1914 DWM - East German rework, possible VOPO gun

[Grendel]

Just picked up my second Luger. It's been awhile as I bought my first about ten years ago (and posted here about it). I'd been looking for a good "shootable" Luger in 9mm for a long time, and finally got this one on Gunbroker for what I felt was a reasonable price.

Seller described it as a VOPO gun, and it came with the holster and magazines as shown. It's probably force matched, but at least it was re-stamped and not electro penciled. However, I don't think I see the VOPO "sunburst" stamp anywhere. I do believe it to be an East German rework, though.

It has "crown U" proofs on it, which I believe to be East German from what I've read....there's another symbol above each "crown U" which may be another crown, although it kind of resembles an eagle with a shield on its chest to me.

What I know:
Toggle is marked DWM (script)
Chamber date is 1914
Magazines coded 2/1001 I believe are East German, made by Haenel
Grips appear to be East German "bullseye" type plastic replacements

What I'd like to know:
Did this start its life as a military or commercial pistol?
What history is able to be traced from its markings (origin, possible military use, possible Russian capture, East German use, etc?)
Identification of the various stamps (somebody's probably gonna tell me "buy a book"....which one?)
What is the "round" stamp near the takedown lever?
Anything particularly interesting/unique about this Luger?

Hope these pictures help. I wish I'd taken other photos when I had this at a friend's house and we were looking at it under magnification, but if need be I can try to go back and get those kinds of pictures.

Thanks for any information you can give me.

[Edward Tinker]

Yes, a DWM marked on the right, with a date of 1914 would be military

yes, the markings on the left are Vopo and oberdorf markings

does the holster have a tool pouch or no tool pouch?

[DonVoigt]

What I'd like to know:
Did this start its life as a military or commercial pistol? yes
What history is able to be traced from its markings (origin, possible military use, possible Russian capture, East German use, etc?)Imperial German military for sure, RC ?, EG rework with correct proofing, Vopo use-yes
Identification of the various stamps (somebody's probably gonna tell me "buy a book"....which one?) Check the stickys for explanation of the original proofing, Ed and I have answered the others-I think
What is the "round" stamp near the takedown lever? looks like a cancelled Vopo sunburst
Anything particularly interesting/unique about this Luger?Maybe -need more picts!

Congrats on your second luger - a nice "Vopo"!

Do the mags match the pistol? What are the markings on the bottom of the barrel near the receiver? Import markings?
More views of the pistol markings are needed to discern additional details.

Welcome back, don't wait ten years for another luger!

[Grendel]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

Congrats on your second luger - a nice "Vopo"!

Do the mags match the pistol? What are the markings on the bottom of the barrel near the receiver? Import markings?
More views of the pistol markings are needed to discern additional details.

Welcome back, don't wait ten years for another luger!

The mags don't match the pistol. One is stamped with a "2" over "41988" on the base, the other is stamped with a "9" and an electropenciled "31" below that.

The only thing marked on the bottom of the barrel is a "crown N" stamp, and the usual witness mark that lines up with the same on the receiver. No numbers or caliber markings. No import marks anywhere that I can see - none on the barrel, front/back straps, or slide/frame rails when I field strip the pistol.

Holster does have a tool pouch under the flap (it was empty, but I put a repro tool in it that I got at a gun show years ago before I even had a Luger). No visible markings inside the holster, although there's a place where something has been "blacked out" with what appears to be marker.

I had thought about the stamp near the takedown lever being a "sunburst" that had been defaced - that does make sense. Maybe when it was removed from service or sold off?

Thanks both of you for the information. I've downloaded the FAQ from the forum and will be going through that as well.

Hopefully it won't take me another 10 years to come back although I have also been bitten by the P38 bug, as well as a couple of pocket pistols I'm trying to track down to replace ones my Grandpa picked up in Europe during WWII....the collecting bug has numerous strains!

[DonVoigt]

The sunburst was defaced when sold, to obscure the fact that it was a "communist" pistol- which were not allowed importation to the US at the time. Though some did slip through with original markings.

The C/N would indicate the barrel was replaced by the EG, sometimes there is also a date- like "6 53". Often the import markings are on the bottom of the barrels.

You should see importer markings "somewhere" on the pistol- but occasionally they were "omitted" also !

[Vlim]

The crown/crown U is an inspection proof after repair, as applied in the DDR.

[Grendel]

So this stamp circled in red is a second (different) crown? I couldn't make it out, it kind of resembled an eagle or bird with a shield on its chest to me. Need to look at the pistol under some magnification, I guess. I didn't really see the "crown over crown over U" listed in too many of the online "identify your Luger's markings" sites out there (although I haven't searched too heavily here for that specific stamp yet).

The stamps on the right side of the receiver match up with #15 at this link:
http://www.lugerforum.com/lugermarkings/proof-2.html
So that would be correct for a 1914 DWM military pistol. Can anyone make out the "fraktur" letters on the receiver in my original post and tell me what they stand for? I found a chart but I'm having trouble reading them.

Serial number on the front of the frame (below the barrel) is 2031; there appears to be a "k" in script below that, although that looks like it has been partially stamped out by an "x" in block lettering. Would that serial number block correspond to a 1914 DWM? Serial number on the receiver is just 2031, but the font is noticeably larger, so I suspect it is force-matched. I tried several different shots to get the letter below the SN to come in clearly, but it's difficult to photograph as it's on a curved portion of the frame.

I also found another "eagle" type of stamp on the side of the breechbolt (2nd photo)

[DonVoigt]

Whoa!
Way too many questions for an old guy to answer- study the stickies more!

First mark is not a crown but an EG Eagle over the C/U.
Second eagle is the original proof eagle and was applied at Erfurt(Erfurt and DWM eagles are different, and the EG eagle is different yet from those).
Yes, the receiver has been re-numbered to match the frame, there is no reason to think the frame is from 1914- but it could be.

The suffix letter on the frame looks more like a "c" to me, but really need a couple more pictures.
Try side lighting and try to get rid of the bright spots.

The stamps on the right side of the receiver match up with #15 at this link:
http://www.lugerforum.com/lugermarkings/proof-2.html
So that would be correct for a 1914 DWM military pistol. Can anyone make out the "fraktur" letters on the receiver in my original post and tell me what they stand for? I found a chart but I'm having trouble reading them.,

#15 in the link are not from 1914- in 1914 there would be 3 C/S and the proof eagle; however- what is on your pistol are the three C/S- which are correct for 1914!

[Grendel]

Thanks again for all your help. I know I have a lot of reading and research to do. I am still very much in the "learning" phase when it comes to the details of Lugers. (I'll have even more learning to do if I ever manage to acquire an Artillery/LP08, which is one of my "holy grail" guns in my collecting search.) Sorry if I got a little overzealous with the amount of questions there

[HerrKaiser]

Check the Luger and firearms for sale forum here on the site to see if anyone has one for sale.