Mosin77
Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2019
- Messages
- 1,623
My father was having lunch with friends in Paducah, Kentucky, when one of them mentioned he had a German Lugar he got just after the war. As they continued to talk, my dad offered to buy it sight unseen for $500. The man agreed, they shook on it and when they left the pancake place, they drove to the man's home to get the gun. That's when the proverbial $&#@ hit the fan. The man's wife was not happy and she tried to quash the deal, but the man had the money and they'd shook hands. So my dad got the gun and three man was happy to get the $500.
My father tried to cycle the gun's action but it wouldn't budge, but no worries, he had the gun. Some years later I got possession of the gun and discovered the gun wouldn't cock. I began working on it and discovered the problem. There was a 9mm cartridge struck in the action, keeping it from working. The firing pin also was incorrectly inserted and was sticking out. I got my tool box and began working on it and, with some force I was able to free the action and remove the cartridge. But with the firing pin sticking out, had someone tried to chamber a round, the producing firing pin would have slammed into the primer and there was a good chance the gun would have gone off. I removed the firing pin, reinstalled it, put the gun back together and the action worked perfectly.
I have no idea who put the gun together and could never see how it could even go together. Whoever did it, had they been able to get it together in working condition, might have had an ugly surprise. I never shot it, and sold it for $1,500. I sometimes wish I'd kept the gun because it was beautiful. But the person who bought it seemed to have a higher appreciation for it than I did. I still wonder how long my dad's friend was in the doghouse for selling it. I don't know how much it's worth today, but I have no regrets. Guns come and go, and sometimes you win and other times you don't.
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Mine was acquired from an old chap who said his uncle “killed an SS officer for it.” Its a WW1 era with no Nazi-era markings so color me skeptical, but anything’s possible. When I dropped the mag it was loaded, the cartridges looked very old. The gun was also assembled incorrectly so the upper was just flopping back and forth on the frame. I wonder how long it had been that way. Of course, the fact that it was “broken” also meant I got it for a very good price, so, I can’t complain that much...