Unusual 1918 DWM
 

Hello all, I am new to the forum and helping my father in law research this unusual Luger he has had for quite some time. It is stampted 1918 and appears to have been modified maybe?

I tried to photograph every angle and hopfully one of you can help me out here.

pic's in next post....

With three holes drilled into the chamber area, some sort of dewat (deactivated war trophy) I’ve seen that on some rifles so they can’t be fired again.

it is interesting, but only as a conversation piece :(

That said, I would gladly own it as a conversation piece :)


Ed

perhaps to hold an inserted barrel in place - maybe 22 ?

is the barrel collar / stub drilled straight thru cleanly or does it show a partial chamber ?

are holes threaded ?

maybe an offset 22 barrel so that standard luger firing pin hits the rim of cartridge

Bill

I think this was a theatrical prop gun that had a dummy barrel put on it. It may also have been a deactivated war trophy... but the reality is that the three holes in the chamber area of the upper receiver are not a death blow to this pistol. The barrel can be replaced and the the holes in the receiver will be of no consequence. This gun would make a perfectly acceptable shooter class Luger...

The magazine has been modified. It is a machined (extruded) body that was a police magazine... that has had the original aluminum bottom replaced with a wood bottom... Pity, as these magazines in original condition are quite collectible all on their own.

...If the threads are intact...Those holes might be for setscrews to hold in a dummy barrel because the threads have been drilled out... :(

...Can't figure out what that spherical ended plug would be used for... :confused:

I don't think the barrel threads have been drilled out. It looks like that end plug is either threaded in using the original barrel threads, (thus the flats for unscrewing the plug) or held in using set screws placed in the three holes, (or both). The "end plug" looks like it has a chamber for a round in it, or as others mentioned, a step to hold some sort of barrel, sub-caliber device or other extention.
I don't think this is a "demill" job, but some sort of purpose built modification.
Perhaps for a suppressor?

EPENROD, will this end plug chamber a 9mm round?

Looks like the rear end of an artillery barrel to me. A really serious deactivation of a barrel/receiver but not of the gun. A replacement barrel and receiver and the gun is back in action.

Lugers are tough animals. They simply refuse to die!