[bohemian]

A good friend of mine's father bought him a Heavily Engraved Luger. Every visible parts is engraved except for the safety bar which is polished. There are only three numbers visible anywhere on the pistol. On the safety bar, the trigger under the slide plate and one other internal part. Two of these numbers are the same while the third is different. There is no serial number, no S/42, nothing as every available space is engraved. It appears to be a later Luger, but not being much of a Luger guy I know very little about them. The two things that may help ID the gun is the White pearlecent grips and the Swastika engraved on top of the chamber that is rotated 45 degrees so it is diamond shaped instead of the normal square shape. All the work is very well done and it had to take a very long time by someone very skilled in his work. Photos are forth coming. The pistol was delivered with Capture paperwork, but the description on the forms appear to reference some sort of tag attached to the pistol as there is no serial number. There are two different sets of capture paperwork with two different dates both having the same description. When I get the photos I will post them, but right now this is all I have.

Any Ideas? I have searched my reference books for engraved Lugers not finding any reference to engraved Lugers.

Robert




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[Joop van de Kant]

Robert,

I can't wait to see your pictures of this engraved Luger. Please have a look to a topic I posted the 24th of January, also about an engraved one:
Imperial Lugers, 1900-1918 Navy P.04 Lugers, 9th thread.
I then asked if anyone knew about other decorated Lugers, but there was no reaction other than 'pity to treat an old warhorse like that'...

Well I know now you have another example of this 'royal' decoration!

 

[Vlim]

Hi,

Some comments on this gun.
The frame lacks the Mauser hump, but the toggle has a post-1939 fire proof. The finish has traces of guilding/coloring that mostly has worn off, so my guess is that it is an old engraving job on what I expect to be a commercial gun (officer's gun?).

I have seen a report on scandinavian gunsmiths reworking officer's guns, but it's rather unsubstantiated. Also read this 'story' that some local engravers also used the opportunity to modify the pistols they engraved so that when fired, the officer would not really benefit from the result.

Although it's a very, very shady rumour, I'd let a good luger expert check the mechanical features of the gun before even thinking about firing it, just to be on the safe side.

One can discuss engraving of these guns, and personally my toes curl when I see some examples of recent 'pimped up' engraved lugers, as offered by some US 'museum'.

If the engraving is time-original, then I guess it's allright. The problem however is authentication of a time-original engraving job. Perhaps yours comes closest to authentication, depending on the contents of the capture papers.

 

[ToggleTop]

All I can say is that loading this post tore my computer all to pieces.

 

[Pete E.]

My 2 cents...

Purely from an engraving/art point of view...I admire the workmanship and the dedication a craftsman put into their craft to do such work...

Lots of really nice, fine detail in the engraving...

 

[taudelt]

NEAT piece of history. I would think it is a candidate for some serious research if the capture papers or your friend had any clue's at all.

Thanks for posting.......

 

[Navy]

All,

My father-in-law was a member of the US Constabulary (Occupation) Forces immediately following the German surrender. He has told me on many occasions of the fine work German 'smiths and engravers were doing for barter of cigarettes and coffee. In fact, he had a "Found on Post" Trench gun rebarreled and restocked for 3 packs of Lucky Strikes. (It cost me considerably more to have it brought back to original configuration!)
He has told me of engravers and jewelry craftsmen who would do work for the smallest amount of food. I suspect this may be a relic of that terrible period when Germany felt the pain of losing a war and a collapsed economy.

Tom A.

 

[chuck17]

Engraving can be a very attractive enhancement to a firearm. And what more beautiful gun to engrave than a Luger?
Chuck

 

[Guest_V]

Tom A., I was in Germany in 1949 and my experience corroborates your opinion. US forces had Lugers made up from available parts and also had them plated, engraved etc as momentos.

Just my personal opinion, I find engarving on a Luger as otiose as tatoos on women.

Patrick

 

[Navy]

Patrick,

I could not agree with you more. Anyone who would want to decorate the most beautiful thing in God's creation with a crude ink design is out of touch with the concept that beauty is purity and purity is beauty.

I was at the Washington DC gun show yesterday and today....thousands came by...so many otherwise "beautiful" wommen who had chosen to add some "enhancements"..."sigh"...

Some folks don't get it...ORIGINAL is best in Lugers and in bodies!

Tom A.

 

[keoki7]

Just got back home from the show. Tom is right; there was a stunning young redhead at the show whose every visible inch of bare skin was covered with tatoos. Looked like a South Pacific warrior!

I'll bet her mother and dad is just so proud.