DWM Piece
 

Greetings all!

My father recently acquired this piece and he, computer illiterate that he is, asked me to post it to get some more info on its origin and history, as well a some opinions on its value to see if he got ripped off or not. The bluing is about 85-90%. Some of the close up pictures show some brownish debris, but it is just dust. We know it's a DWM, and based on the serial number we guess it to be late 1920's, commercial, and possibly police. The serial numbers all match, including the two magazines, and the holster is alleged to have been made in a concentration camp, but we have no way of verifying that. Beyond that, we don't know much. The pictures can be found on my Shutterfly album: https://dwmluger.shutterfly.com/pictures

Thanks in advance for your expertise!

Jason

Jason, welcome to the forum.

What your dad has is a commercially made (originally in 30 luger - aka 7.65mm) and proofed DWM luger, made in about 1929 ( r ) suffix, and went to the Berlin armory, where it received a 9mm barrel (acceptance marked with Simson eagle 33's)

Then received a sear safety and mag safety (notice the mag safety has been cut, this was required and is correct).

How much did he pay?

I think its a very nice, 2 matching mag (police mags are marked 1 and 2, while army would be marked nothing and a + for the 2nd mag)

A very respectable Police pistol! I would say the shoulder holster is a post war GI ordered made ..made by a German Saddler perhaps. Looks to have German roller buckle's. Rather quickly made..wraparound style with a wide pouch for the magazine..nothing form fitted but certainly adequate for carry. Nothing the German Police would have used though. I wonder..will this overly large magazine pouch fit both mags?

Nice Haenel marked magazines. I would guess your Father likely paid $2500.

Thanks for the info. He actually paid a bit less than that and has had several offers of $1400+ to buy it from him. I forgot to mention that the barrel is 3-7/8 inches. Not sure if that matters.


Jason

It is a very nice looking DWM luger that started life as a commercial model and then went through some changes and duty, as outlined above. To me, that would be a keeper, and I would be proud to own it. It is in wonderful condition for it's age, and "travels".

I'm pretty sure the mag pouch is only intended for one mag, but both might fit.

I don't mean to harsh anyone's buzz, but since no one else has mentioned it, here goes...

Jason, please do one more bit of work for the community here: Upload your pics of this pistol and post them here on out site directly. Third party-hosted albums come and go, along with their sites. Here, these documents of your pistol are preserved, both for future Luger freaks to learn from, and as a safe place to keep them, should anything happen to other places they might be kept!

Can and will! I actually thought I was doing the forum a courtesy by not taking up extra space with the photos. Is there a limit to the file sizes I can upload?

When you click the 'Manage Attachments' box, you'll see a list of file types & their max sizes.

hrmm. Most of what I put up are on the order of 5MB, but the max file size is 195KB, so I'll have to see if I can shrink them down a bit.

I'm becoming a Luger freak myself!

Uh-oh...you do realize that it is virtually incurable?!:thumbup:

Kinda figured!

I'm fascinated by the history in each piece, much the same as I am with coins. This is actually the second one I've posted about. The first was a WWII piece in about 95%+ condition that a local elderly widow brought to me for consignment (I'm an FFL). I didn't have the cash on hand to give her what it was worth myself, but did sell it to my dad for her, so hopefully I'll wind up with it in 30 more years or so!