Deaths Head Luger
 

Interesting. We'll have to wait and see what the big boys have to say about it. The fact that a few stamps/marks can make it worth so much is the exact reason that I stick with the meat and potatos Lugers.
DJU

That and the fact that the "DH" stamp is prolly the most boosted / faked stamp out there.

The DH on this Luger may be a genuine Freikorps marking. It would be conistent with the subsequent marking by the barracked Schupo of the Düsseldorf district and the lack of a sear or mag safety.

Please note that the "matching" serial numbered magazine is not numbered as a police with a 1 or 2. More importantly note that it is an Erfurt double proofed magazine that was made and put in to service prior to 1916. To my thinking this is strong evidence that the pistol has passed through the hands of at least one scum bag.

Erfurt proofed unnumbered magazines are becoming quite scarce as are "42" marked blanks and other such Mauser mags. THis is because they have been raked off the market by scum bags who number them in order to boost guns. These bastards F-up great collectible magazines in order to boost prices and screw new collectors.

I do not know who the seller is but I would suggest new collectors peruse his other items for sale on GB and take the time to ask experianced or weathered collectors' opinions on some of the stuff. I am not condemning his stuff but there are a few items which give me pause.

I sure don't like it. Too big, in the wrong place and looks like Krusty the clown. I would bet this has been engraved not stamped. I saw a bunch of these appear at a large Phoenix gun show. Badly engraved.
It would behoove a potential buyer to get the white goo out and take a close look at how this DH was applied. Personally I would not be interested even at first glance.
This coupled with what George has said and I would stay way away from this one.
In fact, the only DH I would touch is one a little ole Lady might have at a yard sale for 500 bucks.

Jerry Burney


Jerry Burney

"In fact, the only DH I would touch is one a little ole Lady might have at a yard sale for 500 bucks."

Kinda like I got mine, only I didn't pay that much.:thumbsup:

Is that notch above the DH a cut for the arty site?

Yes.....

All death heads are a scam but nice luger would think worth 6 or 7 hundred

"All death heads are a scam"...I disagree but I respect your right to your opinion.

Ron is correct I am certain. I believe there are legitimate DH Lugers. They are few and far between.

I will say that all DH Lugers should be treated as suspect though...Untill certain forensic parameters are met. The method of application is paramount to me..The Germans did not engrave the DH..I am certain originals were stamped like all the other markings on these period pistols.

Even if one were to be comfortable that the piece were an original it is still a controversial subject that goes further in depth than most people are willing to go.

I have seen many outright poor attempts at fakery that ruined the pistol it was applied to...

Jerry Burney

I am not at all knowledgeable about the DH stamp but, for what it is worth, here is what I wrote to the seller about this gun:

"S.D. represents the Weimar-era Schutzpolizei (urban police) of one of the cities of the Prussian administrative district of Düsseldorf - either Oberhausen, Krefeld-Uerdigen or München-Gladbach. The theory that it represents the Sicherheitsdienst was disproven in 1980. If the deathshead on this pistol is legitimate, it was probably placed there by a Freikorps unit in the 1919-20 time period. Many of these units were taken into the Schutzpolizei in 1920-21. The format of the marking and the fact that this pistol does not have a sear safety indicates it was issued to a barracked Bereitschaft unit that was taken into the German military in about 1935. It probably served with one of the police battalions in an occupied country. Even though it does not have the sexy Nazi SD connection, it is still an interesting pistol with a lot of history."

Numbered with a 1 or 2
 

If a magazine is numbered with a 4-digit serial number and a 1 or 2, does ist mean it is a police mag?
Does regular Wehrmacht mags have the nr 1 or 2 in addition of the 4-digit serial number, too?

I also believe there are real D-H out there. I posted this one on Jans a long time ago, but will also post here. I believe this one is good because if it could have been totally removed during the police rework, it would have been. It was to deep and was only partially removed. You would not see it in photo without the whiting.

It is very sad that many fakes also were manufactured. probably clouded the whole totenkompf luger thing for ever. John

suum, the numbers 1 and 2 (and even 3) were used by the police to designate primary and spare mags. The military used no designation on the primary and "+" on the spare. There are many exceptions, however.

John, I agree with you. Yours certainly looks legit to my inexpert eyes.

Don, thank you.
Are police mags more rare than Wehrmacht mags? Are they more expensive? What is a fair price or a mag in a good condition?
How much must I expect to pay for a "Schmeisser Patent" marked mag?

suum, I don't know the answers to your questions but others do. I suggest you post them in a separate thread in the New Collectors Forum. This thread deals with a separate issue.