[vonmazur]

Got a Rast u. Gasser with no marks except for "O" on the bottem of the Bbl. and some 3 digit numbers inside the grips and side plate/frame. Is this an early model, or 1920's war reparations?? No proofs of any kind, no Austrian Property marks, no commercial proofs and finally, no Ru.G marks either,otherwise identical to the usual WW 1 revolver.....

Dale in Ala

 

[montenegrin]

Hard to say, never heard of a similary "bare" R&G. One of the possibilities is a foreign copy (not surprisingly, Belgians made some). A detailed comparison to a standard R&G (or preferably to one early and one late specimen)might help some. Is the barrel/extracor assemmly joint old or new type?
Regards,
montenegrin

 

[dg13]

Hi Dale & Jani!
Jani refers to a Belgian made copy:
http://www.gunboards.com/luger/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1157
Darrell

 

[vonmazur]

No Belgian marks, and it seems to be the early type ejector with the brass nut....Dimensionally identical to a 1917 date example otherwise...

Dale in Ala

 

[dg13]

Possibaly one that was prepared to be reblued and never got reblued--hense the rust.!???
Darrell

 

[vonmazur]

No, I was being a wise guy, it is still blued about 70%...

Dale

 

[montenegrin]

Early barrel/extractor assembly: the pin from extractor assembly goes directly to a small hole in the barrel;
Later barrel/extractor assembly: the pin from extractor assembly goes to a square piece integral with the barrel.
Now which type is on your "bare" Rast-Gasser, early or later? (I presume the later type, as you said the gun is identical to a 1917 R&G)
Jani

 

[vonmazur]

Jani: Pin goes into a hole in the Barrel, the head of the pin is brass, not steel, otherwise it has the same features as the 1917 as far as dimensions and contours, there are some slight differences internally, and some of the machining is done in a more complex manner than the 1917.
Being a machnist once, I notice these things, but other than the two differences, I cannot find, any other distinguishing marks or features....

BTW: My Grandmother and her family were from Slovenia, came here before WW 1 and she married a Slovak in Iowa, and changed the Family name during the "Red Scare" of the 1920's. I am glad that you can play with guns in the Motherland!!

Dale in Ala

 

[dg13]

Very interesting, my wife is 1/2 slovenian and 1/2 croatian.
dg13

 

[montenegrin]

Hello Dale, interesting your roots are from here; do you know what region in Slovenia? Yeah, we can play with guns in the Old Country, but a lot of red tape is involved.
Now to your Rast-Gasser. If the pin goes directly to the small hole in the barrel, your revolver is the earlier type, in production till 1914 (serial number c.28000). First experimental Rast revolver was made c.1897, serial production started in about 1900. It's quite probable you have an early specimen, but any more definite conclusion should be made only after careful comparison with other early specimens (small details, the way of machining, etc.), or after some other relevant evidence comes to our notice. I'm afraid I cannot offer any other "constructive" comment at this point.
With kind regards,
Jani

 

[vonmazur]

Jani: Due to the Cold War, I never got any information out of Grandma, she became very patriotic after the 20's and would not talk about it any more. Her name was Lucas, her husband was Mazur, and my Father was a Master Sergeant in the USAF with a Top Secret Clearance, so he would not even talk to me about it!!! I had to do my own research, and even then, nothing was found in Ellis Island or in Madrid Iowa where they emigrated.....

Thanks for the info on the Rast und Gasser, at least someone knows something about these guns. BTW: I did get the US Army to pay for German, but I had to do Russian on my own, so I missed learning my own ancestral language, but at least I can read, write and speak German....I am working on the Slavic Languages next!!!

Dale in Ala