My 1st 1900 A.E. and a test one at that.
 

Love those right? Those German had sense of beauty!

Just another example of Thor DiVincie's artistic talent!

Eric, those are BEFORE THOR pictures above.:eek:

He must be referring to your shinning reputation, Thor!

Test Eagle is finished, should have it back to JASTA2 soon!:cheers:

Just how long does take to create Your magic???

Thank You All
 

Thank You

Sorry for the dupe. Another post stroke brain fart!

Beautiful "before." Can't wait to see the "after!"

VERY glossy reblue before, will be great to see how it originaly looked when new!

Did Ron figure out how many still exist?

Eric,
To date the number of 1900 AE Lugers reported (I have no way of knowing how many still exist:)) with Test Trial characteristics are:

6100-7100 range - 338
5978-6099 range - 21
7108-7990 range - 154

Note: Numbers corrected, I was looking at an old list

westhebartender, please check your private messages regarding changing your avatar.

Thank You Both. You are the keepers! Its amazing the these few are over 100 years old! Does anyone know what the 'Flaming Bomb' signifies

It is a DWM inspector's mark, found on Lugers other than the Test Trials pieces as well.

Thank You Ron, I wonder how he came up with such a cute little symbol! I bet it was his wifes' tatoo.

The flaming Bomb is an early representation of the grenadier.

Perhaps its use as a proof was simbolic that this particular weapon did not blow up!!

Thank You Ron. Are they seen on any other models?

Eric,
As I stated before, they are found on Lugers other than the Test Trials pieces.

Are simular marks on any other mags?

Yes. The mark is not a US Ordnance mark. People like to put a flaming bomb mag in a Test AE because they think it needs one, but an unmarked magazine is also proper. The mark is just an inspector's mark and it could be on the wood base of commercial magazines for various commercial Lugers.

Thank You thats a releif.When I bought it from Gramps, it did have a properly marked mag. That had to be 8 years ago. Since then I've lost both my mind and the mag. I didn't want to pay $500 to correct my stupidity. When they were issued we they given 1 or 2 marked mags if you know. You better write a book!

I doubt that the magazines were marked and I do not know how many magazines were purchased. The order was for 1000 Lugers, 200,000 rounds of ammunition and "spare parts". I do not know if extra magazines were included in the spare parts.

I know precious little, if anything, that has not already been written in other books. I doubt that a book that I would write would be of much contribution. I have nearly 200 books in my library, predominantly Luger related but also include other early pistols and revolvers, pickelhauben and German history. I probably have an equal number of magazines and periodicals dating back to the early '60s. My books are in seven different languages. I can read the English ones pretty well, the Swedish and Russian not at all (but some of the pictures are informative), and the others with varying levels of difficulty. So, by and large, my knowledge is derivative, I stand on the shoulders of others before me. My simple contribution is the research I can do with my references and provide the information from them along with the experiences and knowledgeable friends I have been privileged to have for over a half century.

Thank You Ron. Your a Gentleman and a Scholar!