Nickel Luger?

Anybody ever seen one?

There is a commercial one (model 1921?) for sale by a local guy, and I'm interested in it. I've always wanted a Luger, but I'm not sure what this one might be worth. First one I've seen with a nickel finish. Gunbroker has a few completed auctions for blued versions, but none that are nickel. Is that because it is an aftermarket finish? Or did DWM actually sell them that way?

So what do the resident experts say about the ballpark value of an all numbers matching 9mm Luger with a nickel finish?

I can't give a value, but this was almost certainly a job by a local gunsmith in the USA. I've seen a few.

Pawn shops sometimes got them in when I was a kid. I think some veterans wanted them finished in nickel, then pawned or sold them. They have no collector value, of course.

I wouldn't buy one. If I wanted a rust-resistant Luger, I'd find a US-made Mitchell version. These are stainless.

Nice looking Luger. I have a couple of WWII Lugers but I'm by no means
an expert on Lugers. After looking at your pics I'd vote for the nickel
being aftermarket.

Hi,

DWM never used any finish except rust blue, with strawed small parts. You might find a tool room prototype "in the white" (maybe), but nothing with nickel plating.
Too bad this finish was done to a matching numbers post war P08. The collector value is gone. Price and value would be the same if it was a non-matching shooter.

Have you consulted on the Luger forum?

Jim

It was a Weimar era new manufacture Police model as evidenced by the sear safety(thin spring steel bar riveted to upper). All that is left that appears to be original are the grips and magazine. It's a shooter now and commands a shooter price. Matching or not, because of the refinish I wouldn't pay any more than 5-6 hundred.

I came across a nickel Luger in Iraq. When I got back to Germany, I asked Walter Brucke, the local tailor, who was in 22nd Luftlande Division and invaded Poland in 1939, what the heck a Luger (and so many other German weapons) was doing in in Iraq. Walters educated guess was that the allies gave that stuff over to Iraq as foreign aid over the years. His guess on the nickel finish was done in Europe.

Now, too your question about your nickel Luger. Lots of vet bring back guns were nickeled, most likely in Europe. Guys wanted to jazz up their trophy, and there was a cottage industry of platers in France and Belgium.

Every now and then you'll see GI 1911's nickeled as well as small autos of the era.

Nickel comes off easy enough if you want it blued. $700.00 is the max I would pay for it. Another thing to consider, the Luger having tight tolerances, that plating may make it a jam-o-matic due to the tighter tolerances.

I'd pass. Do you have another 9mm? Buy ammo instead and go shoot.

ITS ACTUALLY A SHAME THAT SOMEONE HAD THIS NUMBERS MATCHING LUGER REFINISHED IN NICKEL......

I WOULD PASS ON THIS ONE, EVEN IF YOU ARE JUST LOOKING FOR A SHOOTER. IT JUST SCREAMS JUNK, FROM VERY FAR AWAY......

IMHO, TO RESTORE IT TO ITS ORIGINAL APPEARANCE, WOULD BE THROWING GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD. YOU WILL PROBABLY END UP HAVING MORE INTO THE GUN, THAN YOU COULD EVER SELL IT FOR......

What is the asking price, and has the owner shot it (or will he let you test fire it)?

It should be at a strictly shooter price, but if you will strictly shoot it and it functions well I'd think about buying it.

Hindsight in gun collecting (as with most things in life) is 20/20, and I'm fairly certain the GI who had the nickel finish done wasn't terribly concerned about what we would think about his decision 70 years later.

Unfortunate so many of these war trophies such as this were nickeled or in the case of 98ks altered to hunting rifles but way back in the 50s or 60s who knew they could be big collector items.

I would pass on any nickled luger period! A good original inexpensive shooter are plentiful if you search long enough. I found a 1925 DWM, all matching numbers with worn original finish for $600. It is 30 luger caliber and shoots just fine.

When I was a high school kid, a near do well uncle hocked his handguns to me on a semi regular basis. One worth noting was a Colts SAAin .38-40. Another worth remembering was a Stoger Luger with an American eagle on the receiver where the factory markings were usually found. The gun was 7.65 and nickel. I have no idea that it was factory or aftermarket.

Rather than charge my uncle interest, I generally shot up the ammo that cam e with the deal. He would get back on his feet and reclaim his gun.

Jack

Back in my much younger days there was a plating shop in my town that did a pretty good trade in nickel plating GI bringback Lugers, P-38s and M1911s. For some reason, many at that time thought that was an improvement. So far as I know, there were never any original factory-plated Lugers or P-38s with the possible exception of a few presentation/display pieces, etc.

I have seen a lot of nickel plated WW2 bring homes. Lugers, P38
and even a FN Browning A5 shotgun. I always herd it was done
in Le Harve, France.

6string said:

Hi,

DWM never used any finish except rust blue, with strawed small parts. You might find a tool room prototype "in the white" (maybe), but nothing with nickel plating.
Too bad this finish was done to a matching numbers post war P08. The collector value is gone. Price and value would be the same if it was a non-matching shooter.

Have you consulted on the Luger forum?

Jim

Click to expand...

I agree with the above. Rust blued and strawed small parts. Pass on it.

Not orig finish as already noted. You can see the work of the buffing wheel very plainly.

What is there however is a very desirable Weimar era Luger.
It's a 1921 DWM Weimar Police. It appears to be a matching piece but of course we can't see all the small parts to be sure, or even the bbl# for that matter.
These are interesting pistols as they were made throughout the 1920's,,not just in the yr 1921.
The Treaty did not allow for that continued production, so DWM just stamped them all '1921'.
They are 100mm bbl length and in 9mmcal, something heavily controlled by the Treaty following WW1 and not allowed to be produced in large numbers,,but they were.

The pistol also had in addition to the sear safety you can see on the top left side of the pistol over the side plate,,,
it was originally fitted with a Magazine Safety.

The Mag Safe goes back to the mid 30's actually and was never popular.
I think the mag safety was a Walther patented ad-on mechanism.

Never very popular,,Most pistols fitted with them ended up having the small U shaped spring extra part simply removed and tossed by an owner or armorer.
That leaves the pistol with a couple tell-tale marks from the original mag safe installation.
On the outside, the left grip,,it's extreme upper left corner is cut away just a small amt to allow the mag safety spring to clear it and it's way into the mag well.
This pistol has that feature.
On the inside, taking the side plate off, you will find a small dia hole blind drilled into the frame just above and behind the trigger. Just under a 1/4"dia it is for the other leg of that flat spring.

Insert the magazine and it pushes the spring out of position and allows the trigger to be pulled. Remove the magazine and the spring moves back and blocks the trigger again.

The magazine is probably not the correct one judging from the mag base. But it could be anything from a decent WW2 standard issue to something like one of the so called one piece Haenel/Schmeisser magazines.
I got luck and recv'd one of those in a $200 shooter Luger one time.

The after market nickel plate looks weak and is flaking.
If the bore is nice and the rest of the numbers match,,I'd think the gun deserves a restoration. Yes it's a lot of work. Polishing, recutting markings, rust blue ect. But I think the gun would be worth it. I just see these older ones in that light. Try to save 'em all.

As a shooter as it sits,,w/a good bore and mechanics,,I think $400 would be a fair price.
$500 tops if you really, really couldn't live w/o a shiny Luger.

The grips alone are probably worth $150,,but that mag safety cut on the left panel would probably be looked at as damage to the grip panel instead of what it actually is,,so there you go again fighting with the tire kickers.

Thanks for the good info and feedback guys.

Obviously I'm looking at this one only as a shooter at this point. But that is OK, shooters are what I usually go for anyway.

I've always loved the look and unique design of the Luger and have wanted one forever. The nickel doesn't really appeal to me, but it isn't a deal breaker either. The fact that it is 9mm, a caliber I already shoot & reload for is a big plus.

If I can get it for $400-ish, I'll probably buy it, otherwise I'll pass.

FWIW, I haven't seen ANY kind of Luger for less than a grand at any of the shows or shops I frequent. Ever.

Yeah I saw that one FS locally as well.

It definitely stood out among all the homebuilt ARs, Glawks, and pump shotguns we typically see here.

I would get a mismatched (but original) shooter vs. a nickeled gun any day.

Just don't let the owner tell you that it belonged to Hermann Goering or some such...

John

Saw it today on the Trader...what a shame. I've owned one that was all numbers matching and decent original finish, all straw in place. Some clown had defaced whatever was on top of the receiver with what appeared to be a tiny ball peen hammer. I had always heard that nothing points as naturally as a P-08. Took it to the range, sent a silhouette target down to 15yds, locked and loaded, brought it up and fired once to the head, two in the center of the chest. Brought the target back in and there was a bullet right between the eyes and two dead center in the chest. Neat pistols, extremely close tolerances and terrific build quality...its a shame to see them ruined like that one, it must have been trashed before-hand. I had someone willing to do a clean-up of the defaced receiver on mine, a process called "spray welding", it would have required a refinish of the rest of the receiver, I opted to trade it out and was satisfied with the trade.

A fellow in my town asked me to look at a couple of firearms that he had bought from a WWII veteran. One was a Winchester M1 Garand and the other was an S/42 Luger that had been nickeled.

I told he the approximate value of the M1 and he was shocked because he only gave $300.00 for that rifle but, paid $700 for the Luger. I told him that he did fine but, the values were reversed.

The Luger had all matching numbers, including the primary and spare magazine, that were correctly marked. He insisted that the Luger was a presentation piece and was sure that it belonged to a high ranking officer or party member. I just shook my head and told him that Lugers were not produced with a nickel finish. He thought I was trying to cheat him and was going to make a "low ball" offer to purchase it from him.

I reminded him that he had called me to inspect the weapons and I never mentioned that I had an interest in purchasing them. Just like Ron White used to say, "you can't fix stupid."