help id-ing a luger with a "police safety".

1998 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Dwight Gruber, Oct 26, 2003

Discussion Starter · Oct 24, 2003

hi to all. i'm new to this site. great info. my father has a luger that he bought in the early 1960's that has a police safety. the port side stock and the frame are cut for the safety (which is still there). there is no chamber date. all numbers match and it has a DWM toggle. the starboard side frame doesn't have any proof marks. there is an "N" with a "-" over it before the serial number on the port side. the underside of the barrel has a stylized eagle over a "2" over the serial number and 8.83 (caliber). there are numbers on the front strap that have been obliterated (483) and an untouched 80 (marked out of allignment). the pistol is 56xx r. the top of the sideplate is open(cut) and there are 2 small holes in the top of reciever where the side plate cut is and where the safety bar pops up when the safety lever is swithced on. i can't post any pics since i have rather limited computer equipment. any help is appreciated. thanks.

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Jan C Still

· #2 · Oct 25, 2003

Kosh
Based on your limited description I would guess that you have an alphabet DWM (commonly called 1920 commercial) in 9mm caliber manufactured in about 1927/1928. The safety that you talk about may be a police sear safety installed by Prussian police orders dated August 30 1933.
Jan

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Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 25, 2003

thanks for the quick reply!

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Edward Tinker

· #4 · Oct 25, 2003

Kosh, I am interested in Weimar Police, so this interests me. Jan gave you accurate info, the 8,83 is for the rifling, (depth of land to land grooving) so although it can be construed as caliber, the markings might have been 8,82, 8,85 I think someone stated once they have seen them up to 8,87, but I am unsure about that. Welcome to the forum, I would be interested in photos, you could always take "real" pictures and mail them to me, or even lay the pistol on a flatbed scanner, as that works fairly well.

Ed

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Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 25, 2003

i'll talk to my computer wiz friends and attempt some pics. it seems odd that this pistol would have the police safety. is this common?

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Edward Tinker

· #6 · Oct 25, 2003

I think they are MUCH more common, now that I collect them!

There were 10,000's of thousands converted / made, so not uncommon and many police guns did not see as much combat, as say a 1942 Mauser or P38 issued to combat units. They were worn as many of our police guns were, BUT, the police also did combat, and/or camp duty and other cleaning out of villages, etc. So, they can have a bad past also. Yours was made at the end of the Weimar era, the police safety was added as Jan stated above in 1933, just at the dawn of the Nazi era.

Ed

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Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 25, 2003

interesting. the gun has seen a lot of use. the front and backstraps have no finish left and the usual high spot luger wear. the bore is nice. this was the 1st handgun i ever fired as a kid. it did some carry and home defense duty in the '60's when my folks got married, so it used to work for a living. over all condition is approx.70% maybe. any idea why there are there no proofs on the starboard side of the of the reciever? i see what you mean by "bad past"...

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Doubs

· #8 · Oct 26, 2003

quote:Originally posted by koshnaranek

any idea why there are there no proofs on the starboard side of the of the reciever?

Your description of the serial number and proofs indicate that you have a commercial "Alphabet" (also called a 1920 commercial) DWM Luger produced during the mid-1920's and as such it would not have the usual right receiver inspection/acceptance stamps found on a military issue pistol. What you call an "N" with "-" over it sounds like a Crown/N proof. The barrel mark "8,83" is the bore diameter measured from the top of a land to the top of an opposing land. The Eagle/2 mark on the barrel MAY be an Eagle/N commercial proof applied in or after 1940 and would indicate a barrel change during the war years. (A picture of the Eagle/2 would be appreciated.)

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Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 26, 2003

it is surely an eagle 2 on the bbl and the witness marks line up perfectly. i'll try some pix a.s.a.p. i'd describe the eagle as a very imperial looking!

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Dwight Gruber

· #10 · Oct 26, 2003

Kosh,

The witness marks may not be as indicitive as you might think. If you want to follow up on this, see the discussion at http://www.gunboards.com/luger/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=110

In your selection of pictures a shot of the witness mark will be interesting.

--Dwight

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