Question about safety of WW II pistols

[tango29]

I am curious if any of the gun experts here have any thoughts on shooting a couple of pistols I inherited from my Dad when he passed away. One is a German Luger, and the other is a Walther, and obviously they are roughly 80 years old at this point. I have shot each a couple times a few years ago, but then got worried if with age maybe they should be checked out. I put them away, but got them out this last weekend. I called a couple of local gunsmiths and got different opinions. One said should definitely do a metalurgical structure check, and the other said he would clean them up and verify they are in shooting order, but shouldn't worry about any degradation due to age.
Anyone here with knowledge on these kind of antiques and whether a simple check over is good, or would it much wiser to go and have a full metalurgical check on the guns? I am inclined toward the full metalurgical check, but figured I would see what people here might throw out.

 

[Overnight]

I am curious if any of the gun experts here have any thoughts on shooting a couple of pistols I inherited from my Dad when he passed away. One is a German Luger, and the other is a Walther, and obviously they are roughly 80 years old at this point. I have shot each a couple times a few years ago, but then got worried if with age maybe they should be checked out. I put them away, but got them out this last weekend. I called a couple of local gunsmiths and got different opinions. One said should definitely do a metalurgical structure check, and the other said he would clean them up and verify they are in shooting order, but shouldn't worry about any degradation due to age.
Anyone here with knowledge on these kind of antiques and whether a simple check over is good, or would it much wiser to go and have a full metalurgical check on the guns? I am inclined toward the full metalurgical check, but figured I would see what people here might throw out.

They use modern cartridges filled with guncotton. The barrels did not degrade because they are made with modern manufacturing techniques.

And they are not antiques. Antiques in the gun world are guns made before the year 1900.

 

[tango29]

Thank you, I started to change my mind about the structural check when I thought more about it and the fact that they have been in storage for the almost the entire time since he brought them back. It is possible I am the only one that has fired them since the war.
Interesting, that guns are antiques before 1900, but not an 80 year old one. I do have what looks like a double barrel flintlock shotgun, and pretty sure it is pre 1900. I was going to spend time this week researching that one.

 

[vanzandt]

I am curious if any of the gun experts here have any thoughts on shooting a couple of pistols I inherited from my Dad when he passed away. One is a German Luger, and the other is a Walther, and obviously they are roughly 80 years old at this point. I have shot each a couple times a few years ago, but then got worried if with age maybe they should be checked out. I put them away, but got them out this last weekend. I called a couple of local gunsmiths and got different opinions. One said should definitely do a metalurgical structure check, and the other said he would clean them up and verify they are in shooting order, but shouldn't worry about any degradation due to age.
Anyone here with knowledge on these kind of antiques and whether a simple check over is good, or would it much wiser to go and have a full metalurgical check on the guns? I am inclined toward the full metalurgical check, but figured I would see what people here might throw out.

He was on our side right?
Wonder what happened to the original owner(s).

Walther has one that is highly collectible. Yours is probably one of the mass produced ones though. Interesting read fwiw:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Arms

I bet they're safe, or as safe as they were the day they stopped being regularly used at least. (Too bad for that German guy)
From a metallurgic standpoint, the yield strength of hardened steel won't change until there's some king of plastic deformation put on it. Like a bend.

 

[Bugenhagen]

As was said, not seriously old. Clean, check there is enough force in the hammer etc. If feeling nervous what I did with an old fifty cal I found behind someone's house that had been in weather for twenty years was test fire it held in place with sacks of concrete with a very long string, quite a few times. I measured the diameter all along the barrel with a micrometer and no distortion, felt it was safe.

 

[tango29]

He was on our side right?
Wonder what happened to the original owner(s).

Walther has one that is highly collectible. Yours is probably one of the mass produced ones though. Interesting read fwiw:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Arms

I bet they're safe, or as safe as they were the day they stopped being regularly used at least. (Too bad for that German guy)
From a metallurgic standpoint, the yield strength of hardened steel won't change until there's some king of plastic deformation put on it. Like a bend.

That was a good read. I think it is in the mass produced bunch, I wish it was something more. I did bring it out to a Cabellas years ago, and the guy said the worth was roughly $1500 each if I remember correctly.
He was on our side. He told me he had a German machine pistol at one point while going into Germany, but tossed it under a tank. He says he decided to shoot it, and almost got killed by his own men who shot at the sound. Maybe just a story, but normally he wasn't one to make stuff up.

 

[vanzandt]

That was a good read. I think it is in the mass produced bunch, I wish it was something more. I did bring it out to a Cabellas years ago, and the guy said the worth was roughly $1500 each if I remember correctly.
He was on our side. He told me he had a German machine pistol at one point while going into Germany, but tossed it under a tank. He says he decided to shoot it, and almost got killed by his own men who shot at the sound. Maybe just a story, but normally he wasn't one to make stuff up.

Cool story lol.
We can't fathom what they went through, and none of us can even hope to elucidate what it must have been like to be there, but attributing certain sounds to certain... to certain... whatever... is almost a primordial human instinct, so that makes complete sense.

Good luck with the things either way.
Don't blow your foot off.
It's a good post in that hearkens back to many things.
For the Millennials and Gen Z's out there that read this either now, or 20 years from now as nothing on the web ever goes away.... read the book "The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw.
Then read the trilogy "A Bridge Too Far"; "The Longest Day"; and "The Last Battle" by Cornelius Ryan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Ryan

The only one here that will appreciate that (in 2021) is Nobert I bet.
Good books. Learn from history or repeat it.
So the saying goes.
-vz

 

[tango29]

Netflix had a documentary on the unit my Dad was a part of, although he joined them after they had all ready come on shore in Europe. The Liberator it is called, and I think it mainly follows the commanding officer, Lt. Col. Felix Sparks, who was someone my Dad talked alot about when he finally opened up about the War, and started going to reunions.

 

[Arnie]

Excellent set of books on WWII. I've read "An Army at Dawn" that covers the campaign in North Africa and "The Guns at Last Light" which covers D-Day to the end of the war.

The Liberation Trilogy

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945

 

[vanzandt]

Excellent set of books on WWII. I've read "An Army at Dawn" that covers the campaign in North Africa and "The Guns at Last Light" which covers D-Day to the end of the war.

The Liberation Trilogy

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945

Excellent set of books on WWII. I've read "An Army at Dawn" that covers the campaign in North Africa and "The Guns at Last Light" which covers D-Day to the end of the war.

The Liberation Trilogy

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945

I'll get that, thnx.

That trilogy above that was written by Ryan was done in the 70's, so it has lots of interviews from first hand accounts since most of the guys were still alive.

Great movie too. Talk about an A-List of Hollywood greats: