Looking for help with 1917 Artillery Luger
 

Hello
I recently acquired a Luger that was encased in a wooden presentation box and I've never seen anything like it.

From what I can tell it is a 1917 Artillery Luger with Serial Number 3541. The woodwork and the metal work is something I've never seen. All the parts I can see appear to match but are some kind of custom work.

More pictures are at the Imgur link below. Any help with what this is would be greatly appreciated.
https://imgur.com/a/LYqGP
Rob

Yes...Very tasteful... :)

Grip seems to have an aero motif...Isn't that a Blue Max at the end of the medals???

Worthy of a museum, for sure... :thumbup:

Yes, another part of the mystery - I don't even know where to start on how to determine if that is real. This whole set appears to be some kind of gift. The plaque on the case says (in German) In Honor of 22 Enemy Airplane Victories.

I have about 40 pictures of the whole set if you want to get a better picture of the medals at this link. https://imgur.com/a/LYqGP

Some craftsman sure spent a lot of time on the whole ensemble...

Robert, when you get a chance, please attach the pics to this thread so that future (and current) members can see and appreciate it. The pics at Imgur will get lost, and we have members here who can not view social sites like PhotoBucket, Imgur, SmugMug, etc.

It would be a shame to lose these pics. :(

I'm sure we would all like to hear 'the story' behind your obtaining this surely rare Luger... :p

I wish I knew more of the story. I just bought it from an 82 year old man who said he bought it from a friend many years ago who had some bad gambling debts. That friend said he bought it from the individual who brought it back from Germany without any real details.

I've included two more photos, the forum won't let me post more than 2 or 3 photos at a time. I'll see what I can figure out.

To add a further oddity, the pistol appears to have some kind of magnetic side to it. The magazines cling right to the frame of the pistol.

It is a very interesting piece and I wish I knew more. I’m deferring to the experts of this forum in the hopes you guys can point me in the right direction.

I believe it is a one off fantasy item; not particularly well executed.

I have to ask:
Is that shoulder stock in violation of the GCA?
dju

there. I've fixed for you. :evilgrin:

Look at the stock lug. It was ground off in the US circa 1930. I's a WWI bring-back that was "pimped-up" with all the garish swastikas post WWII.

I had noticed the screw in the lug but was too tired to realize what it signified... :rolleyes:

I'm surprised that the thin metal of the backstrap would contain enough threads to actually hold that add-on lug and buttstock on. Maybe silver-soldered as well? Odd that the add-on lug wasn't 'blued' to match the rest of the gun...

Medals are fantasy too - Imperial EKI with NSDAP cap eagle, poor fake RK with an HJ diamond (WTF???); poor fake PLM with an incorrect and also fake OLC - the list goes on. And the gun? Wow. So much wrong it’s hard to know where to begin.

As a fantasy item it makes for a really neat shooter; I’d haul it out to range for sure. But as a collector piece, or even an interesting historical piece it’s nil.

So I guess my question remains. Is that a legal pistol/stock combo? My initial reaction is that it is not.
dju

That is a good lawyer case, I think. It was originally an artillery so the stock should be legal, but the stock lug was grinded, and then added, but it still is an artillery, of sorts.:D

Mario, you are a victim of rational thought. The laws regarding the stock in the US are a result of irrational thought by the powers that are the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

"The laws regarding the stock in the US are a result of irrational thought by the powers that are the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms."

That may very well be true, however...
That is not an authentic pattern stock and is therefore illegal IMHO.
No different than putting an artillery stock on a Naval Luger.
dju

Always believed rational thought would be my undoing. :rolleyes:

You are proving me right.:D


Edit. Alcohol; tobacco and firearms should never be in the same bureau. :evilgrin:

Edit. Alcohol; tobacco and firearms should never be in the same bureau. :evilgrin:[/QUOTE]

Yes, yes. Alcohol and tobacco in the club house.

I agree that it would be illegal to attach. Bill

No question that attaching the stock would make an illegal short barreled rifle in the US; it could of course be registered by going through the paper work and paying the tax.

My only reason for posting this is that the seller and the buyer probably weren't aware of this silliness and may have paraded around a gun show in violation of federal law. And we all know where the BATF like to spend their weekends...
dju