an Erfurt came to visit
Don't know much about Erfurt Lugers, thought maybe questions in the new collector forum would be okay.
A friend brought his dad's WW II Luger bringback over, wondering about it's history and worth. His dad is 86, recently had a stroke, mom wants the guns out of the house.
Sorry, I still don't do photos. It's marked Erfurt with the Crown on the toggle. 1918 and 1920 over the chamber. The 1920 looks slightly larger than the 1918. There are four proofmarks on the right side of the pistol, not sure what to call the individual marks. Serial 6936 ( r ?). Part numbers on exterior are all 36. Artillery notch just above the 1920. Front grip strap has two markings. B.O. II 363 has an x over the B.O., an x over the II, and a line through the 363. Lower on the grip, under the B.O. II 363, is S.B.14398.S.
It's been refinished with what looks like grey parkerizing. Light buffing, many marks still look okay. No strawed parts show, everything got parked. Original grips are gone, replaced by what looks like semi-transparent black lucite slabs without checkering. Original grip screws are gone, looks like slightly larger screws were needed to hold the lucite slabs. Two magazines in rough shape, one looks tinned with metal bottom and tiny marking of 277 or 211 or 217, and one blued with swept eagle 63 marking. Each magazine has the loading button missing. Take down lever button broken off and rewelded or soldered back together. Has a nice unmarked shoulder holster. Don't know how it shoots, reportedly it hasn't been shot in forty years.
Questions. This Luger was probably used in WWI, then during the Weimar years, then in the thirties and WW II? What do the grip strap markings indicate, maybe a WW I unit and then a Weimar government unit? Value? Guessing, because of the refinishing, grips and other issues, somewhere around $400 to $700, if it shoots okay?
Any helpful thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Very curious about the unit markings. Thanks.
Gene
|