New Acquisition From NGD 2008
 

Hereâ??s my latest acquisition from NGD 2008, Louisville, KY. I bought the rig from another collector. It has original era leather straps, boots, etc. It even came with an unmarked takedown tool (correct) and an unmarked all steel cleaning rod. These were just the icings on the cake.

DWM LP.08 1917 Chamber Dated Artillery Luger, S/N 7057f. All matching, except magazine. It came with a beech wood â??+â?� bottomed magazine, which I switched out with an un-numbered imperial proofed beech wood mag I had in surplus. 1917 DWM LP.08 are the most commonly encountered LP.08. Jan Stillâ??s, â??Imperial Lugersâ?�, 2nd Printing, 1994, estimates production at 90,000 units.

Left side of pistol. Cleaning rod and takedown tool which were included in the purchase.

Right side of pistol.

Left side and right side close ups, showing s/n's and proofs.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dscn0883.jpg

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dscn0884.jpg

S/N on frame and barrel. Halos on S/N on the barrel. Photo of chamber and fine tune rear sight. '17 DWM LP.08 came with a combination of and/or front/rear fine tune or no fine tune sights.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dscn0885.jpg

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dscn0886.jpg

What makes this 1917 DWM LP.08 special and on the scarce side is the unit mark on the front grip strap. â??R.J.R.72.7.11.â?? or 72nd Reserve Infantry 7th Company Weapon # 11. According to Stillâ??s â??Imperial Lugersâ?�, 1994, regimental marked 1917 DWM LP.08â??s are approximately 1% of total production.

Overall, it is a clean honest â??17 Arty that hasnâ??t been messed with. The grip panels are numbered to the pistol. Here is a photo of the pistol with the right grip panel removed.

Maker marked and "1918" Dated artillery holster.

Marked closure strap.

Imperial proofed shoulder stock.

And finally, the candle on the icings of the cake: The stock iron is serial numbered to the pistol. :D

Joe
Vary nice indeed I would be smiling too. Thank you for sharing.:cheers:
Regards Randy.

A complete artillery rig is always a great find, congrats. Your cleaning rod appears to have a birch barrel along with the magazine base. The boot cup strap is a early one due to all stiching no rivets. The marked closeure strap appears to be of latter made due to the rivets no big deal it's still orginal. Is their a name or rank penciled in on the stock under the holster? A lot of times you will see this. A all matching stock and LPO8 along with the orginal carry straps is indeed a great find.

Nice rig!

very nice, something to be proud of.



Ed

Thanks for the replies Gents! It's been more than a week and I still got an ear to ear grin. The leather is a mixture of early and later but how often do you see these 90+ year old leather parts come on a rig up for sale. The first thing I did when I got it home was pull it apart and condition the leather. The straps and boot are not in the best shape and require a little TLC. No pencil /ink markings on the shoulder stock. On back on the holster is the Imperial proof C/III.

Joe Pirolo

Joe, Yes!!! Really a very beautiful complete rig. Only thing missing is the EM belt, buckle and a double magazine pouch to complete it!
Something to be proud of to be sure!
I don't see where you say the magazine is matching?
Also I have several of the WALZ marked stock straps...I don't know that I know what these indicate?
Most marked Artillery leathers are marked Maurey & Co. if they are marked at all.
Jerry Burney

Thanks for the reply Jerry. Unfortunately no matching magazine. Would have been nice though! The pistol came with a beech wood serial numbered "+" magazine. I switched it out with an un-numbered Imperial proofed beech wood mag I had laying around. It was the best SOS/NGD I've been to in the past four years! I posted some pictures I took at SOS over on "Gun Show Announcements & Discussion". Were you able to make it KY?

Joe Pirolo

Joe; Great shots of a beautiful rig. I also am still grinning ear to ear as I had the pleasure of being with you when you found this treasure.

Leo

Joe; Great shots of a beautiful rig. I also am still grinning ear to ear as I had the pleasure of being with you when you found this treasure.

Leo