James,
First, welcome to the forum.
This Luger is all over the place. Others on this board have much greater magnitudes of experience and advice, but I'll try to start things off on this Artie.
The Artillery 8" bbl is not accommodated by the receiver, as you noted, which has no notch; so the frame was made before the point at which all Lugers had this notch regardless of what length barrel was applied to them. External serial number marking is military style. But the take-down lever should be numbered on the outside, as well. If a number is found on the bottom edge, it's from a commercial pistol. Also check for numbers under and behind the sight components on the bbl because if its origin was commercial, then they would have been tucked away, like the comm. style take-down lever.
Has anyone else used the term "Heinz Pistol" yet? Assembled from 57 different varieties...
A forum administrator told me last year that any artillery model would be worth at least $1,000 as a shooter; but I think in this case, in order to achieve that, you'd perhaps consider finding a Luger that has a notch and needs a barrel. The bulk of the remainder seems like an Erfurt, which would be proper, numbered military style.
OK I'll step aside and let the Maestros inform you more and better. You could not have come to a better place to have your Luger questions answered.
David Parker
|