Here's mine:







It's a 1936, Nazi-produced, S/42 marked pistol, which I understand is a Mauser-made pistol. It's a little rough, but all the part numbers match.

Bluing is a bit worn. The barrel has a couple of shallow pits. The butt stock attachment has been welded over. It's got hokey plastic grips on it. I literally have fired it one time. It did not go back into battery so I suspect it has worn springs.

I have the mag loading tool. But not an original holster.

I don't know the family history of this gun except that I know if belonged to my father-in-law's father. Because its welded, I suspect it was imported and purchased. I know it's not a war trophy.

A couple to questions: is is possible, or legal, to remove the welding and restore it to its original configuration? What about restoration in general? I'd like to get some original, or re-production grip panels.

It's kinda rough and I don't think it has a huge value. Most of what I've seen online are in much better condition. But it's very cool nonetheless.

Any thoughts?

I found a post from 2015 about rebuilding the stock lug... for $475.
Reproduction grips are available.

Thanks for that. I didn't even know that's what that was called so I googled your response and found it.

https://www.lugerforums.com/th...g-restoration.40729/

I may contact him and see what can be done. It looks like on mine some of the contour wasn't just welded over, but actually melted a bit.

Perfectly legal to restore the stock attachment, just don’t put a stock on it. As a matter of fact, you can’t legally attach a Naval model stock on a Artillery model or vice versa.

The barrel is really worse than I thought. It's essentially shot out. Rifling is very, very shallow with some pitting.

I see there is someone who will replace the barrel and put the appropriate marks on it.

https://lugerman.com/product/l...-barrel-replacement/

I don't see this pistol having much monetary value. The barrel, welding, and bluing wear, along with some rough places on the barrel, seriously diminish its value. I think I may try and have it restored into a decent looking pistol, and functional pistol.

Shoot it first. Some really bad looking barrels will shoot better than they look.

Forgotten Weapons has a video on a Lugerman .45acp Luger. From what I saw in that vid, Lugerman is NO Joke. I would not hesitate to have him fabricate and install a new barrel on your S/42 if your barrel is indeed hopeless.

BTW I understand you want a more authentic pair of grips but I actually dig the hokey grips your S/42 currently wears. Of course I like Hawaiian shirts too so there is probably something wrong with me.

I fired it once the bolt didn't go back into battery. I can cock the toggle and if I let it go at full retraction, it won't go back into battery. I have to push it into battery. I think it needs a new mainspring. I'd like to get that in before firing it again.

The grips are plastic and incredibly ill fitting. They are so loose they rattle. Someone put washers under the grips screws and that keeps them on, but not tight enough.

Other than the grips, the bore, the mainspring, and the holster wear, it looks good. All the parts internally are pristine. It's definitely a pistol that can be brought back and made to look good and function well.

One thing to point out, the Luger toggle action needs hotter than normal ammo to function, most cases.

I had Lugers back in the 80's, wish I had them back.

I had to reload to get them to function, just used ball 124 gr bullets, back then also used the USAF truncated flat point bullets.

Had 3 of them , tinkered with them, then traded them off..I think I paid $275 for each one..and they were in very good to excellent shape.

Good luck.

Try standard velocity 124gr.
The original 9mm ammo was an 8 gram (123.4gr) bullet at 1090 fps in the heavier of two loads tested by the US Army in 1903.

unless it has some serious sentimental value, just leave it be,

value is low, maybe $700 on a good day, ,


the grips are probably marked Franzite on the inside,
it was an early type of plastic, and used in many many replacement grips back in the day,
like some of the older Colt plastic grips, they tend to shrink are warp over time


replacement wood grips can be had relatively inexpensively (generic wood)


go thru it, clean it up (inside) and replace springs as you see fit, and shoot,

Put me down as another who likes those grips.

My Luger is a 1915 model. And if I remember correctly, my grips rattled and I put small O-Rings under the screw heads and simply tightened them down. (It's probably not the right way to do it, but it worked).

The very first thing I would suggest is to break it down for a good clean and lube(very important to Lugers) Do NOT try to shoot "hot" loads through ANY Luger, as you will break things. They were not designed to shoot hot loads. WWB 115-124gr RN bullet is what you want to use. There are other brands that will work also, but the WWB is the easiest to find.

Next, purchase a Mec-Gar mag or two for your Luger. That wood base mag is WW 1 variety, and the base will frequently break(over 100 years old) when you try to fully load the mag. The mag spring has likely long gone south. the Mec-Gar are the best aftermarket mags for a Luger.


Do all of the above, and then come back and give us a follow up. Many of us on this forum have/do own Lugers for years, and shoot them.