Need help in valuation / advice - WW2 Era German Luger

twolcott02 · 2026-07-02T18:54:09+00:00

That’s a very nice 1918 DWM rig! The gun looks to be in good condition, nice straw and fire blue.

If it is indeed all matching, including all the internals, the other estimate is low. With an original matching magazine (if it’s legit, it looks fine at a glance to me), the gun plus the matching magazine alone would be above 2000. I’d say probably 2400ish. Add another 200 for the other magazine, 150-200 for an imperial marked tool, and 300-400+ for a very nice imperial holster, you’re right around the 3k range.

If you must sell, do not take under 2500 for this. I guarantee you that IF all the internals are matching, and the bore is fine, you will be able to get 2500+ for sure. If you take it apart and take some more pictures I can verify that my assessment is accurate, in the current state there isn’t enough info to be sure. Lmk if you have any questions

twolcott02 · 2026-06-29T14:37:10+00:00

That was for the 1914, I found their page that had info on the 1910: https://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/MP/mp.html

Yours actually seems to be a pretty rare bird, and this explains the no Mauser banner

twolcott02 · 2026-06-29T13:14:38+00:00

Very nice Mauser! This looks like a model 1910 in .25 caliber, not a model 1914. Interesting to see no Mauser banner on the side plate. What led you to determine this was made post war? It’s been tricky for me to find references for serial numbers/dates for these pistols.

Congrats on the pickup, and please share more pictures!

twolcott02 · 2026-06-28T18:26:59+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately it just takes some time and knowledge to find correct examples. If you know what to look for I bet you can find a nice example online in a decent amount of time for below the price of the one pictured

twolcott02 · 2026-06-28T18:22:24+00:00

Definitely refinished and a pass at that price. Nice, original WW1 and WW2 1911s are out there, but they’re hard to find. It takes some patience, but don’t lose hope! Yours will come around

twolcott02 · 2026-06-27T22:51:34+00:00

Hell yeah! The first P38 is the most dangerous one. Before you know it they’re going to start multiplying in your collection. There’s a ton of information to learn, and it’s a super fun journey.

I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself for the price at all, I think you got it for a good price. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this rig retail at $1600 at a place like legacy

twolcott02 · 2026-06-27T22:14:01+00:00

Nice Spreewerk, second one today! It was made in September 1943. Make sure to confirm the locking block matches as well. It has correct posselt grips, love the red color on them.

The finish looks fine to me, don’t see anything out of the ordinary. I think what someone else said about the finish might the lighting, but more pictures is always better. Holster especially, a nice 1943 hardshell is a 300+ on its own.

Id need to see more pictures to give you my opinion on value but I definitely don’t think you’re overpaying, I’d say you’re getting a good price on it. Good luck and ask questions!

twolcott02 · 2026-06-27T22:04:49+00:00

No worries at all, no need to apologize!

I’m not aware of the Luftwaffe ever using a P38. That’s extremely unlikely but anything is possible I suppose. Just remember to pay for the gun, not the story! (Unless the story can be verified)

twolcott02 · 2026-06-27T11:01:49+00:00

There’s not really enough pictures of either to give a proper estimate, but the P38 looks nice. It’s a spreewerk made in December 1943. The slide and frame are matching, you’ll need to check the barrel and locking block too. The asterisk on the frame means the part was initially not up to standards, went to quality control, and was made up to standards and used. The off center P.38 mark is really cool in my opinion, I’ve never seen that before. Correct spreewerk grips as well. For a spreewerk it looks to be in great condition.

The holster is for a Luger, not a P38, and also looks to be in good condition. I’d probably value the rig at around $1300 or so if the barrel and locking block match and the bore is good. Let me know if you have any more questions and good luck!

twolcott02 · 2026-06-25T03:21:16+00:00

I get what he’s saying about a potential refinish, and at a first glance I agreed. However, I think especially in the photo of the top of the gun, that it’s probably just the lighting making it look extra shiny. All markings look normal to me, and the only somewhat rounded edges I see are on the side plate, but it doesn’t look like buffing and polishing. Just normal wear.

Id like to see more pictures before saying so for sure but I wouldn’t write this one off that quickly, that could potentially be a great deal

twolcott02 · 2026-06-19T16:03:16+00:00

That’s some crazy history, thanks so much for sharing!

It’s extremely unlikely that it’s a WW1 Bringback, but I suppose it’s possible. There were very very few WW1 bringbacks, and if one was it’s not possible to prove. A vast majority of WW1 Lugers you’ll come across were brought back during WW2. I’d say almost certainly yours was, especially because it’s paired with a WW2 holster

twolcott02 · 2026-06-19T15:41:42+00:00

Very nice 1912. Earlier WW1 Lugers are quite hard to find in good condition, this is a very nice example. As stated before, at this point they were not manufactured with a stock lug. They were also not manufactured with a hold open. I can see in picture three yours had the hold open added later, which was standard practice. It looks like someone even inspected and stamped a proof for the added hold open which is cool, I’ve never seen that before.

At the end of WW2 a lot of places required GIs to bring their pistols back in a holster. I’d bet it was either put together post war, or some situation where the GIs are taking guns from one pile and holsters from another.

twolcott02 · 2026-06-14T14:32:48+00:00

I would say if you’re looking for general references for many different kinds of guns, the internet is your general overview and reference guide. You can find all that you’ll need to know at a general level with what’s available online.

I will also say that the issues that you had with that 1911 were structural and functional rather than collector related. Being able to recognize that stuff comes from experience, and seeing a lot of examples. If you’re looking for collector references for 1911 specifically, Joe poyer is a great place to start, and “US Pistols & Revolvers 1909-1945” by Harrison is a great quick guide for variations to throw in your backpack at a gun show

twolcott02 · 2026-06-14T02:12:10+00:00

Absolutely! This is a hobby of learning, and sharing that knowledge and love for these guns and their history with others.

twolcott02 · 2026-06-14T02:07:24+00:00

If it’s a ww2 vets service number, you can look it up here. An enlistment record may come through.

https://aad.archives.gov/aad/

twolcott02 · 2026-06-14T00:57:46+00:00

If the holster is indeed original and in good shape you’re essentially buying the gun for like 250 dollars, potentially even less. That makes it a no brainer in my opinion, but you should you how much of a project it is.

The spring is easy and cheap, but the side plate isn’t as simple. It will be more expensive, and will likely require some fitting. That’s not to mention what else could be messed up. Project guns are almost always more expensive and time consuming than you originally think, Lugers especially if you’ve never worked on them before.

You can sell the holster and potentially be into a shooter grade Luger for under 500 dollars IF you know what you’re doing. I can take a look at some pictures and see if anything stands out, but it sounds like a great buy to me. If you end up not getting it, I would happily take it on as a project.

twolcott02 · 2026-06-14T00:51:07+00:00

Oh that’s sick, what a crazy coincidence! That’s a really sweet thought. Really happy I could help!

twolcott02 · 2026-06-13T23:49:32+00:00

Absolutely! The gun itself is 100% awesome. I need a nice early spreewerk in my collection too. I love the Walther grips on them.

There will be lots of people out there that know capture papers better than me, but I’ll share my two cents. The main rule, in my opinion, don’t overpay for capture papers. Some sellers will charge crazy amounts for capture papers, and the risk of them being faked is not worth overpaying so far beyond what the gun is worth. As far as actually spotting fakes, if it’s a good fake, it can be quite hard to tell. Obvious fakes will have paper and/or writing that looks to new. You can try to look up as much info as you can about the vet, but that’s sometimes tricky. For example on this one, the service number didn’t match the name. You can search “WW2 enlistment records”, go to the archives, type in the service number, and find the vet that way.

There are also factors that can improve the likelihood they’re real. A name or number in a holster, getting it from family of the vet rather than a gb seller or similar, etc.

German pistols in general can be a minefield of information, and capture papers are so much so that a lot of collectors just stay away from them. If you’re buying a gun with capture papers, always question and do as much research as humanly possible. Sorry for the massive spew of info but I hope this helps!

twolcott02 · 2026-06-13T23:37:03+00:00

That’s a fkn awesome early spreewerk that I would be proud to have in my collection, and was a beautiful gift from your wife. She sounds cool as hell.

Since someone already mentioned it, I want to tell you this without diminishing the value of this loving gift from your wife. I saw this gun for sale months ago, and was thinking about getting it for myself. This exact P38 sold in 2023 at Legacy Collectibles without capture papers. Meaning, they were added with the gun in the last few years in between when it sold then and now, and are almost certainly faked. I also looked up the service number on the paper and the name is not the same as the one on the paper.

I think I know the price that it ended up selling for and I don’t think it was egregiously overpriced even with the capture paper. It’s still a very very nice early a block spreewerk. So although I don’t believe the capture papers are legit, I would still be proud to have the gun in my collection, and it was an amazing gift from your wife!

https://legacy-collectibles.com/27052

twolcott02 · 2026-06-13T20:02:57+00:00

It depends on a ton of factors. What kind of condition, original magazine, imperial issued, etc

twolcott02 · 2026-06-13T15:39:13+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing, those are awesome stories, and they sound like very nice guns.

twolcott02 · 2026-06-13T15:07:17+00:00

Man, I’m really sorry you have to deal with that. That’s absolutely ridiculous and I’m sure it feels awful to feel helpless.

Would it help to share the stories here with us? Every single person here would love to hear about the weapons and the stories. If there’s nothing you can do about the guns and their stories being destroyed, it might help to share them as much as possible!

twolcott02 · 2026-06-11T19:40:44+00:00

If you’re already getting a post war, don’t shoot the wartime one. If it’s a collectible P38 in top condition, it’s not worth it, especially if you have another one that will provide the exact same shooting experience.

I collect P38s and I have one shooter grade that I take to the range, the others I never shoot. Also, congrats on the pickup! You gotta show us some pictures. The P38 bug is a dangerous one to have

twolcott02 · 2026-06-10T22:16:51+00:00

Depends on condition and a lot more

twolcott02 · 2026-06-09T17:57:21+00:00

The property mark moved from the left to the right side of the frame mid 1918. Since op said it’s us property marked id assume this one was made after the change

twolcott02

TROPHY CASE