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Help DWM 7.65 luger Identification

7K views 21 replies 6 participants last post by  Edward Tinker 
Hi,
I have no idea what the "22" means. The holster is a commercial style common in the US. Most holsters you see discussed here are military style so that is why you haven't seen yours discussed. There may be stampings or button markings that tell us who made the holster. Look for them.

To protect the grip panels, try replacing them with some new-made copy grip panels for shooting use. They are available for less than $30 and will ensure that the hand fitted original grip panels do not get chipped or broken when the luger is fired. The right side has a very very thin rib on the back that breaks when the luger is shot (once it wears and wiggles a bit then it is prone to splitting off the rib and these are 80 year old panels). The left side panel tends to chip around the safety lever.

The percent of finish seems to be based on tradition. If there is only a tiny moon-crescent of finish wear at the muzzle, then it is probably 98%. If there is a triangle of wear on the muzzle band but no finish worn through on the barrel, then it is probably 95% or higher than 95%. If it has some wear-through on the left side of the barrel it is down to 95% or less than 95%. If there is lots of wear on the front or rear grip strap, then it is approaching 90%. Those are just some of the rules I apply.

Congratulations on your luger.

Dave
 
quote:Originally posted by ssilver

As luck would have it Im at work and my lugar/holster at home. I will check out the holster more closely when I get home and let you know. You guys have me thinking about those grips now. I was looking forward to putting on the linseed oil and getting them back on the gun. Because I do not have any intentions on ever selling the gun I am leaning towards putting them back on the Gun and using them. I just wanted to know is there any trick to putting them back on the pistol? I am thinking they could have swelled slightly making them a bit bigger overall with the Murphys Oil soap/water and linseed oil and do not want them to crack/break when I put them back on. I can not see saving the grips not attatched to the pistol and getting new ones for shooting? Because this will remain in the family what would the point be?

Thanks much,

Sean
The point of protecting the grips is to preserve the condition and originality of the pistol. It is a valuable old gun in its present condition and will continue to grow in value and historical interest in the future. The grip panels were hand fitted to that single gun in the mid-1920s (most are serial numbered on the back side of both panels, by the way--look at yours once removed). Heavy cleaning and coating with oil or varnish may irreversibly alter its appearance and damage the grips. Be conservative in such matters. Linseed oil will probably not hurt them and may help them survive fluctuations in heat and humidity while keeping moisture in the wood from pitting the metal frame against which they rest. Therefore, I have no real problem with linseed oil. However, Murphy's Oil Soap will remove oils and if aggressive cleaning is done, the points on the grip checkering will be worn or damaged and the wood may be too dry to avoid cracking. Be conservative when trying to pretty up the gun as this has led to a great many lugers with damaged and replaced parts, hence, the high value attached to all-factory original guns like yours. Lugers like yours with a single replaced part are very common and have little more value or interest than any other generic pistol. Lugers with factory parts and finish are worth twice that and more. A single part can make that much difference. In decades to come, people can examine your luger and see exactly what parts it had when it was made and can see the original finish and fit. That is a wealth of historical information and is what makes it valuable and interesting to people.

Leather, being less durable than metal, often suffers from wear and misguided attempts at "improving" or "protecting" (oiling, slathering with goo). The result is that holsters are very rare compared to the lugers themselves. An original luger holster of any kind is of interest and can be quite valuable, like an original Heiser commercial luger holster!

Congratulations on having a luger!
Dave
 
quote:Originally posted by ssilver

Thanks for your input, what other part would one obtain to use when firing the pistol? Where can these parts and additonal grips be had?
Firing pins might break at the tip if you dry fire the pistol but, in many years of having lugers, I have never broken a tip. Maybe I am just lucky although I admit I very rarely shoot them (haven't since 1998, now that I think about it). SARCO, I believe, advertises some luger grip panels and these often pop up at gun shows.

Dave
 
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