1917 Erfurt 7.65 - Need Help
 

New user, apologize if I am posting this incorrectly but sure would appreciate any help. Inherited from my late father his prized 1917 Erfurt Luger, SN 8714. He was never able to fully identify having consulted several resources to include books from Datig and Reese. Didn't have the internet so thought I would put it to use to hopefully solve his quest. Particulars are 1917 production year, Erfurt stamp by toggle, smooth vs checkered grips in 7.65mm, Yes, 7.65. Barrel is 4", all SNs are matched except magazines. Holster is not original (for this pistol) as was produced in 1940. Everything says this should not be 7.65 rather 9mm. Can anyone help? Much thanks.

Uploaded some photos, have several others if needed. Also have in very high res (3MB+) if desired.

Your photos cannot be enlarged as posted. You need to provide these in another format, which allows for enlargement.

Thanks and welcome to the forum

Bill,

If you can re-scale your pictures to about 800 pixels wide and post them, we should be able to see more detail...

Marc

Thanks to both for quick reply; will work on uploading new pics tonight when I get back to the house. Any additional pics needed to help with identification? Think I grabbed most areas with markings.

WHR, You are correct that a 1917 dtd MILITARY PO6 should have a 9mm barrel. There are 2 possibilities that came to mind: If the original matching proofed military barrel, it has probably been relined. If not the correctly marked barrel, it has been changed. TH

Thanks much. Will hopefully upload better photos later today. If I recall, SN on bottom of barrel are matched to remainder of pistol thus increasing the odds of relining. Hadn't considered this option - is there any easy way to determine if this occurred?

A clear phpto of the muzzle would help. It is difficult to hide a liner. Bill

To all - rescaled pictures to 640x480 and posted to original posting. Hopefully I have done this correctly. Very much appreciate all the recommendations thus far. Will have to take picture of muzzle but have to finish packing. Heading to Brazil tomorrow so may not respond as quickly and won't have access to Luger. Thanks again to all.

The barrel still has the original 9mm land-to-land size in mm (8.84mm), so there is no doubt that it once was a 9mm barrel.

Unfamiliar with the process of barrel relining. Appreciate if someone could educate me on this process, why it is done (assume to extend life of weapon) and what effect it has on overall valuation of the weapon. Out of curiousity (as I will never part with the Luger as it was my Father's favorite), could any one provide an approximate value on it based on photos provided thus far? Again, thanks for all the feedback.

Rebarreling to another caliber to extend a weapon's life does not really make sense. If you are relining, there is no difference in time or effort to simply reline to 9mm again. Chances are this pistol may have ended up in Mexico or a country with similar laws at some point in its life. The 9mm caliber is highly restricted to the military and police in Mexico and many guns, which ended up down there were rebarreled or relined to other calibers to comply with the law.

Mexico, in fact, is probably the .38 Super capital of the world. All the 1911s or Browing HPs you see commercially there are in .38 Super, since .45 is similarly restricted as 9mm.

This gun was also subjected to some abuse, (see the vice prints on the right side of the frame around the reverse face of the mag release). Probably during barrel removal to effect the relining.