[Pete E.]

Gunboard member, Sam H., asked for an assist to post his LP-08 photos. Would appreciate any info. on the luger and the holster :

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[lugerlou]

Pete

Is that breechblock offset or just an optical illusion. The right frame hump also looks strange.

Looks like the picture was edited into a split screen and the photo did not line up again when it was saved.

 

[Edward Tinker]

Nice looking gun, obviously "chromed". The holster reminds me of a revolver holster, maybe Reichsrevolver???

 

[drbuster]

Definitely a Model 79 Reichsrevolver holster!

 

[Pete E.]

Hi Sam,

Looks like you have a 1917 DWM artillery luger that got most of its parts chromed/plated somewhere along the line...probably post WWII in the 1950-60's...

It looks like your rear leaf sight is fixed...cannot see if your front sight is fixed or fine-tune adjustable.

How is the luger's bore ? Do all small parts number-match to the gun's serial number ?

As you may know, the plate job kind of kills all collector interest/value of your LP-08...but it definitely makes a great shooter...and aren't all lugers meant for that ?

If you were wanting to sell your holster on the Gunboard, I would suspect you might find some interest...

 

[Guest]

Hi Guys, thanks for the information. Been traveling again this week.
To answer your questions, the rear sight is very adjustable but the front sight looks fixed to me. The bore looks great, first time I've looked down the barrel, pretty amazing. Yes, all the numbers match. it has 9678 stamped in three places that I've found and 78 stamped in eight spots. Does this sound correct?

What is a model 79 Reichsrevolver holster? Why is my holster different from the normal artillery holster? The story in the family was my grandfater took this off a dead major. I don't know any more than that.

Thanks,

Sam H.

 

[Pete E.]

Hi Sam

Bob Adams has a M1879 revolver for sale :

http://www.adamsguns.com/1311.jpg

The Germans did put older holsters into use for lugers in WWI...probably to meet demand and/or not wanting to waste good, left over inventory.

Did your grandfather say if the holster had been with the LP-08 all this time since capture in WWI ? If so, I would keep the two together...

I imagine the plating occurred after the gun came stateside...

There is a suffix letter after the 4-digit serial number on the front of the frame and on the underside of the barrel...can you tell us what suffix letter it is. This suffix is officially part of the luger's serial number and should be recorded on your BATF paperwork and state registration paperwork (if you have that in your home state).

Sounds like it is a LP-08 with matching parts (small parts). Did you find any 2-digit numbers on the firing pin ? What about on the insides of the wooden grip plates ?

 

[maddog350gt]

Sam,
I know that many here on the Luger forum do not appreciate restored guns; I am not one of them. I do expect that restored gun be identified as such and priced accordingly. That said, your LP08 would be a perfect candidate for restoration. Generally guns that are chrome plated are protected from rust and pitting better than blued guns. The plating can be stripped without metal loss and parts chemically clean. It's then ready for Rust Bluing without having to go through a buffing process. I have a Navy Luger that was plated then restored, if you get a competent restorer who understands the Rust Blue process you can get an exceptional restoration. I would only do this if you can establish that the gun was chrome plated after it came to the US (most likely). If the gun was pitted before it was plated then the pits will still be there when the chrome is removed, but it doesn't look like yours was in bad shape before the plating job. You should be okay. This would put the Luger back to something more representative of what it was when it went to war. There is a constant debate amongst collectors as to whether restored guns should be included in the collector category, I can't answer that, but I do believe they have tremendous potential to be included some day, as pristine originals become harder to find.

Yours is a nice heirloom under any circumstances, and worth keeping.

Just my 2 cents
Bob M.

 

[Guest]

Pete,
The firing pin has 78 stamped on it. I don't find anything inside the wooden grips. The symbol after the serial number looks like a cursive e or l and at the very base of the underside of the barrel it looks like 883.

My mother says the holster has always been with the gun.

I'm assumimg the holster is a pre-WWI holster from the previous comments?

Thanks for the help.

Sam

 

[Pete E.]

Sam,

The "883" should be stamped " 8,83 "...it is a measurement of the bore's diameter (if I recall corectly measured from the top of one land to the bottom of an opposing groove) and a proofing that the measurement in milimeters was acceptable. Your gun was measured at 8.83 mm...the Germans used a comma for a decimal point.

 

[Guest_V]

Pete,

Germans (and all Continental Europeans) still use a comma instead of a decimal point. Other things that I still find irritating after being here for over twenty years are crossing their sevens, writing ones with a left hand downward slope - and c ounting numbers over twenty backwards.