Luger question

[SOT(D)]

Gentlemen,
We have a luger in our gunsmith's shop at the range I work at. The owner brought it in...family heirloom and so forth...but, it is not a wartime piece.

Being the old gun-guy...or is it the old-gun guy (depends on the age of the guys at the store!!) I was called over to check it out. Pretty much rusted shut, with a broken mag catch. It is now apart, and with no ability to get shots up, hopefully the description will do.

On the right front part of the slide is GERMANY stamped.

On the left front is stamped the letter N surmounted ny a crown.

The serial number is 5935, which is on the lower reciever/grip portion, and on the underside of the slide, near the barrel, with the crown/N above and a script "R" or "n" beneath.

On the rear portion of the toggle grip is a stylised script momogram, the letters in which I cannot determine with a quick glance.

Is this a "police" model...1920s production? Or does the crown/N denote manufacture for export to another country (Netherlands)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. The owner is not selling it...I just thought that I would try to get the backstory on the piece for the young owner, who recieved years back from a Grandfather. If anyone wishes, in the US, you can call me at (727) 546-4447, my work number, and I am here 10am-9pm, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday...10-3 on Thursday EST. Ask for Mike B.
THANKS TO YOU ALL
Mike

[phild]

Check the caliber to see if it is 9mm or .30 cal bore. My guess is the later. The crown N (nitro firing proof)and the Germany stamp indicates that this is a 1920 commercial for export to the US or England. The script on the toggle is DWM....the maker.

Many thousands of these type Lugers were imported into the US during the 1920s and early 30s. They are common and perhaps the most non-collected of all Luger types due to this fact and that they are commercial rather than military/police or contract.

You can search on Simpsons LTD and drill down to the DWM commercial lugers and find a couple of pages of just this one variation of Luger for sale.

In the condition that you describe the value will not be much.....and .30 cal Luger ammo is very expensive...more so than the crazy prices even common ammo is bringing now.

[James.Archer]

Agreed, it is a commercial produced Luger made for export. They were extremely popular in the US at that time. I have owned three of them myself. All of mine were chambered in 7.65 Parabellum (.30 Luger). These used the same parts as the 9mm chambered Lugers, except the barrel. They are very neat guns, but the ammo is a bit hard to find. Then again, isn't all ammo hard to find right now!?

[Johnny Peppers]

These pistols were a continuation of the commercial line of Luger pistols produced by DWM. As the serial numbers approached 100000 following WWI the decision was made to go to the military style alphanumeric numbering system which started at 1 and went to 10000, then started back over at 1 with an a letter suffix and went to 10000a before starting over at 1b.

The first of these pistols were in the i letter suffix block, which is where the pistols would have been at had the alphanumeric numbering system been in place since the beginning of production in 1900.

In recent years the pistols have become known as the "alphabet" Lugers due to the change in the numbering system to alphanumeric.

[james m]

I agree with the above assertions. However the American Eagle examples in 30 Luger are not only collectible they bring hefty premium's from collectors. This is particularly true of the dished toggle 1900 examples. The American Eagle examples can be distinguished by the eagle stamped in the chamber area and are marked "Germany" on the frame.
From another perspective even common Lugers in decent condition with matching numbers are getting hard to find for under $1,000 .
Jim

[SOT(D)]

Thanks

Thanks!