[Guest]

I am giving a friend some info on a shooter-grade Luger brought back by from WWII by his Grandfather. It is chamber dated 1921, and is serial number 5903 (no suffix). It has a sear safety, no mag safety, no unit markings. All serial numbers match. Proofs/Acceptance Stamps on right side of receiver appear to be E/ArA4, Dove/WaA4, E/ArA4. There also appears to be an E/ArA4 on the barrel and on the breech block.

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Two wood bottom magazines are part of the rig. Both are marked with both a "1" in the police style and a "+" in the military style. One appears to be original to the pistol. There is a holster with the pistol and mags. It appears to be an original brown military holster, but it looks like granddpa cut the flap away leaving only a strap of leather across the top . I did not post a picture of the holster to spare the delicate feelings of you holster afacionados.


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Here are my questions for the group:

Jan states that 1921 Lugers were made in the "ns", "a", and "b" range. Does "ns" stand for "no suffix", putting this Luger in the expected SN range?

How common are Police Lugers with no unit markings? Can we assume that the pistol was most likely issued to Police in Prussia, based on the sear safety and the fact that Prussia had a larger police force?

How common is it to see magazines marked in both the military (+) and the police style (number)? Does this indicate a move from police to military service?

I may have shrunk the photos a little too much for posting. Let me know if higher quality would be helpful. Any comments welcome,....Thanks!

 

[Ron Smith]

Hi Ron,

NS stands for no suffix. The ns 1921s were the first production run. Of the 40-50 thousand produced, all but about 10,000 were issued to the police units.


Police Lugers without unit marks are'nt that uncommon. I have an unmarked 1921 police. It is most likely a Prussian police pistol.


The + magazine was probably added after the pistol was conscripted by the Military.


You called it a shooter grade pistol. From the photos, it looks pretty collectable to me. Has it been reblued? If not, it looks like a nice 98% pistol.
Ron

 

[Edward Tinker]

Ron W., looks awful nice to me, although it does look a bit "reblued", but might be the lighting.

I have seen several guns with a plus and a 1 or 2. The best explanation is as Ron S said, or the opposite (that it was military, then in the 1930's sent to the police when it received sear safety).

I would be interested in high-res pictures sent to me?

[email protected]

Ed

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Ron and Ed. I have a hard time showing remaining blue in photos, especially when I lower the quality for posting. My first reaction to this pistol was that it had around 90% bluing with traces of straw remaining. The pattern of wear is consistent with "honest wear". Then my friend said that his dad thought he remembered something about the pistol being reblued. When I look at it closely, it does appear to have a few small pits with bluing in them, and I can't see any halos around the stampings. On the other hand, if it was reblued they did a very good job, the reblue is old enough to be turning a little gray, and it was carried in the holster enough to get nice typical holster wear. In short I'm not sure if it is a good quality old reblue or a 90% pistol. Any hints to help me tell the difference? I'll ask my friend for more info and send hi rez pics to Ed on Monday

By the way, both mags are marked "1" and "+".

Thanks again

 

[Edward Tinker]

Weimar pistols can sometimes be hard to tell if they have honest wear, or if they were reblued in 1952...

Since both mags are different serial numbers, it is more of a coincidence that both are marked #1, but it is interesting they are marked 1 and with a +.

I also sent you an e-mail,

Ed