that's good. And sideplates were removed to render pistols useless (or so they thought), so you do see many with swapped out/replaced side plates. Grips look nice, remind me of the brown Krieghoff ones.

But many that came out of Eastern European stores after the Cold War ended, had their grips renewed with assorted plastic replacements, so it's hard to say who swapped out what and why.

It has a good look to it and prices have been going up, so I think you didn't too bad on it. At least you got a good Mec Gar magazine in the deal, they are excellent shooting magazines. Check the bottom of the other magazine (alu bottom), it could be worth something extra as well if marked properly.

[spangy]

Hi Itsjohncena6969 to the forum.

I agree with Stu & Vlim, they don't appear to be VoPo grips to me either.
<---- VoPo

I would love a pic of the back of the grips as that will tell us volumes regarding real/repo/fake ... I suspect they are real but could be repo's .... also the top of the reciever and bottom of the barrel where it meets the receiver would be awesome.

By the way I like your Luger and I think you did OK, just make sure the bore looks OK before you fire it or maybe have a good gunsmith give it a once over ... better safe than sorry.

[Edward Tinker]

If you are going to keep it, I'd study and buy a few books, if you are going to buy another one.
$1500 is at least several hundred for a shooter that is mismatched.
Lugers seem rare when folks are first looking, but in reality there are hundreds everyday on dealer sites, gunbroker, etc.
So, take your time and decide if you want to keep it.

[Itsjohncena6969]

sorry about the delay I finally had the oppertunity to take some closer pictures, i again obscured the full serial number.


hopefully this will be easier for you guys to reed

[ithacaartist]

OK, thanks. The back sides of the grips are also of interest, as I think someone already said. If they're original Bakelite, they'd be more valuable than plastic ones.

This business of obscuring serial numbers is basically a waste of time. Some folks have occasionally started out here doing the same, but I've never heard of a rationale that would justify it, or a risk or liability the practice would reasonably/potentially mitigate. You'll notice that among all the other posts on this or any other forum that it simply isn't practiced.

[Mac Cat]

One of the things we like best about lugers is the serial numbers are well documented on most of them and fairly easy to help figure out their manufacturing date. Matching parts is one of the first things we look for. The suffix is even more important.

The side plate can be replaced, but beware, they don't always work smoothly. That's a crucial part in the path from the trigger to the sear. Still, it's something you can replace, even with an un-numbered side plate.

The plum colored extractor looks weird, but that's not uncommon. It got heat treated a little differently, which resulted in the purplish coloring.

I didn't see any import stamps (GERMANY), which I would have expected.

[Itsjohncena6969]

Originally Posted by Mac Cat

One of the things we like best about lugers is the serial numbers are well documented on most of them and fairly easy to help figure out their manufacturing date. Matching parts is one of the first things we look for. The suffix is even more important.

The side plate can be replaced, but beware, they don't always work smoothly. That's a crucial part in the path from the trigger to the sear. Still, it's something you can replace, even with an un-numbered side plate.

The plum colored extractor looks weird, but that's not uncommon. It got heat treated a little differently, which resulted in the purplish coloring.

I didn't see any import stamps (GERMANY), which I would have expected.

yeah the correct two digits seems to be "83" but the sideplate has "08"

other than that the serial numbers at least appear correct,

do you have any idea what these markings mean?

https://forum.lugerforum.com/attachm...0&d=1678129589



i cant seem to find anything on this

[day late]

Originally Posted by Mac Cat

The side plate can be replaced, but beware, they don't always work smoothly. That's a crucial part in the path from the trigger to the sear. Still, it's something you can replace, even with an un-numbered side plate.

Tell me about that. This PO8 I'm working on was missing a side plate. I'm glad I had metal milling tools around to work on the replacement. Works fine now, but at first.....

[Mac Cat]

Those are the 2 military acceptance stamps and the last one is the firing proof.
The are correct for a 1937 S/42 Mauser.

The suffix looks like an "N" to me, and that is in the right range for this serial number.

You should also recognize the "Mauser Hump" which is a slight bump out on the rear part of the upper section. It a classic feature of Muser lugers.

It originally has wood grips. You can find wood grips, but finding the correct or numbered grips is a real long shot. You should have better luck finding a side plate numbered to the gun.

We have a Want to Sell and Want to Buy section, once you have enough posts (25, I think).
You may want to put a post in the Want to Buy for a side plate and grips.

[Itsjohncena6969]

Originally Posted by Mac Cat

Those are the 2 military acceptance stamps and the last one is the firing proof.
The are correct for a 1937 S/42 Mauser.

The suffix looks like an "N" to me, and that is in the right range for this serial number.

You should also recognize the "Mauser Hump" which is a slight bump out on the rear part of the upper section. It a classic feature of Muser lugers.

It originally has wood grips. You can find wood grips, but finding the correct or numbered grips is a real long shot. You should have better luck finding a side plate numbered to the gun.

We have a Want to Sell and Want to Buy section, once you have enough posts (25, I think).
You may want to put a post in the Want to Buy for a side plate and grips.

awesome thanks for the info.

follow up question when i saee serial numbers on the gun, all of the parts are only stamped with the last two digits of the serial number,

if i find a "83" side plate, does it matter and how would i know if its a :

"1083"
"2083"
"3083"
"4083"
"XX83"

[Mac Cat]

ollow up question when i saee serial numbers on the gun, all of the parts are only stamped with the last two digits of the serial number,

if i find a "83" side plate, does it matter and how would i know if its a :

"1083"
"2083"
"3083"
"4083"
"XX83"

In general, there isn't any way to tell.

While most side plates fit pretty easily, there are others that simply won't fit without some filing.

FYI: The SIMSON and ERFURT luger side plates usually have small brand stamps on them.