Just your opinion on a P.08 DWM 1915 please
 

I'm tempted to get this P.08 but I'm not quite sure to do the right thing, since recently I've also found a W+F 1906/29 Military Black Grips in very good conditions like most of the Swiss.
In my collection I already have a W+F 1906/29 but mine is a Brown Grips "commercial" version.

Back to the DWM 1915:

PRO: it's in original finish and appears to be all matching grips includes, is a collectable Luger, totally original conditions, apart from the aluminium base magazine obviously wrong it's in good conditions, it's marked S.P XXX which if I'm not wrong should mean "Schiutzpolizei Postdam", would be the only "non military" P.08 in my collection.

CONS: it's been rechambered (like all the 9 Para here in Italy), being an Imperial P.08 it's not really rare at all.

There are a few questionable areas on the picture. First, the finish on safety lever and trigger does not look being original. They are not crisp on picture. For a gun with so much finish, they are supposed to be very crisp. Second, the color tone of the gun looks very black..... supposedly, it should be a blue not blue, grey not grey, hard to describe color, taken pictures under good light, that should be the color. WWI era gun pressed into police service,,,, if saying refinished at rework time, I would not be surprised.

I saw a 1914 listed on www.am-firearms.com. The gun definitely look original. For comparison purpose, I will copy their pictures here:

At this point, I'm guessing it is more the lighting used in the photo rather than an incorrect finish. I guess you have to ask yourself if you would rather deepen your representative 1906/29 collection by adding a new variation or purchase a police variation, which you do not have in your collection. The rechambering would be an issue to collectors here in the US, but perhaps not so much in Italy, as that is the paradigm.

I personally would prefer to add the police variation, since I would look for as many types as posibble for my collection. I also feel the police has more "history" to it.

Sig. Natali,

Rechambering from 9x19 to 9x21 because it is the "law" in Italy that private citizens cannot own guns in current, or old but official military calibers, as Doug states above, is the paradigm... it sure beats the paradigm in England where a painful deactivation process neuters the gun to be a paperweight instead of a firearm.

If I lived in Italy permanently, (and I was stationed there with the U.S. Army for almost 7 years, 1976-1981, and 1986-1988), I would not hesitate to put this fine example in my collection if the price was right.

That is my $0.02

Hi Sergio, While it's certainly possible that the finish on the 1915 DWM is original, I'm surprised that a gun that spent over three years in the German army and then saw service with the police, shows so little holster wear. I advise you to insist on a hands on inspection before committing yourself. If the finish is indeed original, the receiver rails should be "in the white", and the barrel serial numbers should exhibit visible halos.
Regards, Norm