A New Luger owner, hopefully collector

[STEINBVG]

Hi. Forever a fan of the charismatic Luger pistols, finally got my gun license and one of the 1t guns I bought was a 1977 Mauser Commemoration Russian 1907 contract Luger. Practically brand new. If it had been ever shot, perhaps only test fired.


I'm ambivalent , but very much would like to shoot it. At least occasionally. I would prefer another beat up barrel/receiver for that purpose and maintain the original as is.

I also have a postwar Erma .22lr kit which I had bought with an upper receiver/barrel, I would think some sort of p08 model.[1940 ]

On a 1t attempt, this 'slide' doesn't seem to fit[too tight?] on the Russian Luger frame,
I'm under impression from the web that this later Mauser Lugers were made on Swiss equipment and perhaps with their dimensions. Also. I believe it's a 1906 rather than 1908 design, correct?

Too many questions,

I will pause here, hope to hear a few insights from the elders.

TY very much

[RShaw]

Hi SteinBVG,

Good to see a new member who is starting out on the long and exciting road of Luger collecting! As to whether you shoot your 1977 Mauser..... the debate on whether to shoot "collectibles" will probably never be resolved. This forum has a lot on that subject, after reading all the pro's and con's, at the end of the day you need to make up your own mind.
Here are a few links:
https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=578545
https://www.durysguns.com/news/is-it...llectable-guns
https://www.invaluable.com/blog/anti...irearms-guide/
"Collectables - to shoot them or not to shoot them- that is the question" on this site in forum: "All P08 military Lugers" - date 12-02-2016
"To Shoot, or not to shoot? THAT is the question" on this site in forum "New Collectors Forum" date- 11-04-2007

Or- you can pull other sites here by doing a search of "shooting collectibles"

As far as I am concerned, I do have an all matching 1917 DWM with a matching magazine which I consider "collectible." Have I shot it? Yes, but only after a year and a half of being too timid to try. Then I tried 9 mm subsonics only, and had no problems. Still, I only shoot it very occasionally (on special days) perhaps 1 box of 50 every three months if that... and I load a spare magazine (not the original) with 3-4 rounds, and eject the last round to avoid breaking the holdopen. I clean it after each visit to the range, and take good care of it in general. I haven't shot it for some time now.... preferring to shoot a 1942 Swiss model 06/29 with 7,65 mm rounds.

Enjoy your journey!

[STEINBVG]

Ty.

[Vlim]

Simple and short answer to your question: No, don't shoot it.

The Mauser Parabellum commemoratives are going up in price and you will ruin the investment value if you shoot it regularly.

Only 250 of them were made.

The Mauser Parabellum was not built on Swiss machines, but followed the design pattern of the Swiss model 06/29 with some tweaks to make it resemble the original P08-style.

If you want to know more about the post-war Mauser Parabellum, find a copy of our book 'The Parabellum Is Back! 1945-2000'.

My advice: get a decent shooter-grade P08 and use that for shooting instead. As a bonus, your 1940-dated upper will fit another P08 without much problems.

[Doubs]

I agree with Vlim; don't shoot it. His comments about value are wise words.

Here is a link to one just like yours that recently sold for $3,750. Shoot it and the value will drop.

Buy a shooter and enjoy the Luger experience with it.

[sprat]

agreed do not shoot it

[Heinz]

Do not shoot it. Buy a shooter grade and if necessary have GT or Luger Doc on this forums tune it up. Then you will have bragging piece and another one you can use todrive people on the range wild.
I have a DWM 1918, a DWM 1916, both I have not shot. I have an alphabet commercial 7.65 I shoot but I am getting cautious about that. I do shoot my 32 ACP vintage pistols but not the ones with Imperial acceptance marks.

[STEINBVG]

Thanks for input guys. I guess I will sit on the decision for a while.

In the mean time, for educational purposes I experimented with my KWC airsoft and the p08 upper/ERMA .22 kit and the combo to my surprise worked decently w/o any modifications except a longer spring on the recoil plunger in the kit.

Shows how accurate those toys are.

And indeed , afterwards I reversed the airsoft back.

[mrerick]

i think that you'll find the 1970's Mauser frame is not compatible with a wartime P.08 upper receiver and barrel / cannon assembly.

For one thing, the profile of the front edge of the frame's ears is different,

Vlim can confirm that they are incompatible if this is accurate.

Get a shooter Luger. Look for a wartime Mauser.

[STEINBVG]

Yes, I figured as much. TY.
As for a “shooter”
I have used up 3 of my handgun permits on the Luger, 1911, and Glock17.
It,s tough to get a new application and be able to find and buy/ transfer a gun within 6 months timeframe limit on it.
But I will try.

[ithacaartist]

Your combination represents a firearm constructed from parts all rated as non-firearm. I'm not sure it's something you want to be caught with.

The SE-08 .22 conversion kit and the later SE-08/2 kit fit and work better in the 70s' Mauser guns, with which they were manufactured contemporaneously for Interarms. It's curious indeed how a real upper with a kit will function in an Airsoft frame.

[STEINBVG]

Originally Posted by ithacaartist

Your combination represents a firearm constructed from parts all rated as non-firearm. I'm not sure it's something you want to be caught with.

The SE-08 .22 conversion kit and the later SE-08/2 kit fit and work better in the 70s' Mauser guns, with which they were manufactured contemporaneously for Interarms. It's curious indeed how a real upper with a kit will function in an Airsoft frame.

You,re absolutely right. Therefore the airsoft is back into it,s original state and remains functional...

22 ERMA functions decently in an airsoft frame, although with a bit sloppy rail fit. That may explain occasional FTF, extraction problems. But The kits seem to be finicky even in real Lugers. Capricious about choices of ammo.

I don,t think I would dare to try 9mm upper on a zinc alloy airsoft frame though..
TY

[DonVoigt]

Interesting indeed that the Airsoft frame will function the upper; but not surprising that if it trips the sear that the upper fires, after all the upper by itself will fire a round!

Thanks for posting.

[STEINBVG]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

Interesting indeed that the Airsoft frame will function the upper; but not surprising that if it trips the sear that the upper fires, after all the upper by itself will fire a round!

Thanks for posting.

My pleasure.
The size of the lower parts, side plate, the trigger , the lever seem a perfect match to the original +positioned correctly. The po8 plunger resets with an audible click when you let the trigger go...as I guess it should.

I was just curious to see if it could be done while bored out of my mind during COVID isolation.

I know for a fact that 22 upper for Glock 17 and 22 upper for 1911 work with airsoft frames also with a bit more work.

I would not be surprised if some airsoft twins of the originals became outlawed.

[Sieger]

Originally Posted by Doubs

I agree with Vlim; don't shoot it. His comments about value are wise words.

Here is a link to one just like yours that recently sold for $3,750. Shoot it and the value will drop.

Buy a shooter and enjoy the Luger experience with it.

Doubs,

I invested in most of these Interarms Commemoratives (limited to 250) 15 to 25 or so years ago when they were much cheaper and few buyers were even interested in collecting them.

Well, if they are not confiscated by our current government, my instinct has been proven accurate as to appreciation.

Respectfully,


Sieger

[Doubs]

Originally Posted by Sieger

Doubs, I invested in most of these Interarms Commemoratives (limited to 250) 15 to 25 or so years ago when they were much cheaper and few buyers were even interested in collecting them.

Well, if they are not confiscated by our current government, my instinct has been proven accurate as to appreciation.

Respectfully, Sieger

Absolutely your decision to invest in them has proven to be a very wise one. I kick myself for passing up many of them at $500, NIB, back in the 1990's. As you say, no one was interested then.