Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
I'm not much into Lugers, but I've always wanted just one. Finally got one a few weeks ago, after spending some time researching and deciding what to look for.
As most people here are aware of by now, I'm more into history than collectability and value. So some random mix-master as "just a shooter" wouldn't do, but neither was I going to pay the big bucks for a pricey all-matching high-condition original variant.
Pre-1918 P08s with Imperial unit markings in decent condition for good prices were too hard to find, and I wasn't interested in a late Mauser or Krieghoff 1930s/40s Nazi pistol. So I figured out that a Weimar-era double-year DWM rebuild with some interesting police or military unit marking was the way to go. Now to find one with a marking that qualified as "interesting" to me. I hit paydirt at Simpson a few weeks ago.
This pistol started out as two Imperial DWM pistols made in 1917 and 1918. These were likely LP08s, the long-barreled artillery version, since neither pistol's barrel was re-used; instead, a standard replacement barrel was newly serial-matched to the frame serial 7555 (g), which became the entire gun's serial. A barely recognizable Weimar acceptance stamp on the barrel shows that this was not an original barrel, and that the entire operation happened in 1920/21. Apparently, the other pistol's serial also ended with a 5; when its components, the receiver, toggle assembly and sideplate, were force-matched to the frame, the last digit appears to have been left alone.
The most important history is in the double front strap marking. Deciphering this completely required the help of Don Maus on the Luger forum, the guy who wrote the book on German police markings (literally: "History Writ in Steel"). The markings certify the gun's service with the uniformed police in Berlin throughout the entire Weimar era and likely until 1945. So right in the heart of the action during the most ... well ... interesting times in German history.
Original early 1920s marking: S.B.W.I.R 243
(Schutzpolizei Berlin, West, Inspectorate I, Revier [=precinct] 243)
After a 1932 inventory simplification, all but the S.B. was crossed out and a gun number 5393 added.
The pistol was modified for the Schiwy safety (not in place anymore), but not cut for the magazine safety.
As most people here are aware of by now, I'm more into history than collectability and value. So some random mix-master as "just a shooter" wouldn't do, but neither was I going to pay the big bucks for a pricey all-matching high-condition original variant.
Pre-1918 P08s with Imperial unit markings in decent condition for good prices were too hard to find, and I wasn't interested in a late Mauser or Krieghoff 1930s/40s Nazi pistol. So I figured out that a Weimar-era double-year DWM rebuild with some interesting police or military unit marking was the way to go. Now to find one with a marking that qualified as "interesting" to me. I hit paydirt at Simpson a few weeks ago.
This pistol started out as two Imperial DWM pistols made in 1917 and 1918. These were likely LP08s, the long-barreled artillery version, since neither pistol's barrel was re-used; instead, a standard replacement barrel was newly serial-matched to the frame serial 7555 (g), which became the entire gun's serial. A barely recognizable Weimar acceptance stamp on the barrel shows that this was not an original barrel, and that the entire operation happened in 1920/21. Apparently, the other pistol's serial also ended with a 5; when its components, the receiver, toggle assembly and sideplate, were force-matched to the frame, the last digit appears to have been left alone.
The most important history is in the double front strap marking. Deciphering this completely required the help of Don Maus on the Luger forum, the guy who wrote the book on German police markings (literally: "History Writ in Steel"). The markings certify the gun's service with the uniformed police in Berlin throughout the entire Weimar era and likely until 1945. So right in the heart of the action during the most ... well ... interesting times in German history.
Original early 1920s marking: S.B.W.I.R 243
(Schutzpolizei Berlin, West, Inspectorate I, Revier [=precinct] 243)
After a 1932 inventory simplification, all but the S.B. was crossed out and a gun number 5393 added.
The pistol was modified for the Schiwy safety (not in place anymore), but not cut for the magazine safety.
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