Pictures will follow when I get out of this automobile mess I'm in. This thing is in fantastic condition, has a spare clip, and the original leather holster. My pop (a tank sargeant in the 13th armored division) swiped it off of the back of a German munitions truck. Does anybody here have an idea about what it might be worth?
^ Not to be too crass, but is your dad still alive? I ask because, if he is, get him to write a short account of how he came to own the pistol and have him sign it. From the little I know about antique collecting, a "personal account" of the item's history contributes to the value. If not ( ), find a reputable gun/antique broker.
I'm not realy an expert, but I think they're worth quite a bit depending on the condition. For what it's worth, this guy has one up asking $2,200.00. That might mean he's just an idiot, but who knows? Without seeing pics, I'd guess well over a grand, but it might be worth much more than that. Again though, I'm no old gun appraising expert.
Yeah......my father passed on to his reward about 15 years ago, so there's no chance for any more of a narrative than I've written here. Dad wasn't really too game on talking at length about his experience in WWII. He made the occasional mention of how much care they had to take in German towns because many of the families were dangerous (go figure), as well as the occasional disparaging remark about the cowardice of the French and a few choice comments in regard to the Russians. I wish I'd have persisted in asking. I inherited a box of his war memorabilia.....a Nazi flag, an SS podium cover, his patches and medals, pictures of his tank and his armored division. It would be really great to know the stories which accompany each.
I've got my Grandad's 1911 (no bloody A1) that he carried in the Pacific. I still shoot it from time to time. It's got four notches carved into the grip.
I'm not a gun expert, but that looks a lot like a Browning 9mm I used to own. Nice little piece of history you've got there.
Presumably, you owned a Browning Hi-Power 9mm (image spoilered below). Both it and the venerable Colt 1911 (such as Shoes' fine example) were designed by the same man: the legendary John Moses Browning. [?=Browning Hi-Power][/?]
Yes, that was the one. The gun had been in an unfortunate storage situation at my great Aunt's house, and when it found it's way into my family's guncase, my father had it blued, and had the handgrip changed to ivory. It was a handsome piece.
No, I don't have it scanned, but I think that I might just do that. I will have to go looking through his pictures. The one that's the easiest to get at is a picture of the entire Black Cat division, that's got a map of their path through Germany. It's under glass, but you know, it'd be nice to have a duplicate of it. I'll send you a link when I get 'r done, shooter.
I wonder if the state of NJ would even let me sell Dad's Luger. No paperwork, of course. He got it off a Jap officer he killed on Ie Shima. I've managed to determine it's a 1939 Mauser-made gun, probably one of 3,000 made for the Dutch East Indies Army, probably captured by the Japs. Don't know how many notches the original owner may have had, nor how many the Jap notched up, but Dad has three on it.
Reminds me of a guy at a photography workshop I put on last year who kept calling referring to a tripod as a "stand".
