New guy. Inherited six Lugers last week. I don't know what I have.

Sarcastro · 03-11-2013, 11:57 PM

New guy here! My father in law is moving out of his house of 46 years and into a smaller apartment. He decided to give me his small gun collection before he moved. Turns out there were six Lugers in the bunch. He had put together this collection over about a six-year period, at one point he had close to 20 but wound up selling most of them. There's four P08s and two Artillery models, all but one are pre-1918, the other is 1941. As near as I can tell all have matching serial #s, except for the magazines. There's also two dated holsters that are coming in a later shipment, one's a pretty beat-up 1918 P08 holster and the other is a VERY nice condition 1915 dated Artillery holster. I also received an Erma .22LR Luger lookalike that looks like it might be fun to shoot.

I know next to nothing about these things except they look cool and they're really old. Would like to keep them in as good a shape as any, but was wondering if any of these is a "shooter" vs. "collectors piece", because I'd REALLY like to take one of these to the range! And while I'm familiar with most of the markings, any help at identification of the (numerous) stamps would be appreciated!

Erfurt artillery:

DWM Artillery:

1916 P08. Note #5, the added inscription on the front strap

1914 P08. Looks like crap. The story the guy FIL bought it from told: gun belonged to seller's dad. When dad passed away, Mom (80 years old) didn't want it around, so she wrapped it in a towel, put it in a box, and buried it in the back yard. Seller spent a year digging up the garden looking for it before he found it.

1918 P08:

1941 P08:

And I almost missed this, it's located on the right side on a curve underneath the slide:

Frank B · 03-12-2013, 06:47 AM

Neat collection, Mostly WW1 Lugers, but the one with 41(year) 42 is a WW2 Luger. It appears to have an import mark upside down. A great start to a collection, my collection is still small.

Norme · 03-12-2013, 08:36 AM

Hi Alex, Welcome to the forum! There's a lot to digest here and it might be wiser to post these six guns on separate threads, as there's a good chance things will get very confusing when the comments start coming in. I will say that all six are interesting guns and appear to be unmessed with, except for the 1916 DWM that appears to be refinished, and the 41 42 (a rare variation, by the way) that has been import marked. If you must shoot one of these, this is probably the one least likely to get damaged.
Regards, Norm

Curly1 · 03-12-2013, 09:49 AM

Welcome to the forum, a nice starter collection congrats.

The unit marking is "Reserve Infantry Regiment 74 Company 3 gun number 4".
Enjoy some range time on the shooter quality ones.

mrerick · 03-12-2013, 10:48 AM

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

You have inherited mostly collectable Lugers. Some are rather rare. Most are in very good original condition.

You should see if your Father in Law can provide any notes about them (including descriptions, acquisition costs, paperwork, etc...). They will be helpful regardless of what you do with them. Most people that collect to this grade have this kind of paperwork.

The import marked Mauser (42 code) Luger is probably the strongest in metallurgic terms, and has been defaced by someone adding the suffix letter to the receiver on the left side. That and the import mark make it less collectable and affect it's value. I'd probably shoot this one with some generic 9mm 115gn or 124gn ammo (Winchester White Box - NOT NATO power).

Marc

Don M · 03-12-2013, 11:39 AM

The 1914 Erfurt LP08 is interesting in that the side plate is cut for a police sear safety and it appears that the sear bar is drilled for a sear safety. The side plate seems to be original to the gun. I see no evidence that there is a hole for the sear safety mounting rivet in the flange of the reciever but it may have been nicely filled in. The oddity is that it is extremely rare to find an LP08 that has or once had a police sear safety. While LP08s were issued to the police immediately after WWI, virtually all of these were converted to P08s during the 1920s.

03-11-2013, 11:57 PM	#1
Sarcastro New User Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	New guy. Inherited six Lugers last week. I don't know what I have. New guy here! My father in law is moving out of his house of 46 years and into a smaller apartment. He decided to give me his small gun collection before he moved. Turns out there were six Lugers in the bunch. He had put together this collection over about a six-year period, at one point he had close to 20 but wound up selling most of them. There's four P08s and two Artillery models, all but one are pre-1918, the other is 1941. As near as I can tell all have matching serial #s, except for the magazines. There's also two dated holsters that are coming in a later shipment, one's a pretty beat-up 1918 P08 holster and the other is a VERY nice condition 1915 dated Artillery holster. I also received an Erma .22LR Luger lookalike that looks like it might be fun to shoot. I know next to nothing about these things except they look cool and they're really old. Would like to keep them in as good a shape as any, but was wondering if any of these is a "shooter" vs. "collectors piece", because I'd REALLY like to take one of these to the range! And while I'm familiar with most of the markings, any help at identification of the (numerous) stamps would be appreciated! Erfurt artillery: DWM Artillery: 1916 P08. Note #5, the added inscription on the front strap 1914 P08. Looks like crap. The story the guy FIL bought it from told: gun belonged to seller's dad. When dad passed away, Mom (80 years old) didn't want it around, so she wrapped it in a towel, put it in a box, and buried it in the back yard. Seller spent a year digging up the garden looking for it before he found it. 1918 P08: 1941 P08: And I almost missed this, it's located on the right side on a curve underneath the slide:

03-12-2013, 09:49 AM	#4
Curly1 User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 1,242 Thanks: 117 Thanked 714 Times in 371 Posts	Welcome to the forum, a nice starter collection congrats. The unit marking is "Reserve Infantry Regiment 74 Company 3 gun number 4". Enjoy some range time on the shooter quality ones. __________________ Laugh hard and often. Gary

03-12-2013, 11:39 AM	#6
Don M Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 1,429 Thanks: 67 Thanked 292 Times in 191 Posts	The 1914 Erfurt LP08 is interesting in that the side plate is cut for a police sear safety and it appears that the sear bar is drilled for a sear safety. The side plate seems to be original to the gun. I see no evidence that there is a hole for the sear safety mounting rivet in the flange of the reciever but it may have been nicely filled in. The oddity is that it is extremely rare to find an LP08 that has or once had a police sear safety. While LP08s were issued to the police immediately after WWI, virtually all of these were converted to P08s during the 1920s. __________________ Regards, Don [email protected] Author of History Writ in Steel: German Police Markings 1900-1936 http://www.historywritinsteel.com

03-12-2013, 06:47 AM	#2
Frank B User Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Augusta GA, aus Berlin...:) Posts: 78 Thanks: 20 Thanked 30 Times in 12 Posts	Neat collection, Mostly WW1 Lugers, but the one with 41(year) 42 is a WW2 Luger. It appears to have an import mark upside down. A great start to a collection, my collection is still small.

03-12-2013, 08:36 AM	#3
Norme Always A Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Colorado Posts: 2,417 Thanks: 226 Thanked 2,603 Times in 933 Posts	Hi Alex, Welcome to the forum! There's a lot to digest here and it might be wiser to post these six guns on separate threads, as there's a good chance things will get very confusing when the comments start coming in. I will say that all six are interesting guns and appear to be unmessed with, except for the 1916 DWM that appears to be refinished, and the 41 42 (a rare variation, by the way) that has been import marked. If you must shoot one of these, this is probably the one least likely to get damaged. Regards, Norm

03-12-2013, 10:48 AM	#5
mrerick Super Moderator - Patron LugerForum Life Patron Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Eastern North Carolina, USA Posts: 3,909 Thanks: 1,374 Thanked 3,110 Times in 1,510 Posts	Hi, and welcome to the forum. You have inherited mostly collectable Lugers. Some are rather rare. Most are in very good original condition. You should see if your Father in Law can provide any notes about them (including descriptions, acquisition costs, paperwork, etc...). They will be helpful regardless of what you do with them. Most people that collect to this grade have this kind of paperwork. The import marked Mauser (42 code) Luger is probably the strongest in metallurgic terms, and has been defaced by someone adding the suffix letter to the receiver on the left side. That and the import mark make it less collectable and affect it's value. I'd probably shoot this one with some generic 9mm 115gn or 124gn ammo (Winchester White Box - NOT NATO power). Marc __________________ Igitur si vis pacem, para bellum - - Therefore if you want peace, prepare for war.