DWM LUGER question--value?? - Page 2

Zathras · May 8, 2020, 05:12 PM

Yes, we are talking US dollars...The owner is a personal friend of mine in Canada...He purchased it 15-20 years ago legally. There is NO issue with its legality..We just have to go through the paperwork hoops to get it to me...I have no idea how that works but I am sure it must be a PAIN in the ass...but it will get done...

**44 AMP** · May 8, 2020, 11:38 PM

The Standard Catalog of Luger (2006) lists a 1920 commercial in FAIR condition as worth $500.

Your gun does not exactly match the description in the book.

However, $500 for ANY COMPLETE Luger is a deal, these days.

The guy your friend got it from said it had never been reblued, but he could be wrong. My book says the chamber should be unmarked and the small parts straw colored. Stock lug on the frame is correct for the 1920 model.

Book also says most were .30s, very few 9mm...

Once you get it, please show us some clear pick of all markings, and we may be able to better identify it. Based on the pics we say, I think it has been reworked/refinished, at some point.

For $500 today, its a hell of a buy. Congratulations.

**JohnKSa** · May 9, 2020, 01:25 AM

Quote:

The owner is a personal friend of mine in Canada...
...
We just have to go through the paperwork hoops to get it to me...I have no idea how that works...

You're trying to import a firearm into the United States?

You should have included that information initially.

It could cost you hundreds of dollars (and a couple of months) to import the gun to the U.S. from Canada.

USCS · May 9, 2020, 03:44 AM

Check with Simpson’s Lugers in Illinois, they may help with an import.

highpower3006 · May 9, 2020, 07:17 AM

That was a very good buy for $500. It has definitely been refinished as the color of the bluing is to dark and the small parts should be strawed. It wasn't until mid 1937 that Lugers were hot salt blued including the small parts that were formally strawed.

1916 LP08 showing it's rust bluing and strawing:

Even if your gun was refurbished after WWI, it would still have been finished to the then-current production standards. Here is a 1920 dated P08 that was issued to the Berlin Police.

Jim Watson · May 9, 2020, 11:13 AM

Simpson's will handle importation.
https://simpsonltd.com/firearm-imports/

Our fee for processing your import license is $50 plus $75.00 for each firearm, with a minimum fee of $200.00.

I doubt that includes shipping.

RickB · May 9, 2020, 02:58 PM

It's not a 1920, which is a commercial model made after WWI.
Looks like a P08, the standard German military pistol.
The "1920" stamp is a property marking, and while the stamping program was started in 1920, you will find guns made in 1921 with the 1920 stamp.

EDIT: I can read only one date - 1920 - in the pictures; what is the second one?
All DWM pistols should have strawed small parts; Mauser stopped strawing in the late '30s.

If the important parts match, and I'd consider the major components of the "upper" to be the important ones - barrel, "cannon" (upper receiver), the three parts of the toggle train - then it should probably be safe to shoot, mostly thinking of headspace.

I just had a new breechblock professionally installed on my 1920 Luger, so I'm fuller than usual with Luger info.

5150 · May 9, 2020, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kozak6

Isn't that nonsensically cheap for a Luger? Suspiciously cheap?

You're prolly right about it being too cheap. Maybe the $500 is just for the original grips? LOL

Sent from my Commodore 64 running Windoze 95

Zathras · May 10, 2020, 11:17 PM

I already stated earlier it was going to come from Canada. And the seller is an old time friend of mine for some years and has the gun for 20 years and thats what he paid for it....No suspicious pricing or quality here.. After doing the research, I decided its not worth all the bullcrap and fees and red tape...So I cancelled the deal...I would wind up paying as much as I would if I bought one here by the time its done..OR MORE....I don't need a luger that badly..I wasn't even searching for one..My friend just offered it to me..He too was unaware of all the baloney regulations....No big deal...I can easily live without it...

**44 AMP** · May 11, 2020, 12:09 PM

Sorry to hear the complications and cost of legally moving a couple pounds of 100yr old (approx.) steel and wood across an imaginary line have cause you to cancel the deal.

Lugers live in a bubble, or more precisely a series of bubbles, each one lifting the market value of the guns, until it bursts and prices plateau for a time, until the next bubble comes along and raises them to the next level.

A $500 Luger 20 years ago could be a $1500 Luger today. (of course, this only applies if you plan on selling it,,,)

I think, even if it cost you $900 to get it in your hands, you wouldn't be terribly gouged at todays market prices, and if you owned it for a few years, very likely it would bring even more. Clearly, your friend in Canada was trying to do you a favor. (a really nice favor!).

Might it not be worth spending the extra needed to import the gun, in the name of your friendship, looking past the temporary cost/profit consideration, which WILL change every few years?

Zathras · May 11, 2020, 05:29 PM

Yes, $200.00 to add to the 500.00 that makes 700.00 than GOD knows what the cost would be to ship it by common carrier since from what i have read neither UPS NOR USPS would take it...and on top of that my friend would have to apply for an export permit, then HE would have to get an export agent...Too much financial shafting, imo...So again, its just as much as getting one here..if not MORE at the end of the day...No offense meant to you, but if I want to get RAPED, I'd go to a gun show....I was interested only because my friend offered it to me at a cheap price, and I had no idea it would be such a pain in the ass to get it to me...I will pass...

Jim Watson · May 12, 2020, 09:18 AM

I got acquainted with cross border shipment several years ago.
My Walther LP2 pellet pistol would not hold pressure and I wanted to get it fixed. But the North American service center is in Canada.
They said I would have to mail it because fedup would not cross the border with it.
I had to have a customs declaration form stating that it was to be repaired and returned, not transferred permanently into Canada. It also had to state that the velocity was below the level considered dangerous by the authorities there.
Then the postal clerk went hysterical over a GUN. The postmaster said only a FFL could mail any sort of pistol, even air powered. So I got my nearby dealer to put it on the appropriate form and off it went. It came back eventually.

HisSoldier · May 17, 2020, 12:13 PM

How sad that this P08 is in Canada. Is it registered with the Canadian authorities? Even if it weren't it would be illegal to do a FTF purchase and
to bring it across the border. Two of mine are 1920 commercials and the cheapest one cost $1200, and I'd buy another in it's condition for the same.

May 8, 2020, 11:38 PM	#27
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,839	The Standard Catalog of Luger (2006) lists a 1920 commercial in FAIR condition as worth $500. Your gun does not exactly match the description in the book. However, $500 for ANY COMPLETE Luger is a deal, these days. The guy your friend got it from said it had never been reblued, but he could be wrong. My book says the chamber should be unmarked and the small parts straw colored. Stock lug on the frame is correct for the 1920 model. Book also says most were .30s, very few 9mm... Once you get it, please show us some clear pick of all markings, and we may be able to better identify it. Based on the pics we say, I think it has been reworked/refinished, at some point. For $500 today, its a hell of a buy. Congratulations. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

May 9, 2020, 02:58 PM	#32
RickB Senior Member Join Date: March 1, 2000 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 8,518	It's not a 1920, which is a commercial model made after WWI. Looks like a P08, the standard German military pistol. The "1920" stamp is a property marking, and while the stamping program was started in 1920, you will find guns made in 1921 with the 1920 stamp. EDIT: I can read only one date - 1920 - in the pictures; what is the second one? All DWM pistols should have strawed small parts; Mauser stopped strawing in the late '30s. If the important parts match, and I'd consider the major components of the "upper" to be the important ones - barrel, "cannon" (upper receiver), the three parts of the toggle train - then it should probably be safe to shoot, mostly thinking of headspace. I just had a new breechblock professionally installed on my 1920 Luger, so I'm fuller than usual with Luger info. __________________ Runs off at the mouth about anything 1911 related on this site and half the time is flat out wrong.

May 10, 2020, 11:17 PM	#34
Zathras Senior Member Join Date: August 18, 2010 Posts: 208	I already stated earlier it was going to come from Canada. And the seller is an old time friend of mine for some years and has the gun for 20 years and thats what he paid for it....No suspicious pricing or quality here.. After doing the research, I decided its not worth all the bullcrap and fees and red tape...So I cancelled the deal...I would wind up paying as much as I would if I bought one here by the time its done..OR MORE....I don't need a luger that badly..I wasn't even searching for one..My friend just offered it to me..He too was unaware of all the baloney regulations....No big deal...I can easily live without it... Last edited by Zathras; May 10, 2020 at 11:27 PM.

May 11, 2020, 12:09 PM	#35
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,839	Sorry to hear the complications and cost of legally moving a couple pounds of 100yr old (approx.) steel and wood across an imaginary line have cause you to cancel the deal. Lugers live in a bubble, or more precisely a series of bubbles, each one lifting the market value of the guns, until it bursts and prices plateau for a time, until the next bubble comes along and raises them to the next level. A $500 Luger 20 years ago could be a $1500 Luger today. (of course, this only applies if you plan on selling it,,,) I think, even if it cost you $900 to get it in your hands, you wouldn't be terribly gouged at todays market prices, and if you owned it for a few years, very likely it would bring even more. Clearly, your friend in Canada was trying to do you a favor. (a really nice favor!). Might it not be worth spending the extra needed to import the gun, in the name of your friendship, looking past the temporary cost/profit consideration, which WILL change every few years? __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

May 11, 2020, 05:29 PM	#36
Zathras Senior Member Join Date: August 18, 2010 Posts: 208	jim Watson Yes, $200.00 to add to the 500.00 that makes 700.00 than GOD knows what the cost would be to ship it by common carrier since from what i have read neither UPS NOR USPS would take it...and on top of that my friend would have to apply for an export permit, then HE would have to get an export agent...Too much financial shafting, imo...So again, its just as much as getting one here..if not MORE at the end of the day...No offense meant to you, but if I want to get RAPED, I'd go to a gun show....I was interested only because my friend offered it to me at a cheap price, and I had no idea it would be such a pain in the ass to get it to me...I will pass...

May 8, 2020, 05:12 PM	#26
Zathras Senior Member Join Date: August 18, 2010 Posts: 208	Yes, we are talking US dollars...The owner is a personal friend of mine in Canada...He purchased it 15-20 years ago legally. There is NO issue with its legality..We just have to go through the paperwork hoops to get it to me...I have no idea how that works but I am sure it must be a PAIN in the ass...but it will get done...

May 9, 2020, 03:44 AM	#29
USCS Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2009 Location: South Carolina Posts: 114	Check with Simpson’s Lugers in Illinois, they may help with an import.

May 9, 2020, 07:17 AM	#30
highpower3006 Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2011 Location: Savannah TN Posts: 1,220	That was a very good buy for $500. It has definitely been refinished as the color of the bluing is to dark and the small parts should be strawed. It wasn't until mid 1937 that Lugers were hot salt blued including the small parts that were formally strawed. 1916 LP08 showing it's rust bluing and strawing: Even if your gun was refurbished after WWI, it would still have been finished to the then-current production standards. Here is a 1920 dated P08 that was issued to the Berlin Police.

May 9, 2020, 11:13 AM	#31
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,543	Simpson's will handle importation. https://simpsonltd.com/firearm-imports/ Our fee for processing your import license is $50 plus $75.00 for each firearm, with a minimum fee of $200.00. I doubt that includes shipping.

May 12, 2020, 09:18 AM	#37
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,543	I got acquainted with cross border shipment several years ago. My Walther LP2 pellet pistol would not hold pressure and I wanted to get it fixed. But the North American service center is in Canada. They said I would have to mail it because fedup would not cross the border with it. I had to have a customs declaration form stating that it was to be repaired and returned, not transferred permanently into Canada. It also had to state that the velocity was below the level considered dangerous by the authorities there. Then the postal clerk went hysterical over a GUN. The postmaster said only a FFL could mail any sort of pistol, even air powered. So I got my nearby dealer to put it on the appropriate form and off it went. It came back eventually.

May 17, 2020, 12:13 PM	#38
HisSoldier Senior Member Join Date: August 9, 2007 Location: Oregoncoast Posts: 1,793	How sad that this P08 is in Canada. Is it registered with the Canadian authorities? Even if it weren't it would be illegal to do a FTF purchase and to bring it across the border. Two of mine are 1920 commercials and the cheapest one cost $1200, and I'd buy another in it's condition for the same. __________________ CNC produced 416 stainless triggers to replace the plastic triggers on Colt Mustangs, Mustang Plus II's, MK IV Government .380's and Sig P238's and P938's. Plus Colt Mustang hardened 416 guide rods, and Llama .32 and .380 recoil spring buttons, checkered nicely and blued.