1940 BW P.08 5103m
 

He came to me, the son of the father who got this P.08 as payment just after 1945. He hide it in the barn, i found it in 1980...will you take a look?
It was a Black Widow by Mauser made in 1940 5103m - in wery good condition!

Great story...

Please tell the story!!! I love these stories... :thumbup:

Like the pre-WW II Auto-Union 16cyl Grand Prix car that was hidden in a haystack and not brought out until after the USSR collapsed and the owners could bring it out safely...Road & Track did a great story on it...

Some members here think the German weapons were thrown in the nearest ditch by surrendering soldiers...Or were mostly turned in and melted down for scrap...My feeling is that many were hidden/buried by the owners..."Just in case"... :)

I know an ex German Paratrooper who made his way back to his hometown and hid his FG42 above some conduits in his building's basement. This area was later behind the Iron Curtain and the building still stands, according to Google Earth. He sometimes wonders if the rifle is still there.

This one would be a very early Luger in bakelite grips. Hallock and Joop's book indicates that this configuration should be in 1941 or 1942, not as early as 1940.

Is this evidence of earlier use of these grips?

Marc

A VERY NICE Mauser indeed! Congrats on owning it...

Marc
Black and brown and walnut grips are found on 1940 42 code Lugers, however there is some controversy. See below: http://luger.gunboards.com/showthrea...black-bakelite

Jan

Jan, it's good to see the additional background on early use of the grips.

I bought a 1939 a few years ago that had a black and brown (overpainted black) bakelite grip on it. Ralph Shattuck had sold it as a "Black Widow".

It's back to proper configuration now...

Marc