"9"s ?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

I ended up getting these.

According to the seller in Britain, they were saved by a friend of his who is a police armorer. They were taken off an artillery luger that was being melted down (or whatever they do in Britain).

A guy here in my area who knows a little bit about Lugers (not that much) says he thinks they are no good as the 9 should be much lower on the grip.

The 9 seem to be burned in.

On the back of one grip there seems to be a very feint "44" stamped in.

Can anyone give an opinion on these?

[Chris Boonzaier]

22

[Norman Hamilton]

These certainly appear bogus to me. N....

[Chris Boonzaier]

May well be,

I know nothing about Lugers...

The seller makes the following claim...

"No Way are they copies Chris, I myself took them off an artillery luger that was being destroyed by the police! I had a friend that is an Armourer with them. I asked him if i could strip several Lugers out for spare parts & the barrels, frames & breechblocks were melted down to destroy them. That particular Luger was found in an Atiic in an old veterans house after he died. He bought it back as a souvenier & it was not dicovered until after his death when the family cleared the house. It is 100% origianal, I do NOT sell reproduction items, unless SPECIFICALLY requested to do so."

In case it is of interest, his name is Mike Homard and is based in the UK.

[GWA]

They appear to me to be 100% legitimate. As the "9"s were applied at the unit level there can be considerable variation not only in placement but also in size. Some were colored in with red paint or lacquer and some were not. Your pair also appear to be made from Birch/Beech which started replacing walnut in 1917 and carried on through 1918. All "red nine" LP08's are believed to be 1917 manufacture.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Oooof... thats a relief!

I had bought a normal pair for my 08 and took these as an afterthought. The guys email sounded genuine enough, but I was not sure.

Any idea what could be asked for a pair of these? I dont have an Arty luger and probably never will.

Best
Chris.

[GWA]

Chris, to a person wanting to replace damaged "9" grips on a 1917 LP08 that had a serial number ending in 44 they would be quite a score. If I were selling them I would ask $150 for the pair. Ebay may well yield more than that.

[archer]

I cannot comment on the authenticity of the grips but the story gives me an itch.
When weapons are confiscated/surrendered to the UK police and disposal is ordered then as far as I remember, stripping for parts is a no no,everything is destroyed.

Perhaps a story to add colour to the sale? :O)

[MikeP]

There was no standardization on the "9s."

[geopop71]

Luger "9" Grips

If I am not mistaken, didn't they burn the "9" on the grips to ID them with the calibre since some Lugers were 30 cal.? The same was done with the Mauser Broomhandle. Right? To me the nine looks authentic enough, and as for the chap that said they had to melt every thing, maybe wood was not included?
Just my 2 cents. Besides the nine looks like it was burned in with a branding type iron and not just burned in with a hot wire. Geopop

[Norman Hamilton]

Does anyone have a photo of an artillery Luger with a "9" in the grip plates? The "9" in the Mauser grips appear to have been milled into the wood. NH....

[Chris Boonzaier]

If I am not mistaken, didn't they burn the "9" on the grips to ID them with the calibre since some Lugers were 30 cal.? The same was done with the Mauser Broomhandle. Right? To me the nine looks authentic enough, and as for the chap that said they had to melt every thing, maybe wood was not included?
Just my 2 cents. Besides the nine looks like it was burned in with a branding type iron and not just burned in with a hot wire. Geopop

Hi,

they are indeed done with a branding iron.

I have them on the estand, will ebay them next week if there is no interest.

Thanks for all the help on these guys.

Best
Chris

[lu1900]

Just a pic from a red nine LP 1917, those grips are made of beech , no walnut for alls I could see ..