Another newbie with a DWM Luger
 

I stumbled onto a .30 Luger last week with a relatively low serial number, 3322 m. Matching numbers except the magazine, which is serial # 1000 with an eagle stamp.

Other markings on the gun are N under a crown.

Does anyone have any clue as to what year this gun was manufactured?

Thanks in advance.

Commercial, what is now called the Alphabet series, block M, was late 1923 to first half of 1924.
Your serial number should put it early in 1924.

FN

Yes, I knew it was for commercial sale in Germany, or possibly for export. I think I understand a little more about the collectability of these guns by looking at the pictures of your 3 Lugers. I never did think this DWM version was all that rare or I wouldn’t have been able to pick it up at a coin shop for $490 last Tuesday. I like the early versions; I’m not really into all the Nazi memorabilia of the 1940’s. I also like the original chambering of the 7.65mm. I will make it a shooter. I just need to locate some decent .30 Luger FMJ rounds.

Thanks for your info on the date of manufacture. Glad you were here.

R. Kyzer

ammunitiontogo.com carries high quality 7,65mm new ammo. $18.95 per box price is also good. In the past, one box asks $30+. Nowadays, ammo price also goes down.

Thanks for the tip.

Have you had any hiccups shooting Fiocchi soft-points in a 7.65 Luger? Would like to hear.

Another option would be rummaging thru ammo boxes at a gun show. Sometimes you can find old Remington or Winchester rounds that are no longer in production.

Rum Runner: I have a 1920 commercial 7.65 shooting Fiocchi and it functions flawlessly. In fact I have another two boxes on the way to me right now. The 30 cal version is a joy to shoot with very little recoil. This was my first luger but it won't be my last, Art.

Hi,
I own an alphabet DWM Finnish contract (marked SA on the frame) since two years.
It's from about the same period and I shoot it using Fiocchi FMJ ammunitions, 7,65 Parabellum caliber (i.e. 30 Luger).
These ammos are easy to find for me, because I live in Italy, but I must say they shoot very good, I'm not a sharpshooter but most of the rounds hit the standard pistol target in the black area at 25 meters.
In addition, I shot in these two years about 200 rounds and I never had any problem of incorrect feeding of ammos or jamming during shooting.
This is my opinion, hope can help.

P.S.
I don't think Fiocchi manufactures also soft points 30 Luger ammos, maybe if you have seen them they were recharged.
Anyway, it is better shoot only FMJ ammos with a Luger pistol, they were made for war!

Regards
Antonio

I've had good experiences with the Fiocchi 7.65 luger in my 1923 Alphabet commercial (also in the M Block, about 5,000 guns later...).

Your aluminum base magazine is not contemporary with the gun. It's from later production, probably the mid 1930s to 1942...

If you have any feed problems you may need to replace the recoil spring. Wolff Springs has a complete set available.

BTW, Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to learn about Luger pistols. Oh yes... by way of warning, these beautifully engineered guns are addictive...

Marc

See http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=24371

I bought the Wolff springs for my shooters (.30 cal and 9mm). Even though they state their springs are for either cal, the lighter spring is still too strong for the .30. Saw a post here once (think it was from LugerDoc) stating that you had to remove 2 coils from a spring for it to work in the .30. I just kept the original spring that came in my .30 and it shoots 93gr FMJ Fiocchi through MecGar mags just fine (yes, that is my ammo on the trader board). Thanks for the plug Don. :rockon: