August Weiss' .32 ACP Baby
 

All,

Am pleased to announce that I have closed the deal for what purports to be August Weiss' personal baby luger in .32 ACP. The piece comes with a fair amount of provenance and expert opinion from such luminaries as Fred Datig.

I will have the gun in hand within the next few days, then some pix to follow.

Tom A

WOW !!! Great score...

Is this the type of Baby with the Borchardt-type thumb safety (unlike the 7 shot Geo. Luger luger that Shattuck owns...) ?

I have heard there are four of these Borchardt-type Baby lugers...two in 9 mm Kurtz and two in .32 cal...

Hope you bring this Baby to the SE NAPCA event in Chattanooga, TN in August !!!

Tom,

Is this the one in Datig's book? If so, cool story, and what a find!

Ed

Congrats on a great find.

All,

It has the Borchardt safety and I believe it to be the same gun portrayed in Datig. Datig is a signatory on the authenticating paperwork.

A *very* cool gun!
It will be in Chattanooga along with some other "1 of 1 "guns.

Tom A.

Congrats Tom... glad you were able to close that deal... Looking forward to the photos...

Tom,
my best congratulation!!!
We wait photos of this beauty and more information about the related papers.
Ciao
Mauro

Regrettably the seller has backed out of the deal; a *substantial* amount of $$ was involved, but he said that, after much soul searching, the piece meant more than money to him.

And so it goes.

Tom A.

My condolences, Tom.

Lugers are hard to part with...it gets into your blood...especially rare or one of a kind ones. Heck, I even clean (and covet) my shooter at least once a week, whether I shoot it or not. And so it goes.

Better to have loved and lost- well you know how it goes. Sorry you didn't get this treasure,but the hunt continues!

Tom,

I wanted to wait to congratulate you till after you published the pix. Sorry to read that the deal went off.
Some years ago I had the same experience with a pristine P04 1904 variation. The seller would bring me the pistol after a week, the price was fixed. But I was so glad, that I told every collector I knew what I had bought before the delivery took place...
The seller did not come, just called that he had decided to keep it. Apparently he heard about my halleluja messages...

Anyway, this might be different in your case, at least I hope so!

The hunt is what it is all about!

Tom A.

At least you had the excitement of coming that close.

It may still happen; am still chatting with the seller.

Tom A.

Good luck Tom.

Tom,

for those of us "NEWBIES"...... me anyway, just what is this pistol and it's significance ???????

And good luck on the negotiations, I hope it happens for you !!!!!

TIA, Regards, Paul

The â??Babyâ?� Luger is one of the rarest variations. It is a scaled down â??pocketâ?� version of the Luger. According to Herr August Weiss, there were two constructed, serial numbers 1 and 2, in 7.65mm (.32 ACP) and two, serial numbers 3 and 4, in 9mm Kurz (.380). Again according to Herr Weiss, there may have been enough parts to construct a fifth pistol, but there is no evidence that this was ever done. Herr Weiss probably never actually â??ownedâ?� one of these examples, but they were built under his supervision as DWM Works Manager in 1925-1926. The pistol was designed by Herr Heinrich Hoffman, Chief Engineer of the Pistol Production Department of DWM, and was intended to introduce a pocket pistol that would hopefully compete with some of the other popular pocket autos of the time.

The connection of the best-documented example with Herr Weiss came about with the discovery of serial number 4 by a French gun collector in 1961 in a French estate. The French collector contacted the well known American collector, Carl Wilson. After some negotiation, Mr. Wilson set about to have it authenticated. Herr Weiss was still very much alive, so pictures and correspondence were exchanged. In 1962 the gun was hand carried to Germany for Herr Weiss to examine first-hand. Herr Weiss confirmed that it was genuine and provided a notarized letter of authentication. Mr. Wilson then proceeded with the acquisition and it remained in his collection until 1981. Another prominent American collector, Pat Redmond (now deceased), was the lucky individual that purchased it from Mr. Wilson. I do not know its history after that point.

Ron,

thanks for the history, now i understand what a unique piece of history Tom is trying to acquire.......

Regards, Paul

Thank you for this summary, Ron. I also now better understand Tom's disappointment when his arrangement did not proceed to a sale.

Hang in there, Tom! There will be another day.

David