Look at my new Artillery Rig.
 

Greetings Guys and Gals of the Luger forum,
Sharing a newly acquired treasure with friends adds much to the enjoyment of owning. This forum and Jan's forum are not only an encyclopedia of Luger information at your fingertips, but also a medium of sharing newly acquired Lugers with other Luger enthusiasts. I noticed that showing these pistols to my friends does not mean very much; only that I have probably lost my mind spending that kind of money. Well here is another Luger I recently acquired from one of our respected dealers. It is a 1917 Artillery with adjustable front and rear sights, matching numbers including the grips. No import marks or such on this one. It appears to be an honest GI capture. Of course the magazine is not matching, but it is proper for the period. There is a bit of bluing loss and some signs of handling; I think that adds a bit of military character to it. It came with the matching wood stock and a holster that is dated to the pistol. The holster has a person's name stamped on the OUTSIDE of the holster flap as well as the date and other info stamped on the inside. Any comments about that name on the outside or anything else will be appreciated. Here are a few pictures. I would like to add a few words about the dealer. He is Gil Hoffman of G&G Relics. This was my first purchase from Gil, and it could not have been more pleasant. He was accomodating in every way and before I would commit to buying he made sure he painted a visual picture of all the components, down to smallest imperfection. Thanks Gil !!
Mike

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload..._markings7.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload..._markings9.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...gs26_copy1.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...markings23.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...r_markings.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload..._markings4.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...markings10.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...gs11_copy1.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...markings13.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...markings15.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload..._markings5.jpg http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...markings24.jpg

Congratulations Mike for Arty rig!
Mauro

Mike Very nice. And yes we do appreciate seeing others acquisitions. Thanks for sharing. Bill

Mike,

Beautiful arty..great to find out a matching wood stock. as you know this increases a lot the value of your pistol, congratulations !
the closure strap of the holster seems cut. the leather toe cover of the stock is missing, and I am not sure that the attaching parts are original, Jerry Burney would probably arrange these problems..
Also, the name stamped on the flap is machine-stamped, not hand written. I am not sure it is the name of the german soldier. let us see our experts opinion.
Anyway, I am envious..:)

christian

Mike, a beauty. Yes, I enjoy sharing with others too, both ways, makes a world of differnce in seeing others collections and sharing :)




ed

Hey Mike,

A great start to a never ending addiction. Congratulations!!

Ron

Hi Mike... really nice Artillery Rig... and I totally agree on the sharing thing... it is especially important for those members (like me :( ) that have little chance of ever spending much time enjoying the ownership of a gun like this... but get to see it over and over again due to the generosity of members like you... you lucky dog! Thanks so much for such great pictures of this treat, and I also appreciate you posting your photo as your avatar... it adds to the friendliness aspect of being a member of this forum. I hope this is a new trend in avatars.

Mikr

Very nice matching LP rig. Good luck with it.

Joe

Very nice artillery rig!
Thank you for sharing it with us, y'know we can appreciate this pretty.
I totally understand the joy of showing our beautiful treasures with those who can appreciate them.
Very nice of you to take the time to photograph this great gun and post here.

Mike, I will chime in and add my congratulations on aquiring a matching stocked Artillery Luger. These are rare to say the least.
I am anxious to hear your opinion of the name on the front, whether or not it is a soldier's name or just someone with a good hand who wanted to autograph the holster.
The name embossed on the front of your Artillery is and will likely always remain a mystery. It is nicely done..in stamps. Very uncommon actually to see. Mostly Soldiers simply scratched their name on or wrote it with a pen.
I am guessing this was not done by the German Soldier who was issued the pistol as this would have been prohibited in his German military unit.
So...you have to assume it was some subsequent owner. The Soldier who captured it or whoever ended up with it somewhere along the line. It is lost to history. It is not a Military mark. Only markings that are common to all holsters of a type can be understood. This one will never be deciphered for sure.
A beautiful pistol and very nice accoutrements though. Thanks for sharing.
Jerry Burney

Thanks to all for the kind words.
To Jerry,
I can only hazard a very unprofessional guess that it is not a military stamp nor is a amateur stamp. It appears to me that someone along the line took it to a professional print shop and had that name engraved in the leather. The mystery will never be solved as who belongs to the name I guess.

To Ron,
I do appreciate the compliment you bestowed on me by implying my new beginning. I acquired my first Luger in 1959 and this is my 4th artillery. I must admit however, the drive to find more and thrill of discovery does not ease with age. The advent of the Internet and this forum has brought more meaning to Luger collecting in the past few years than all the previous years added together.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

Dang, you have been at it almost as long as me! Still feels good, doesn't it! Nice stove poker by the way, and that piece of shoe leather and kindling wood doesn't look half bad either. Congrats.

Ron (the other Ron)

Mike

This is my first contribution to the Forum, so hello to you and all the other members.

Looks like a fine acquisition.

Living in the UK my knowledge of firearms can only be enhanced by seeing other peopleâ??s purchases on a forum like this as it is impossible to own live handguns in this country.

So thanks for sharing your purchase.

Best wishes

Richie

I have a T 14 Nambu rig I got from a friend who got it off a pile in Nagasaki in 1945.
He mailed it home and his father took a stamp set and stamped the vet's name across the flap.
I like that because I know the guy-he's 93 and going strong.
It's a minus as a collector item , though.