picked up a nice 1917 Dwm luger from a guy in a trade for $500. due to the barrel being mis matched ( all the rest of the gun is matching) bought it as a shooter. Gun has WW1 rust blue finish thrughout. when i got home and decided to clean it, noticed that the barrel has a eagle with swastika stamped in it and on the other side of the barrel was a waffen stamp with 63 stamped under it. this i find unusual. i was wondering if it was possibly used as a police gun ( no other markings on it) or something that was reworked for the german army. left side has normal WW1 proof marks with imperial eagle, toggle is also stamped on side with imperial eagle. other than the barrel marks there are no other marks on gun.
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It was fairly common for WWI era and inter-war era Lugers to have barrels replaced during the 3rd Reich era by or for both the Police and the military. These Lugers are not often encountered, but I think the practice was common enough to say involve thousands of guns over the period of the early 30s- say early 40s base on a couple of dozen that I have seen over many years.Originally posted by phillyriverrat5 View Post
I find unusual on yours is the mis-matched barrel serial number as these legit re-works would have I think in every case been fitted with a new barrel and generally matched to the gun......I think that you should suspect a post WWII barrel upgrade on your Luger unless you find some reason to believe otherwise. -
luger
finish is the same on the barrel as the rest of the gun, a rust finish, it is my unserstanding that after 1936 all lugers were salt blued as rust blueing them was time consuming. and why would there be natzi proofs on a post war barrel in a WW1 luger????Comment
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The E/63 acceptance mark was used from late 1935 into 1939. What is the serial number and letter suffix on the barrel?
I too would suspect a post WWII replacement. Pictures?Comment
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1917 dwm natzi marked
there are no marks other than the waffen marks and the serial number on the barrel
https://www.facebook.com/harry.burkh...type=1&theaterComment
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The serial number was what I ask for, and odds are that it should have a letter suffix.Originally posted by phillyriverrat5 View Post
Your image does not show.Comment
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serial number
serial number on the frame is 2255 d.. the whole rear end is all matching and is DWM chamber date 1917Comment
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Johnny is asking for the serial number and letter (if there is one) that is on the barrel so that pehaps the barrel date can be established.Originally posted by phillyriverrat5 View Post
The basic consideration here is that the barrel would have had to have been removed from a completed pistol in order to have the number and fireing proof....the removal would have to had been done with some tools and knowledge...so not accidental...like a mag for instance.
It is tough to say that this could not have been done during the war by the Germans (low level repair) to improve a pistol with a barrel from an otherwise trashed luger (i.e. battle damage on the frame or receiver) but it is un-likley IMO. If the repair was done higher than unit level like at a depot or arsenal it would have had a new barrel and or the barrel installed would have been numbered to the frame.
Even today there are plenty of numbered Luger barrels to be had and this I know was common at least as far back as the 60s (and I think back to 45) as I saw many for sale back then........it was not un-common in those days to put strong barrels on Lugers for shooting purposes....new barrels were sold out of the back of G&A for $12.95 and many other publications for instance.
Sorry for the long response but there is a lot to this that has to be taken into account.
Bottom line, in my experince is that the barrel is almost certainly post WWII replaced as the standard German practice was to fit a new barrel and number it to the frame. I would forget the rust blue angle, if the gun was re-blued by the Germans the barrel would match in number (high level re-work) and show other proofs from the re-work.Comment
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As noted in the previous post, replacement barrels as well as other parts were available, but the barrel most certainly would not be a field replacement.Comment
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luger barrel
all the post war barrels i have seen have had the swatstike punched out, this one still retains it with the waffen stamp. only other marks on barrel is serial number and 8.82Comment
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I would say that it was tough to impossible to find a punched or struck Wa mark prior to the mid-80s (really the early 90s) when the re-worked Lugers from the East were imported......before then real DDR (for example) re-worked Lugers were off the charts rare in the US and sold for more money than non-reworked WWII Lugers.
My point is that Luger parts were around from many sources from the 50s on and most had all marks intact. It would have been possible for anyone with the know how and the tool to change out a Luger barrel as it is not difficult...with the correct tool.Comment
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Originally posted by phillyriverrat5 View Post
From your description the barrel is not post war. The 8,82 is the bore diameter, and the serial number should be directly above it. Is there some reason you can't give the barrel serial number?Comment
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natzi marked barrel
Serrial number on the barrel is 9711, and the bore diameter 8.82Comment
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Serial number 9711 (ns) in rust blue could only have come from a late K Date (1934). A K Date would not have had an Eagle/Swastika firing proof nor an Eagle/63 acceptance stamp.Originally posted by phillyriverrat5 View Post
I would suspect cold blue rather than rust blue.Comment
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