1916 Erfurt - seeking info
 

Hi all,
I was recently given a 1916 Erfurt Luger by my father. He told me that my grandfather brought it back from Germany in 1918 when he went over with the Merchant Marines. A German man was waving it and asking for $1 American dollar in exchange for the luger and my grandfather felt sorry for him and gave him $5 for it. The gun has completely matching numbers except the bottom of the magazine. I can tell where something was stamped there once upon a time but I can not make out that it is a 94 for certain. There is also a code stamped into the front of the handle under the trigger that I have not been able to find any information on at all. Can anyone shed some light on what this code means as well as some of the other various stamps all over the gun that I have included pictures of? I have fired it quite a few times already and it shoots beautifully and is just as accurate as my M&P .45. Also, What would an approximate value be based on the previous information and pictures that I have included? Any other information that anyone can give is greatly appreciated as well. Thank you so much for any information you can provide and I am very happy to be a part of the luger owning community.

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Hi Mathew,
Your pictures are too dark to show much detail, the gun looks like it may have been refinished a long time ago, but that could just be the dark photos. The grip strap is unit marked: 96.R.2 M.G.43 , which stands for the 96th Regiment, 2nd Machine Gun Company, Weapon #43.
Regards, Norm

Nice looking Erfurt...looks like your Granddad got his five bucks worth and then some. Congratulations!
Ron

5 bucks in 1918 was a fair amount of money, but I think that he did o.k., plus the German was likely thrilled!!

$5.00 in 1918 = $93.55 today.

--Dwight

Very nice gun and unit marked too. Hope you keep it in the family. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a matching number magazine, holster and loading tool if you're looking.