Artillery Rig at Auction
 

On Saturday, 13 August, a 1917 DWM Artillery Luger rig is being auctioned here in GA. I have not seen it but the pictures are rather decent. There is even a pickelhaupt helmet with it. Bidding has reached $2500 already. I'll be at the auction but can't afford what it's going to bring. There are also a number of other Lugers in the auction.

Link: http://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetai...96624#topoflot

Doubs..This rig is suspect..the leather on the stock is reproduction. Could only find the one photo but likely the stock is repro too.

Holster may be genuine but the stock and all the attaching leather and the pouch are poor reproductions.

Thanks to both of you for the expertise to see what I suspected but wasn't certain of. I won't actually see the rig up close until the day of the auction but it's obviously going to bring much more than I can afford. I just hope the buyer knows exactly what they'll be getting.

You could always stand up and tell everyone in the auction house the truth...What's the worse they could do??? :rolleyes:

As much as I'd like to, they do have some honest guns I'd like to bid on and I'm sure I'd be asked to leave... and it would not be a request either. :order:

Just for general edification, could George and Jerry point out what features stood out from these generally crappy photos that red flagged the leather and stock?

Doug, I can only ever see one photo..I can't say for certain about the stock. The leather is obviously reproduction. Just take a close look at it. Compare it's condition to the holster which appears to be original.
Also the strap on the double magazine pouch..should be teardrop shaped rather than a straight strap.

Doug, if you are able to view the photo of the back of the outfit you will see that the shoulder strap has an elongated metal plate on one end. For some reason the Pakis were convinced that this feature would sell their wares. Perhaps it was a half-assed attempt at copying a navy strap.

You will also be able to see that all the attaching leather has a crinkle or wavy wear to the surface. This is the result of substandard tanning processes which leave the surface a little uneven or unstable while the hide is a tiny bit spongy. I don't think you will ever see this in any European tanned leather. The substandard leather also gives away all the C96 harnesses that are flooding the US and European markets from the "sub-continent".

In the same photo one gets a good look at the stock. It is not made with European walnut. It is some ugly large grain soft wood from Asia. Once you see it side-by-side with the real thing you won't forget it.

I agree with Jerry 99.99% of the time, don't agree with anyone 100%. I don't agree with George as much, but that is just to annoy him. The holster and the artillery look ok, the rest is crap, but I will give a hundred bucks of the goofy hat just because I really liked the movie (The Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines)..............:D

Harry

For those unable to see the larger pictures, here is the auction web site: http://www.montroseauction.com/

Once there, click on the "partial catalog". Once in, I click "large" thumbnails and then 100 to a page. The Artillery rig is on page 3. There are additional Lugers on pages 4 and 5. Three of the nicest are 30 caliber Lugers. Most of the 9mm Lugers are not as nice although #480 seems better than the others.

Each gun has additional pictures. Click on the one you want to see and then click on the image that comes up to see the largest picture.