dutch luger K.M. mark
 

I have a dutch luger with a K.M. mark on the front of the grip strap does anyone else have a similar mark?
I will post some photos later

Hi Tony,

I used to have such a pistol; I traded it to Bob Simpson several years ago.

Tom A.

Tony, The letters represent the Koninklijke Marine, the Dutch Royal Navy. This mark is only found on the navy Lugers. Apparently less than 12 of these Lugers are know to exist. It is possible also that it is a marine stamping but I'd need the serial # to get more info.

Thanks Herb;
The serial no is #791 it was brought to australia aboard a catalina in 1942 by dutch troops escaping the invasion of java[indonesia].

Tony,

In that case: Be sure that it stands for Koninklijke Marine. It's nice to see that one of the evacuees actually stayed there. I knew they had to be there, but it would be nice to see one. Can you post pictures of it?

The mark is not so much a unit mark, but more a property mark.
If you want to find out more about the Dutch lugers, get the book "The Dutch Luger" by Martens & De Vries. Excellent book.

Serial # 791 'probably' places it in the third contract issue. Here is what is in the Dutch Luger book. "As less than a dozen Navy Lugers with "KM" marks are known, it is difficult to say whether they were sent to the Indies in series, or whether the mark was just applied to separate guns. Pistols with and without the "KM" mark are kinown form the second Navy Luger contract(serial number 78 to 569, inclusive). A few Lugers with the mark fall in the fifth contract (serial 1485 to 1786 inclusive. As no pistols from the latter serial range have been observed without the "KM" mark, it is possible that all 300 pieces were destined to be sent to the Indies".
The Dutch Marine Lugers fell into 100 to 199 inclusive and 1200 to 1249 inclusive serial number range so it's not a Marine issue just a plain old very rare Navy issue one. There is considerable discussion on the Dutch Lugers here on the forum, here is the link to it..............

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...ighlight=Dutch
Congratulations on your find, ones that rare don't come along very often. I would Imagine that since it missed the Japanese invasion and occupation it's in better condition that most of the Dutch East Indies Lugers, if you can post a load of pictures of it I'm sure the other members would like to see them.

Of course we want to see it! The sickness only grows.

dutch luger km mark photos
 

Thanks for the info everyone here are the photos

km
 

and another

km
 

and another

km mark
 

another

km
 

another

Tony, what maker is it, looks to be DWM as the Vickers Lugers had a sort of sandblasted looking finish, not smooth like this one.

km
 

sorry here is a photo of the toggle

Good info on the M11 there Herb, but this Luger is not a 1906 patternâ?¦note the lack of a grip safety and the presence of a stock lug. Also the â??RUSTâ?� arrow is pointing down, not up, and the proof is a vertical Crown/N, which dates after 1920. This Luger is from the 1928 contract for the Dutch Navy and was manufactured by BKIW (Berlin â??Karlsruher Industrie-Werke) that was formerly DWM and retained the DWM logo. This particular piece would have been from the second delivery in February 1929.

km
 

photo there are no markings on the right side of the reciever at all

Ron, I used the info from the Dutch Luger book, and apparently got the wrong info based upon the serial number. I didn't even pay attention to the photos of the M11 with it''s grip safety. I'll change my post so as not to confuse anyone. Thanks for catching that, next time I'll pay more attention to what I'm seeing and writing, getting old is great.

km
 

sorry wrong photo

Hi,

Just a small word of warning.
The Dutch phrase for 'navy' is 'marine'. So 'Koninklijke Marine' means 'Royal Navy'. As 'marine' got a different meaning in the English speaking community, things can get confusing.

A very rare Dutch variation you have there. Congratulations!