History of 1942 byf?

[kds1]

I recently purchased a luger marked "byf" on the toggle and 1942 on the chamber, with a mis-matched side-plate. The bottom surface of the barrel is stamped "C.I.A. St. Alb. Vt." It appears re-blued over some minor surface pitting. I added wood grips from e-gunparts, re-strawed the small parts (thanks to the recipe generously sent by Policeluger), and replaced the cheap magazine it came with with a MecGar magazine. Looks and shoots great, imho.

I am interested in opinions on the history of this luger. From what I understand the "byf" toggle marks are among the last built by Mauser.

I am told that side-plates are often mis-matched because throwing away the side-plate was the method taught to inactivate the gun upon surrender.

I take it that "C.I.A." is Century International as the importer. Do you think this is a "Russian Capture" gun that I have read about on this forum?

Thoughts and opinions on this gun's history would be appreciated.

[Ron Smith]

Hi Ken,

Welcome to the forum. What type of grips were on the pistol? Were they plastic with a Bullseye logo? If so, the pistol is an East German VOPO(poilice) pistol. The Russians usually had an X (indicating crossed rifles) stamped in the area of the serial # on the left receiver.

BYF 42 lugers were made by Mauser. According to Still's Third Reich Lugers, approximately 113,000 were procured by the German Army.

BTW, small parts ceased being strawed circa 1936-37, but if it's a recent import? No harm done, they do look nice strawed.

Ron

[Edward Tinker]

Ken to the forum! Ron has given you most everything you know. Yes I believe C.I.A. is Century International and is definately an import from the last 15 years or so.

You find the sidepaltes mismatched for the reason stated and other reasons too, but not really "common"...

history, well, made in 1942 for Mauser, served WW2, after the war was either russian capture or used by the east germans, then came to america.

You can do searches for byf 1942 on the forum and see what others have said too.


Ed

[kds1]

Thank you guys for the comments and info! The grips were black plastic and had no bull's eye.

I know it is hard to say where this gun has been, but--even for a "shooter"--the history these guns have strikes me as fascinating.

I have to say that these lugers are a bit addictive: This is my third. Last fall at a store-wide clearance I bought a 1993 Mitchell stainless. With the addition of a Wolff magazine spring, it seems to shoot fine.

So, I went back and bought the 1916 DWM they had for 1/3d off (right place, right time). That operated like a Swiss watch. I noticed the grips were numbered to the gun and unchipped, all parts except magazine matched, no rust/pitting (except minor on front/back grip straps). So even though I had stored away the original grips, I decided I ought not shoot that one so much.

Unfortunately I have used up the gun budget that I agreed to with my (very understanding) wife for the year 2006....

[Edward Tinker]

Originally posted by kds1
...Unfortunately I have used up the gun budget that I agreed to with my (very understanding) wife for the year 2006....

Yes, I have one of those too, so, I sell some guns to get new ones. A losing proposition I am sure

[Lugerdoc]

Ken, The checkered black plastic grips that came on your pistol might be the original "Black Widow" grips of the period and desirable to collectors or they could be Russian replacements. I'd certainly check with luger collectors in your area or post a close up photo here of both the inside & outsides of the grips for our opinions. If your 42BYF is in the N or M suffix serial number range, it was one of the last batch made a Mauser during WW2, as they switched over to P38 production. Most of this last batch, were traded to Portugal & Bulgaria for other needed war materials. TH

[maddog350gt]

Lugerdoc,

I was unaware that 42 byf production extended into the N block, I thought that only of few hundred were made in the M block, and that all of these went to Portugal? Anyone with more information care to clarify?

Thanks,
Bob M.

[kds1]

Thanks Lugerdoc for the head's up! But alas, the seller was in the very process of installing those grips when I bought the gun and specifically said the gun was a "poor man's black widow".

By the way, in my prior message when I wrote about: "...the gun budget that I agreed to with my (very understanding) wife for the year 2006..." I was referring to my BUDGET for the year 2006, and not my WIFE for the year 2006. The former is variable from year-to-year and the latter is not. Didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

[wworker]

Ken, can you post a picture of your byf 42?

I have a byf 41, but the black widow continues to avoid me.

[kds1]

Okay, here is an attempt to post some photos.....

[kds1]

here is a second attempt....

[kds1]

and another view (btw, my 15 year old technical consultant helped me figure out how to post)....

[pvluger]

Decided to re-vive this... Yeah, when I bought my luger is was the same setup. All matching except for the sideplate. It had a replacement with "Mickey Moused" sratched numbers and I put one with no numbers. It never occured to be that the sideplates would've been deliberately tossed to de-activate the weapon upon capture. Seems odd that everything else on the gun checks out.

[Sieger]

kds1

The grips on your Luger look like nice, high quality replacements. If you ever have them off, please see if there is a manufactures mark on them.

Your clip is also a replacement, but looks like a Megar, which should function well in your gun.

Sieger