Unfortunate that the date was filed off. What is number on the other mag?

Thank you all for your valuable feedback. Here are 4 larger photos. I have had this gun since 72 and have never done anything to refurbish it. Al Looker, the original owner told me he had never done anything to "fix it up". I have shot perhaps 10 rounds and it functions beautifully. He told me the soldiers were required to break it down and toss each part into the respective barrel as they departed the ship after WW1. He hid this in his pants and took it home. Thank you again for your feedback.

It looks like it had a black layer of paint over it at some point.

Would be interesting if the filing was done before it came to the US, but it is hard to prove that.

A good restorer could fix it up, though.
Engrave or etch the date back and blend in the bluing. I have seen quite good partial restorations in the past.

Since it has a matching mag it may be worth a restore. Never heard if the second mag was matching also. If so, that would make it even more a candidate for restoration.

That black paint reminds me of the British black paint, but they usually dipped the entire pistol.

Thank you for your appreciated feedback! While I am far from experienced it does not appear to have any black paint on it. I may follow up on getting it restored. I really just want to sell it so it is not sold in my estate one day. Could you recommend someone?

Would I need to go through a licensed dealer to ship to a restorer? Thank you!

You don't need to use a FFL to ship to a restorer because there is no transfer being made.
I don't know if any individual state laws might prohibit this. You should check first... ask your restorer, I'm sure they will know.

I just can't imagine what compelled someone to remove a date stamp?

I'm wondering if someone stamped something else on the chamber.

I remember in the 1960's when the police encouraged all gun owners to etch their SSN or Drive's License onto their weapons.

Very strange.

Restorer..That's a little piece of unobtanium these days. Seems like they have gone by the wayside. Every week I am asked..WHERE can one get a Luger re blued?



My advice since you want to sell this is sell it AS IS. It's a shooter. A shooter doesn't need a date. Economically you won't come out ahead by getting it fixed.

Sometimes its possible to lightly etch the surface and traces of the stampings become visible. An old trick used in the past to reveal filed off serial numbers.

It might reveal if something besides the original year, 1917 or 1918, was stamped on the receiver.

Would be fun if they had removed a Death Head marking ;)

There are left over splotches of black paint on the filed receiver area.

Thank you again. I was going to ask for a recommendation for a restorer but your later posts discourage that. So I guess I will just list it on gun broker. What would be a fair and just price to ask? Thank you! Patrick

I would be very tempted to take to the range and see how it fires.
You don't have a lot to risk.
Knowing it shoots will help the sale.

Since you have a pretty good kit (tool, holster, and magazines) you can probably expect to get $1,000 for the lot.

I would work on getting the rest of the black paint off the chamber.
You photos are pretty good. You will want nice high resolution profile photos of both sides, top, and front, as well as the entire kit layed out. Your close-up photos are good.

Thank you for your awesome feedback! My son and I have shot it and it is a straight dependable shooter. No jams and very accurate. Regards.

I shoot my regular 9mm ammo with this gun. Would I need any additional information as to caliber when I list it for sale?

Can we tell if it was made in Germany from the pictures I posted?

Does the fact that it shoots smoothly change the estimated sale price of $1,000? Thank you!