@@egzonsalihu1451 Not at all... The 7.65x21 aka 30-liger (.308) is far better. Its higher velocity makes it "flatter" shooting. The necked casing makes for much more reliable loading. With 9 ft-lbs less energy its momentum is in the center of the guns operation range, not the top of the range, again making it more reliable.
Wow!! All THOSE LUGERS behind you!! I was 2-1/2 years Old when I First saw a Luger pistol at a gunstore ..a few years after WWll. I could not take my eyes Away off it and remember making a scene when my Dad told me that we couldn't take it home! The Luger pistol,to me, still is Mesmerizing...as one gun authority described it as " the sensual epitome of the Teutonic Beauty.." That is Beyond politics , New Subscriber here..👍🙏
Hi Brad, Thank you for posting the video. I just recently acquired a P08 and had the chance to examine the markings found on the pistol. On top of the chamber is a four-digit date 1939 and on top of the toggle is the number 42. All two-digit numbers in various locations; side plate, takedown lever, back of toggle, sear, etc. correspond to the three digit number stamped on the front of the receiver underneath the barrel. From what I was able to gather online, this particular pistol was manufactured by the Mauser company and probably issued to the military. I would speculate it likely belonged to an officer in the Wehrmacht as his issued sidearm. The pistol is in fairly decent shape although there is evidence of holster wear and tear. No corrosion noted anywhere and the checkered walnut grips are pretty worn. I took my Luger outdoors to test fire three rounds from it and I immediately experienced a stove pipe where the cartridge casing was not completely ejected. I cleared the malfunction and fired the remaining two rounds. The first casing ejected clear but the second one was stuck in the chamber. I might add that the two magazines that came with the pistol are not the originals but are after market models. I thought it might be a feeding issue, then I concluded that it could be the extractor so I'm considering replacing that part.
@Jay B ..could be the load you are using is not " hot" enough to fully cycle your Luger. As l understand it, a 115 grains metal jacket bullet loading was the German military spec for the Luger pistol..l could be wrong but fed backs from other Luger shooters said the Canadian 9mm is " hotter"and works just fine than some of the American brands.
Just got my luger a couple days ago. I fit the profile you described. I wanted a WWII era luger with the s/42 stamp and ended up buying a G year. I would have settled for any luger after 1935 but this was the one i ended up winning without the auction getting too ridiculous.
I have 14 various luger magazines, some were sticking and not sending cartridges, in a 9mm Luger... I ultrasonic'ed them, lubed them, and filled them with 30-luger ammo... Off to the range... Running them through a 30-luger, real fast 80 rounds in a few minutes, the Range Master was intrigued by the gun, he said I've never shot one. So I handed him the gun and a magazine and showed him how to run-the-gun... 8 rounds later he had a great big smile, commented about the balance, the smoothness, and said I'm going to have to buy one of these... Good luck with that, finding a good shooting, luger is very expansive, I wish I had bought a dozen of them when they were under $500.
Ever notice that 41-42"s all seem to have coarse machining marks across the toggle linkage?? Weird! This by coincidence is the series that I have concentrated on. Can't pop for a K-date quite yet though. Yes I know they will not get cheaper...
I’ve been collecting Axis pistols for over a decade now and have yet to buy my first P08. I’ve got all the occupation made French and German allied made Spanish etc. Finally time I add a P08 to the collection.
I LOVE LUGERS. (P08) THANK YOU FOR YOUR INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING VIDEO. SINCE YOU HAVE SO MANY LUGERS AND SEEM QUITE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THEM MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME IDENTIFY THE LUGER THAT I HAVE. It's part WWI AND WWII, the frame has the skinny eagle over 6 which someone told me that is Simpson manufacturer the safety bar that blocks the sear isn't numbered and isn't properly fitted (cut to slide smoothly in operation). The grips looked NEW (light colored walnut) with S/42 on one grip and a skinny eagle over 635 (I think, it's at a friend's house BECAUSE of a FIRE at my place, security reasons while house is being repaired). The springs were WRONG (2 of them instead of 1 spring) I know because I've owned 3 other ones over the years (1915 DWM, 1940 s/42 and commercial ORIGINAL MAUSER from the 60's) I purchased a spring kit from Wolff Springs Co. and installed them. The upper had a DWM toggle assembly but the barrel extension had 1940 on it. The barrel was PRISTINE, looked practically NEW or could have been NEW but it did have the arsenal proof marked. NO USUAL PROOFING MARKS ON THE SIDE OF THE BARREL EXTENSION? THERE WAS NO SERIAL NUMBER UNDER THE BARREL ON THE FRAME OR ON THE SIDE OF THE FRAME? THERE WAS A ERFURT MARKED SIDE PLATE (GOTHIC LETTER E). After replacing the WRONG SPRINGS and a NEW Mec-Gar magazine it works like a CHAMP (NEW PISTOL)and is QUITE ACCURATE as well. So what do you think I have? I thought it may have been put together by a GI after the WAR because the springs were WRONG instead of a POSSIBLE after the WAR pistol for the police or French? Please can you MAYBE help me IDENTIFY its possible origins.😉😁👍. Thank you Sir.🙏 Oh I forgot to mention that obviously it WASN'T MATCHING but parts that were numbered was only 2 different numbers most of the numbers on the frame matched (65) then the rest were 42 which could denote Mauser but NOT on the toggle (DWM). I've seen some with no 2 numbers were the same.🤔😲😳😮💨
There's no way in telling what you have or who replaced the parts. You could buy these guns for not that much for decades after the war and peope were assembling parts after the war to sell these popular pistols Its just a parts gun worth a few hundred dollars. No one cares for them as collectible because there's no certainly on when this was assembled
There is a difference between early produced S42 snd later. After 1937 there is a typical bubble on the back of the frame to prevent loosing the läßt pin in the toggle yount. I miss this in the explenation. Kind regards Hans
Wow!! Thank you for your video. Awesome! Question with regards to ammo: I just bought a 1942 P.08 and do not intend to shoot it very frequently as I want to preserve it in its current great condition, but will definitely fire it every now and then to get the feeling. What ammo should be used in these Lugers? Some say +P ammo, some say regular 9mm, others say FMJ, others brass case, and so on... In other words, I just need to know what current ammo is equal or the most similar to the original German 9mm ammo of the era. Please advice. Thanks
Brad, Thank you for the information good info on the Luger. I have a question though, what information do you have on the P38? What year did the German army start using them? Thanks again.
Can you make a video on what to look for and avoid when looking to purchase a Luger? There’s a shop down the road from me selling one for $1,200 and need to know as much as I can before making any offers.
Important issues for Luger collectors. 1) is it an all matching numbers pistol? 2) Has it had a new barrel installed at some point? 3) has the pistol been re-blued at any point? 4) If the bluing is original; how worn is it? 5) has the pistol been 'restored' (rounded edges from grinding/polishing etc) at some point 6) is the pistol in a corroded condition? 7) is the pistol 'loose' (worn out)? 8) is the barrel shot-out?
My dad was buried with his when he fought at the Battle of the Bulge he said a general gave it to him when they surrender to them and I've seen it and in the native way we're not supposed to touch things that somebody has so we buried it with him it had a signal of a lieutenant colonel and a dagger was also given to my dad when they surrender
Hey I've got a model 1914 army luger dated 1916 all matching except the bolt with british importation Mark's on the bottom of the barrel but no American import marks. How common are model 1914 lugers and british imported lugers with no American import marks?
The Luger entered German military service (starting with the Navy) in 1906. Commercial models were available before this date with numerous examples being exported. There is no such thing as a 1914 'model'. The pistol was adopted by the German Army in 1908 and produced throughout the war years in various forms.
Thanks for sharing... Just wonder why Banner Mausers weren't mentioned in this video? There are some really nice pieces like lets say 1939 Banner with Eagle/C, Police versions... But ok. It is just to many of them. ;)
My grandpa his Luger took the Americans from him in WWII, just like his pilot's watch helmet everything and sorry that is not what he could save was his brand, he would have liked to bequeath everything to me because I'm a Sagittarius and a collector but unfortunately the things are in there USA normal you should file a lawsuit because the things belonged to Grandpa! I am still angry to this day because his whole troop was feeling like that, which is the worst he was in the Rhine meadow camp what he said turned a stomach upside down!
I have the 1,055th one made in 1939. It’s all matching and has just the 42 code not s/42 I wonder when exactly they changed the code that year? It must have been very early in production. I was always led to believe that they changed it in late 1938. I’m glad to have the proper information now.
They were produced in series of 9,999 then the letter suffix was changed- a,b,c , etc.. Look under the barrel at the frame, the frame serial number will have the series suffix. There are charts to tell you about when in that year it was made. Your will probably be the 1,055th made of a particular series.
@@jongirolami4978 no letter suffix so it is the 1,055 th one made in 1939. I was just curious why the factory code on mine is simply 42 and not s42 as the sources I read all stated that the change Came in late 1938 and mine was made in 39. The year is stamped into the chamber top.
@@aaronfarr4753 very nice example of first series 1939. I would imagine it could be a transition from the 42 to the S42 manufacturer's code. Not all parts available for assembly were in the same amount so records from so long ago are extrapolations and based on scant surviving records. There are always exceptions to so called hard and fast rules in these sort of things. Part of the fascination of collecting history.
typical Mauser grips have a bulge at the end....which is supposed to prevent the joint bolt from slipping out sideways......Mauser used old grips for a long time, made of DWM......no bulge.
I have a pistol which is for 100 years in our family.(1906 model Parabellum P08 7.65 American Eagle).So I want to sale it could you please help me, what is the price of this pistol
It's not necessarily fake, it might be a Russian capture. They are often a mixture of parts from different years and producers. Those Lugers are in most cases force-matched. The original serial numbers is grinded off and new numbers added to make it "matching". It can also be a "VoPo" (Volkspolizei) Luger. They are Russian capture Lugers issued to the East German police after WW2. East German "VoPo" Lugers do often have bakelite grips with a ring that looks like a target on them. I have one of those myself, it has a G-code (1935) receiver with a 1936 Mauser frame, a 42-code cirka 1940 toggle and for some reason a Finnish barrel. They are definitely not original Lugers, but they are not fake either since they were rebuilt and issued by a military power. But it's a whole other story if someone "built" it in their garage in 2006, then it's absolutely fake. You just need to know what to look for, markings and so on.
I have one, it's a Mauser byf Code 1941 with Eagle 655 acceptance stamps. I had a very hard time finding out what exactly it was until I read a fantastic luger guide by Aaron Davis, and I located my exact model (obviously not nickeled though). I have always wanted a Luger, and began looking around 10 years ago, when they were still going sub/at $500. But I was like 17 at the time. By the time I was old enough and had enough money last year, they had shot up to around $8-900. Now they are even worse. But about 3 months ago, I stumbled across a nickel P08 in a pawn shop in the city. It was still in very good shape and shoots like a dream. I ended up purchasing it for $700, which I consider a steal, because it's a real Nazi Luger, nickeled or not. I know that it being nickeled brings the value down to a shooter, but I also know I will simply never have the disposable income to pay $12-1300 for an original. But somewhere, some GI killed a nazi and took his Luger. He probably took it home and nickeled it, which I hear was popular in the 50's. So the nickel is not my original preference, but it's a part of MY guns history, and if it weren't nickeled, I never would have been able to afford it. So I'm happy! Any questions about it, or do you have any information on then? I'm still trying to learn more about my gun
Saw one once as a kid and I mentioned it to a collector which he talked down. I have wondered about the positive of such plating. outside of the brightness, there is the advantage of self-lubrication due to the metal's physical characteristics, especially in extremely cold environments. At least I can now say it was an actual possibility and not some childhood fever dream.
@@redcat9436 That is true. I am wondering, "what if" that was done at the factory-like S&W's with the objective to improve performance in extremely cold weather?
@@SimonNewsome I have heard that nickeled models were submarine models, navy models had 15 cm barrel,antillery had 20 cm barrel. ww1 models are more interesting, with wood stocks and so on..
No way to know, records were not kept by the government. Most GI's did not keep what are called the capture paper that was filled out for returning personnel. Many tens of thousands I would imagine.
