I’ve always been interested in WWI and wanted to own something historic. The Luger artillery pieces are both iconic and kind of magical, which led me to see what’s out there, and I have been casually browsing for the last year.

I recently found this: LINK

I won’t lie, it’s substantially outside the price range I envisioned. But, it also seems like it would check every other box, making it a better choice.

Is there any website that tracks historical sale prices for something like this?

More importantly, what kind of maintenance am I looking at to ensure it doesn’t deteriorate if I buy it?

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Posted by Scoob

Near Exxon

Member since Jun 2009

23139 posts

Posted on 1/16/26 at 11:15 pm to lsuconnman

For websites, I'd suggest both Jan Still Luger Forum, and also Gunboards.com for a more generalized view of such collectables. I don't think they officially list the value (that would often be whatever can be obtained on auction- a prestigious auction, not gunbroker); but at least on gunboards, you can often find people who can give decent estimates on how much to pay for stuff.

Now, as an investment, that's a double-edged sword. Yes, you're talking about a desired, limited production piece, and values never seem to go down. But you would ultimately need a buyer to realize that investment, and depending on what you may have, it might not be as desirable as you'd hope- depending on version or model, condition, any work done on it, variant, etc.

As someone who owns a number of firearms, including older surplus, I'd say this- buy one if you want one and can, but don't expect to swing a big profit out of it. The Lugers have been in demand a long time now, and the most desired are probably already in the hands of those who would pay for one. You're almost certainly not going to find a rare bargain in grandpa's closet, and the widow or kids don't do their homework on what such would be worth now. It ain't like back in the day when you could get something for cheap, and flip it a decade later for 10x more.

Something like a Luger will definitely hold value, but might not be profitable as such. If you want to "make" money, maybe look at cheap, currently not-in-demand firearms that have some history. Those aren't being made anymore either, and you could make a buck if you play it right. I could probably flip the Star BM's for double what I paid a couple years ago. People are now paying 4-5 hundred for Mosin Nagants in good shape, when you could get them under a hundred not too long back.

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Posted by swampthing

Baton Rouge

Member since Jan 2005

71 posts

Posted on 1/17/26 at 5:54 am to Scoob

I have a collection of firearms from the late 1700's - late 1800s. I haven't bought them as investments - I bought them 'cause I like them. You can also search the auction houses like Rock Island, Morphy, Poulin, - and also the online bidding sites like Proxibid - and see what the same/similar items have sold for in prior auctions.

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Posted by Spankum

Miss-sippi

Member since Jan 2007

61127 posts

Posted on 1/18/26 at 11:26 am to swampthing

quote:
I have a collection of firearms from the late 1700's - late 1800s. I haven't bought them as investments - I bought them 'cause I like them

This is a fascinating hobby! I used to enjoy visiting that shop in the French quarter of New Orleans (I think it was on Magazine St) and marvel at the old weapons. Is that shop still around?

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Posted by Trevaylin

south texas

Member since Feb 2019

10176 posts

Posted on 1/18/26 at 1:42 pm to Spankum

I have about a dozen 60 year old rifles and shotguns that are family hand downs. they are in great shape and have stories attached to them.

but there is 300 million guns in the US market and as an investment, at best the value will move with inflation. so not a reason to buy.

unique guns, guns with family, guns with stories are all worth buying for the display case.

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