Family find of 1908 Commercial Army Luger

[bgarland]

I wanted to share this discovery with you. :-) Until recently, I had no idea how nice this gun was. I posted the details to another Luger forum and they educated me on the rarity of this piece.

My father was a Major in the US Army, stationed in Germany with the US military government after WWII. They were setting up the new city goverments and police departments. He doesn't remember what specific city he was in at the time. His friend was in charge of many of the weapon collection programs. They would redistribute some of the guns to the new police departments. Many of the confiscated weapons were distributed to the US Army personell to take home as souvenirs. His friend gave him this Luger and the civilian .224 custom hunting rifle. The quality of the hunting rifle was obvious but he had no idea the value or uniqueness of this Luger. At the time, he thought it was new. :-) It's been safely stored in dry environments and cleaned every few years since then. It now resides in my gun safe in Arizona.

Its a DWM 1908 commercial army, serial number 70830 with no lug. No date is stamped on the gun. All parts have matching serial numbers or at least the last two of 30. Including the original magazine with matching 70830 stamped in the bottom on the wood. The barrel marks are matched perfectly and is also stamped with 70830. Based on the serial number, I have been told, it was probably manufactured in 1914. Original finish.

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Thanks,
Brad Garland