1915 mint Luger

Looks like a straight up DWN mfg 1915 Military P08 .
All the ser#'s that I can see do match.
There are other parts that are ser#'d that you must disassemble to see the ser#.
Grips should be stamped with the # on the back side.

I shoot the Lugers I have all the time. I use mostly rem/UMC 115gr FMJ RN ammo. Nothing special. It seems to make most any Luger in decent shape work well. I believe the orig ammo for these used a truncated cone shaped bullet FMJ . They are probably still available in a cast bullet but I don't know about a jacketed.
..and though you will hear lots of people say these need to be loaded 'hot' to function correctly, that is not true.
A standard 9mm load will usually do the trick.

Most problems with them are usually with the magazine.
I usually expect a FT Feed once in a while. They are just range toys after all.

I have one or two that are fussy and don't function as cleanly as the others. But even the oldest, a 1906 Commercial feeds and functions just fine with the above ammo and even my lead RN reloads.
The newest in age is a BYF so called Black Widow. It likes the same ammo.

I've had these a long time.
The BYF was $100 w/ holster, xmag and tool. All matching about 95+%
The 1906 Commercial was $200 r $250 with a stainless steel Haenal Schmeisser 'one piece' mag.
Those were good times for sure.


I've changed out springs in Lugers for other people, but to tell you the truth I've never replaced any in my own pistols. Just the orig springs and everything works fine.
If the springs have been altered,,then do replace them with orig spec ones.
The Main Toggle Main Spring (coil spring on the 'New Models which these are) can be a bear to remove and replace but using some thought it's not aall that hard.
Wear eye protection of course.

Old Model Lugers use a Flat Main Spring and those early Lugers I would leave to the collectors and not shoot much at all. Parts are different in many ways and orig replacement parts are very hard to find.

Leave the Ejector alone if it's doing it's job OK. It is it's own spring in the form of a flat machined and shaped ejector. Heat treated as a spring and the back end is dove tail fitted into the upper frame.
To remove you have to bend it outward from the inside till the claw clears the frame. Then tap the entire piece forward and out of it's rear end dovetail attachment.
No real reason to unless it's broken, the claw is not grasping the case correctly and needs reshaping (rare) or you are restoring the gun and need to work on it.

Careful removing the Hold Open latch from the Frame.
It sits in an L shaped cut on the top of the frame just behind the magazine well.
It's powered by a fragile very small Flat Spring that fits under a pin on the side of the L shaped cut on the side.
Bend that flat spring just a bit more than needed and it WILL break.

The pistol will actually work (hold open after the last shot) if that small spring is broken or missing as long as the Hold Open LAtch itself is still there.
The mag button pushes the latch up into position to hold the Toggle open. That spring is what pulls it back down out of the way when the Toggle is again pulled to the rear on a loaded mag or no mag in the gun.
But Gravity will also drop the Hold Open Latch just as well doing the same thing.

Don't try to remove a bbl from a Luger frame unless you have a very well fitting action wrench. One that fits all the curves and spline/rail cuts of the frame exactly. Plus a BBl vise that can grip and hold that tapered bbl correctly.
It is very easy to damage the Luger upper when trying to remove the bbl.

Shooter Lugers are great fun.
Mine make the range quite often.
Looks like you have a good one..
 
With the chrome plating on my shooter Luger it would probably make a collector gag. But I know being able to shoot it made the day of the range officer at the indoor range when he asked it he could shoot it and I was more than happy to let him do it.
 

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With the chrome plating on my shooter Luger it would probably make a collector gag. But I know being able to shoot it made the day of the range officer at the indoor range when he asked it he could shoot it and I was more than happy to let him do it.

Picked up one like that about 15 years ago for $400. Got a gallon of denickeler from Brownells. Then parked it. Looked good. Sold it to a guy for a shooter/parts gun. I hated the trigger on it.
 
It was only then that after examinging this 1915 Luger, and doing a little research, realized it wasn't "gold" bling, but straw bluing, about which i knew nothing. The other early similar pistol was no where to be found, so he must had sold it in the intervening years.

I always wanted a Luger, and got a 1920’s DWM Commercial Rig last year. This is a near-mint example of a DWM Luger sold in the commercial market in the 1920's and chambered in .30 Luger or 7.65mm Luger. It is all matching in the commercial semi-concealed fashion, has the proper "Crown N" commercial proofs, and has a "Germany" export marking on the right side of the slide, indicating it was intended for sale in the international market, likely the US. It has a 3 3/4 inch barrel. The end of the muzzle is in the white as a 1920's commercial pistol should be. All the correct small parts are "strawed", and it has fire-blued grip screws and front sight. The serial number and letter suffix on the barrel, and on the rear of the toggle, has the proper halo effect, and raised edges, showing it was done after the gun was originally rust blued. The matching serial number and suffix on the fame doesn't have those characteristics because it was done before the rust bluing. The gun has retained nearly all of its original bluing with areas of very minor wear on some of the high edges and around the muzzle. The bore has strong rifling with very minor pin-pricking throughout.

I wanted one of these specifically because of the strawed parts. I think they look amazing.
Larry
 

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