DWM American Eagle
 

I've been looking at a nicely refurbished DWM 1920 American Eagle to add to my stable of Luger shooters, but I have no idea what I'm looking at. I have tried to research American Eagles in past posts on this forum without any luck So, what exactly is a DWM 1920 American Eagle? Is it some kind of "knock-off" of a collectible?

James, Their is an 02 AE and an 06 AE But no real designation of a 1920 AE. The 20's were a turbulent time and anything and everything was cobbled together for sale by the Weimar Germans. You might find an AE from the 20's but no real way to tell other than known 02 & 06 charecteristics.

This DWM American Eagle that interests me has the DWM logo on the front toggle arm and the eagle crest on the breech, but no date. Other so-called American Eagles I have seen lately seem like a hodge-podge of parts from Mauser Banner Eagles to Stoeger American Eagles. It appears that as long as it has the eagle crest it gets to be called an American Eagle. Is the real American Eagle Luger a test gun that was delivered to the U.S Government in the early 1900s? If so, how come all these imposters are in circulation?

James..Is the real American Eagle Luger a test gun that was delivered to the U.S Government in the early 1900s? If so, how come all these imposters are in circulation?

The U.S. Test Eagle had the American Eagle over the chamber yes..
You must study the reason this crest and those of other countries were placed on the chamber. It was a marketing incentive to impress and inhance sales.
That being so you can see many pistols with the AE on the Chamber..the AE does not necessarily put the pistol in question into a neat catagory. It is simply what it is , an AE on the chamber.

There are types where the AE is expected..The 02 AE-06 AE and of course the U.S. Test. Others may have it though.

There are 1920 American Eagle Lugers with "Safe" safety marking and "Loaded" marked extractors. They are a limited subset of the 1920 Safe/Loaded Commercial. They are scarce but they do exist.

The American Eagle chamber marking was a marketing ploy by DWM and first appeared on the Model 1900 around serial number 2000. This marking continued on Lugers exported primarliy to the US on the Model 1900 (which included the US Test Trial examples), The Model 1902 (to include the rare Cartridge Counter test Lugers), the Model 1906 and a few post war 1920 Commercials. Mauser resurrected the chamber marking, again primarily as a marketing tool, in the 1970s. So yes, there are a bunch of legitimate American Eagle Luger variations out there.

I would not touch a 1920 A&E with a 10 foot pole.All the ones
I have seen are put togeather fakes.
Thanks George



'

Well George, i no longer own it, but I had one, that I was sure was real and is now in the collection of a well known collector. Stoeger bought and sold many safe and loaded AE's, but you are right, they are faked.


ed

For what it's worth, I have a Safe & Loaded American Eagle that is as close to being new as I have seen. There is ABSOLUTELY no fake in this Luger; even the magazine is new. Take a look at this thread:

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...eferrerid=2995
Mike

Well, fake or not, I'm going to buy it. All my Lugers are shooters and this is one nice looking shooter. Collectors can be finicky about their guns, but if I like what I see and it shoots okay, then it's alright with me.

James..Why not post your pistol here so it can be seen and discussed without generalazations?
Do you have any photo's of it?

James,
If the Luger you are referring to is a Weimar period commercial American Eagle, in my opinion, it is certainly not a shooter. There is a total of four Safe and Loaded American Eagle Lugers known to exist. If the Luger you are calling a shooter is another one, it is extremely rare.

Mike

I haven't bought the pistol yet, but the seller tells me it is not a "Loaded" and "Safe" commercial Luger. He also says he does not find a "Germany" import stamp on the gun. It does not have the original barrel. It has been re-barreled in 9 mm, which is ideal for me because I buy Lugers for range guns.

I would love to post pictures of all of my outstanding Luger shooters, but my photographic skills are poor and I still haven't been able to master the technique of posting pictures on the forum. I'm really looking forward to this gun. It is made in Germany and is NOT a Stoeger or Mitchell American Eagle.