Standard Luger re-barreled...... or Artillery Luger?

And I am curious as to what you think will protect the value of a P08 Luger? Deactivating it? Sending it to the smelter? Possibly 12.7 but for most the population that isn't option. In fact for all 12.6 Lugers, most the value has already been lost, due to the laws which really limit the market on who can buy them.

Basically the only way to own one if you don't have a 12.6 or a family member who has a 12.6 is a rebarreled one, or a deactivated one. I personally say a rebarreled one is better than deactivating one and most the shooting population would likely agree. There is a big difference between optional repro parts and being forced to do something due to the law.

Original Lugers are still very collectable in the US and can be exported fairly easily. This isn't to say that they have no collector value here, as they do, but export is always an option.
 
If you do not have 12.6 classification on your licence you do not have a choise if you want a P.08, you are restricted to a replacement longer barrel. (Or a dewatt)

Are you a collector or are you a shooter?
The answer to this question is important in pointing you in the right direction.

If you are looking at this question as a collector the replacement barrel substantially affects the future value for the next owner.

Do you have a preference for for WWII or is WWI of interest to you?
The Artillery Luger does offer some other collecting options ----a snail drum magazine---magazine loader--stock and WWI holster.
No question a more expensive option---but you don't have to do it all at once.

I am a collector ---I do not shoot my three Lugers as they are collector pieces---two WWII S/42s and an Artillery Luger with all of the goodies. All of these Lugers have matching magazines.

If I were you----I would try and buy or put together a nice Artillery rig.











 
If you are looking at this question as a collector the replacement barrel substantially affects the future value for the next owner.

I don't agree with you in the same way you imagine.

1) There are fewer 12(6) owners every year. Those collectors who want a nice P08 Luger in Canada have long since found one.
2) When the handgun prohibitions came in, the value of Lugers dropped substantially in Canada. Today, they show up at the LGS on a semi-regular basis. When the shopkeep wants to sell a gun, standard WW1 and WW2 P08's are all priced at $600-$700, regardless what it is, because he knows very few customers are 12(6) and even fewer are collecting Lugers in Canada.
3) The LGS ALWAYS strips the leather away to sell into the USA online. They're getting $300-400 per holster rig all day long on e-bay.
4) When a rebarrelled restricted P08 luger shows up at the LGS, it's always in the $1200+ price range. Why? Because almost anyone can buy it.

Decent replacement barrels are $220 plus tax and ship, not including installation charges. Adding one to a $600 Luger, especially one with a pitted bore, instantly turns it into a $1200+ gun in Canada.

This ain't the USA.
 
My friend Peter Dunster spends a lot of his time selling re-barreled P.08s to those people that are not licensed for 12.6.

He has the barrel replacement process down to a fine science.

Value is substantially dependent on demand ----reduced demand ---reduced value---except for special examples.

Less interesting/condition pistols will respond to the reduced demand and will reflect in the prices paid for them.

The P.08 remains a classic pistol---I would burn and go to hell if I re-barreled my two S/42s ---each with two serial numbered matching magazines.






The 1937 S/42 rig.



The 1938 S/42 rig.



I learned a long time ago that it only takes only one interested buyer that appreciates the piece that he is looking at to make a deal.

The 1937 S/42 comes with a pretty detailed 'vet bring back story'---I know where and when it was picked up---it was given to me by a family friend.
 
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2) When the handgun prohibitions came in, the value of Lugers dropped substantially in Canada. Today, they show up at the LGS on a semi-regular basis. When the shopkeep wants to sell a gun, standard WW1 and WW2 P08's are all priced at $600-$700, regardless what it is, because he knows very few customers are 12(6) and even fewer are collecting Lugers in Canada.

My 1917 P08 cost $235 in 1987. At $700 today, that's a 300% increase--not at all a "substantially dropped" value. Even accounting for inflation, the value of the firearm has increased.
 
My 1917 P08 cost $235 in 1987. At $700 today, that's a 300% increase--not at all a "substantially dropped" value. Even accounting for inflation, the value of the firearm has increased.

You're not getting my point.

The 12(6) provisions came into effect in 1998, but was back-dated to 1995. If you paid $700 for a nice luger in 1995, in 1999, it was a $450 gun. A $450 gun in 1995 is a $700+ gun today.

Your $235 price in 1987 doesn't mean much. There were NO decent $235 Lugers on the market in 1998. I used to collect them at the time and would have killed to find a decent luger at that price.
 
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