[Guest]

On a WW1 magazine I have been told that the serial number is on the bottom of the magazine. Is it on the bottom of the wooden section and would it be all the numbers or the last 2. My Erfurt luger (serial no 1652) dated 1916 has a wooden bottom to the magazine but there are no obvious serial numbers. There are two marks that if cleaned up carefully could be something.

Lugers made at Erfurt - were they only made there during WW1?

 

[keoki7]

Fletch, Erfurt made Lugers from 1911 until 1918. Two Erfurts dated 1910 have been reported and I believe that they are thought to be authentic.

All military Lugers were issued with magazines on which the entire serial number was stamped. The serial numbers were placed on the plug or bottum of the magazine.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Geo !! Any idea how many Erfurt lugers were made? Here is South Africa I will have to renew all my firearm licences and I only have this Luger as a collectors item. When I renew my licence this year it helps to give the authorities a lot of motivational litrature. I confess my interest is mainly British firearms but there is definately a lot to be said about the German weapons of the 1st and 2nd world wars. The luger is proberbly the sexiest handgun of the 20th century and the mauser also a good looking rifle.

 

[Ron Smith]

Hi Fletch, There were an estimated 496,000 Erfurts made between 1911 and 1918. Approx. 80,000 made in 1916.

Ron

 

[RockinWR]

Hi Mike,
* Early Erfurt magazines bear the full 1 to 4 digit numerical number of the matching pistol and the lower case alpha suffix letter block as well. A "+" on the mag's wood bottom would indicate the reserve (spare) magazine. Typically, the early erfurt mags would have two crown/Fractur letter inspector's acceptance marks, one on the leading edge & one on the trailing edge(spine side) of the mag's bottom. The numerals would be placed perpendicular to the long axis of the plug and would be about centered. The mag's tube would be bright, tin colored, sheet metal folded and crimped with a coiled spring inside. The outside metal surface may have a gold colored wash (hue).
* Would you mind telling us a bit more about your Erfurt Luger?
- What year might be stamped on the chamber.
- The S/N (with suffix if it applies) as it appears on the barrel and/or front frame ahead of the trigger guard.
- Whether markings appear on the grip strap(s). If so, please post exactly what appears with all spaces, punctuation, etc.
* Are digital pictures available to post in this thread for our review? Given this info, we may be able to supply a good deal of "motivation" if your example falls within the known Lugers issued to those serving the German S. African colonies early last century.
* Thank you! Hope to be hearing from you soon.

 

[Pete E.]

Here's a photo of one of my early Erfurt magazines :

Download Attachment: ErfurtMag5.jpg
54.18KB

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the info chaps !!! I will start listing all the id marks on this Luger this week. Unfortuneately no digital photos as yet- spent all my money on guns. I do know that the date 1916 is clearly stamped on the chamber. The serial number is 1652 and appears on the barrel and left hand side of the frame in front of the trigger guard. No markings on the backstrap or frontstrap. I think that the mag is a genuine ww1 mag as it is exactly as described but there is no serial number on the base as in Pete's picture. Once again thanks for all the help.

 

[Dwight Gruber]

Fletch,

An Imperial magazine with inspector's marks but no number would most likely be an armorer's replacement magazine, or one whose base has been replaced by an armorer's replacement base.

When you get around to shooting pictures be sure to include shots of the follower button and the staking punches, these will tell whether the magazine is DWM or Erfurt manufacture. Also get pics of the magazine base pin and base where it fits into the magazine, these will help tell if the base has been replaced or not.

--Dwight

 

[Guest]

Thanks Dwight, will do.