Help identify WWI vet's Lugers
 

My ailing father has asked me to help identify, and possibly sell, some Lugers he inherited from his father many many years ago. My grandfather was a WWI vet, and could possibly have brought one or more of these firearms back from the war, but my father thinks more likely he took them as payment for surgery (he was a surgeon in Kentucky until his death in the 1950s). I have tried to educate myself a bit here on the forum, and these appear to be P08 "Artillery" Lugers made by DWM.

One is stamped 1915
One is stamped 1918
One has no date stamp.
The serial numbers all seem to match (last two digits) on all the parts.

I apologize for their messy condition. They have a lot of dirt and cosmoline on them and I didn't want to do any aggressive cleaning that might harm them. I intend to have a gunsmith give them a thorough cleaning and assessment in the near future, but first I wanted to find out more about them and their potential best use or value (are these "hangers" or "bangers")? There are also a couple of snail drums and a loader with the collection, plus a receiver only. Any information or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

James

Once clean, they look to all be collectible. What a nice looking bunch of Artillery Lugers. Also, send more pictures of the snail drum and loader for us. If WW1 original, it’s also worth about as much as each of the individual guns. Thank you for sharing and good luck! Btw all the dates in the chamber are just the year they were made/issued for the Imperial German armed forces.

more photos
 

Thanks, HerrKaiser. Here are the photos of the drums and the loader. Also is the lower (only) from another Luger. I included a close-up of tooling marks that might help identify its year and place of manufacture. Again, apologies that they are not clean.

James

Hi James,
Welcome to the forum! There's a lot of stuff there for us to evaluate. I'll take a crack at the loading tool.They were made by two manufacturers, Bing and A.E.G., with A.E.G. being the rarer and hence more valuable. Yours is an A.E. G., identifiable by it's two part handle. I would estimate it's value as $1,500.00 to $2,000.00. I'll let my forum colleagues have a crack at the other stuff.
Regards, Norm

PM sent to you! :D

. I intend to have a gunsmith give them a thorough cleaning and assessment in the near future,James..choose wisely. Not EVERY gunsmith with a sign indicating such is a Luger gunsmith. An unfamiliar gunsmith can also harm these pistols. ASK before you turn them over to anyone..my suggestion is to ask any potential smith to take a Luger apart at the counter. He should be able to put most/many small parts and lay them on the counter in 30-45 seconds. If there is ANY hesitation to do that..he's not your guy.

One of your Lugers 3757 (with suffix "n" or "p") looks to have been refinished and buffed heavily. This is probably how it lost it's date on the chamber. This considerably reduces it's collector interest and financial value. Generally these are considered "shooter" Lugers.

As Jerry mentions, don't take them to someone unless they have experience working on Lugers. Just leave them alone if you want to sell them, since they have more value when not messed with by someone.

If you intend to keep them, start by carefully removing the grips (don't lift them too far off the frame before sliding them out of their position) and using preserving gun oil to stabilize the metal parts.

We have a good FAQ document that you will find helpful. Just click on FAQ at the top of forum pages.

The non dated Commercial Artillery is clearly a reblue. The balance look ok, pending a good cleaning.