New Owner -Not seeing what I expected??
 

Hello All:
I am helping a friend to value her inherited gun collection.
I am not seeing the year or the manufacturing info that I think should be on top of the gun. Also inside the gun, I did not see SN markings.
Looking for ideas on what I have... I haven't seen any posts that are similiar....so far.

I have more Pictures if I missed something important
Thanks for your help!
Jeff

What she has is a police luger - it likely was sold as a 'commercial' straight to the polcie, perhaps through the army.

The FAQ here can be downloaded and help.

So, luger was made by DWM, guess is around 1929-1930 - pistols during the time period did not get a date.
The two matching magazines are numbered 1 and 2 - which is correct for police.
Notice that the 'wood' mag has a " + " - this meant it was the second magazine, but in the army style. Either this luger was bought by the army and marked or it passed through them for a bit before being transferred to the police.

Originally issued two wood magazines, one would be blank with only serial number and the other would have a plus sign meaning second mag. Then as needed, wood magazine bottoms were being replaced by aluminum bases around 1926 time period - the number 1 mag got lost or damaged and a replacement in aluminum was supplied.

Thank you so much for your help. I have downloaded the FAQ's and have started to read through them. Out of all the guns she has, this one is by far the most interesting....

The holster is a shortened Artilley Luger holster, originally gorm WW1 and repurposed after WW1 for police use.

All in all a very nice set.

So hopefully the million Dollar question is.... How much is it worth? I have read that all the matching SN's are rare. As far as I know, this gun was never fired by the Owner, or where and how he obtained it or if it would even matter what he paid for it.
Not many entries in Gun Broker or Guns international...

Interesting gun -

I know blank toggle links are possible, but that seem odd for a military pistol.

Also, isn't the magazine safety cut spot welded ?

And, then I have never seen a tool with the serial number stamped on it.

It's a police pistol, not a military pistol. Although sometimes the lines between police and military issue are somewhat blurred.

Police pistols were subjected to a lot more administration than military ones, hence the need to number everything to keep the set complete.

I don't know this variation so I cannot help on value. My approach to estimate value on unfamiliar pistols is, I go the Simpson Ltd. website, find a similar pistol and discount the price 25%-50% to get a rough estimate.

Welcome to the forum.

Your friend's Luger is an interesting one. It is a police Luger that had the sear safety installed (it's still intact) and the magazine safety installed then arsenal removed.

It could well have been assembled as one of the first put together when DWM assets were moved to Mauser in the early 1930's. The frame looks like a DWM frame, and Mauser reserved the "v" and "u" serial blocks for commercial sales.

They were transitioning from wood base to aluminum base tin magazines at about the same timeframe. The acceptance markings are Weimar era, so must be prior to the mid 1930's.

Unit marked "Kö" for Köln... Cologne in English. A large police force.

An arsenal police rework with two matching police magazines, it appears to be in good original condition. A nice collectible. Finish is hard to judge from the photos, but appears to be pretty nice.

Since not so many of these come to market, review retail prices at the Luger dealer sites and auction sites for value estimates. Someone here that collects police Lugers may be able to give you an estimate.

It's a 1929 DWM, also called a 'sneak' because of the missing DWM toggle marking. These pistols were made for a North-African contract that was never fulfilled. The pistols were then diverted to the German police.

Welcome to the Forum Shane&Cookie :thumbup:
You have a very nice and very collectable piece of history on your hands.
Thanks for showing us your interesting prize. :D

Good spot on the holster Vlim :thumbup:

As to the 'million dollar question' ??
Any gun is worth what any man is willing to pay for it.
You will have little trouble selling this gun but my question is why sell it ??

high of $2500

I have a rig very much like this without a tool and holster, has a wood bottom and aluminum bottom, both matching the gun. The tool adds about $100 and the holster, another $200 to the overall value.

A police rig will go for less than a 2 matching army rig (probably a thousand less). I have a 2 matching mag rig police that was a friends widow, and I've tried selling it, no takers at $2500, but I really don't want to sell for less. You find police rigs together more often than an army set.

What is the story? Did you happen to come across it? Family item?

Ed

The story, like a lot of inherited gun stories is pretty bare. No documentation on when, where and how much this gun was purchased. The owner was (passed about 5 yrs ago) was a real collector and avid hunter. He had been to Africa on several safaris. The house is filled with really nice Trophy animal's from Africa. So several of his guns are large caliber double barrel types. He also was a big water bird hunter and so several shotguns of all different types and brands.
Bottom line, I don't think there was a gun show or gun classified add he didn't go to or study. I think the Luger was just a spot buy at a gun show some years ago...But just a guess. The majority of his guns are Winchester's, Browning's and Remington's... Quiet a few are from the early 1900's but all for the most part are in Excellent condition.
I appreciate you for asking about the story!

As for why she is selling. As I noted there are about 100 guns in her late husband's collection. She has no children and really no other family to leave them to. I am pretty sure when we get down to the end of selling what we can sell, She might consider gifting me one or two for my help. This Luger is interesting to me, but my guess is it might be difficult to find ammo to shoot...9mm I think. If I am going to add a gun to my meager collection, it would need to be one to shoot and enjoy, not set in a gun cabinet.

9mm may be harder to find right now, but its one of the most popular cartridges in the USA

However, if you break a matching part on a nice, matching luger, the value drops to half :)

9/mm is certainly available again now, but it's about double what it cost not much more than a year ago. Lowest I've seen for brass case 115 gr FMJ was for re-manufactured @~ $0.34 per round before shipping. Large lots of ammo of any kind at auctions are bringing insane bids.

Looks like a very nice "blank toggle" police gun. The left grip was replaced at some point, as it is not cut for the removed/deactivated magazine safety.

Not all Police Lugers had a magazine safety. I would guess that the left grip is original. What a nice rig!! So unusual to find one like this.

That one did have a magazine safety. Look closely at the left frame wall to the rear of the side plate where you'll see the filled-in slot that was cut for a magazine safety.

I agree with Lyn that this is a very nice rig, however this rig most definitely had a magazine safety as Doub's has mentioned so the left grip is NOT original to this gun.

To help clarify Doub's point here is the required cut out for the magazine safety ... a picture is worth 1000 words.

Attachment 84119