Artillery sees light of day after 47 years
 

Hello all.
New member with a collection of Lugers recently acquired.
Here's some pix of my Artillery.
The Lugers haven't been in fresh air for 47 years. I'm still putting together photo files of the rest.
I have "Lugers at Random" by C. Kenyon, and have been using that to ID my Lugers.
I believe this is a 1914 DWM Artillery, manuf. 1917. I have no matching magazine(s).
Jerry has a bunch of my holsters and is working his magic on them.
I don't plan to sell anything at this time.
Thanks for the great forum.
~John

8" barrel?
dju

Yes, 8" barrel. My reference is Kenyon, pg. 171.

nice

Kenyon is good, but very old, some errors in it. I still use it, but don't buy just any book either - some good reviews here on the forum.

What other lugers you have? This is a nice arty, I only have one and its been reblued :(

Ed

1906 American Eagle, 4 3/4" barrel
1906 Royal Portuguese Army
1906 Navy, First Issue, Altered
1908 Military, First Issue, re-barreled to 10":crying:
1914 Artillery DWM
1914 Navy, manufactured 1916, re-barreled to 12":crying:
1914 Military, Erfurt, fully engraved with gold inlay, gold Stag and gold Eagle, by Sam Kinemuchi who worked for Ken Eyster at Heritage Gunsmiths in Centerburg, OH
1920 Commercial
1920 Carbine, DWM, no front stock, no grip safety, least amount of original blue in collection. "Parts Carbine"???
1934 Code S/42 manuf. 1938, Navy Property marked, 1 matching magazine, British proofs
1934 Code byf manuf. 1941, re-barreled 8":crying:
1936 Stamped "36" Krieghoff Suhl, original dark brown "Ritzmann" plastic grips
1970 Mauser Interarms American Eagle .30 Luger, 6" barrel, in presentation case, with Mauser firing test target paper and order receipt.
1993 Mitchell Arms American Eagle, stainless steel P.08, complete NIB

I used Kenyon to ID these, so hopefully I'm close. Also got the Navy list and some info from "Norme">:cheers:
All are numbers matching. Some were purchased from Ralph Shuttack 45+ years ago. I'm working to piece together as much of the acquisition history as I can from old paperwork.

"Sam Kinemuchi who worked for Ken Eyster at Heritage Gunsmiths in Centerburg, OH"

I can't believe I'm hearing that name after all these years! We used to visit Ken Eyster's shop quite a bit when I was in college in the late 1970's. Sam is/was? one of the most talented hand engravers in the world, as far as I'm concerned!

i recently spoke with Jim Eyster, and he doesn't have Sam's contact info, but he believes Sam is alive and in his early eighties.

I know engraved military pieces aren't everyone's cup of tea, but this Erfurt by Sam is exceptionally engraved. I will post pix in a new thread later.

Ken once had a profusely engraved and gold inlaid, (typical oak leaf pattern), Walther PPK, which someone had commissioned as a replica Nazi presentation piece and then never picked up. This was Sam's work and was exquisite, but the reproduction Nazi symbolism made the pistol a hard sell. It sat there in his front case for all the years I visited the shop.

Ken let me fire the first .44 magnum I ever shot. Right out the back door of his shop.

John, It's a beauty! I have a real passion for the Artillery, Navy and Carbines. Any stocked pistol really..
If you ever consider selling your 1920 Carbine, DWM, no front stock, no grip safety, least amount of original blue in collection. "Parts Carbine"??? Please keep me in mind. I have lots to trade too if you ever want to put together an Artillery rig..Stock, holster etc.

Thanks Jerry. Don't plan on selling any just yet, I may eventually consider some trading...I'm just too new to collecting Lugers to fine tune my focus, but with all the wonderful help and info here, I'm sure that will happen.
Can you educate me about which arty holster should be mated with this Luger...the black one or brown one that I sent you for restoration?

John, The brown is by far the better of the two...Then you will need all the attachment leathers and a stock!

Nice Luger, beautiful camera work and what a collection!!

Would someone with restoration knowledge take a close look at pix #3 and #4, and tell me if there is anything that can be done to improve the metal surface that shows a kind of splotchy-ness? That must be from age and is probably some kind of corrosion, but it doesn't look deeply pitted, or rusty brown. I'm sure there is a name for it, but I'm ignorant of that. Enlighten me.
Thanks,
~John

Depends. If you are a seller, then it is called patina. If you are a buyer it is called rust.
To me a course cloth and gun oil is where you start, then go towards the very finest steel wool with a generous coating of oil, being very cautions as you go. There may be a bronze or brass pad that is even less aggressive than 00000 steel wool.
Let's see what the others say.
dju

I agree, with emphasis on the oil. The rust you're removing is abrasive, so you want to change out whatever you're using for a pad quite often, so that the finish, which you want to keep, gets the gentlest treatment.

patina
 

Is this what is known as "frost"?

John, Frosting is generally found in a barrel/bore. VERY fine corrosion caused by early corrosive ammunition.