[Thor]

(Where it came from) The reciever was made either by DWM or Erfurt in 1918 both firms were located in Germany during WWI my Guess is by ERFURT because the acceptance stamps on the right reciever and the receiver is grooved for an Artillery barrel which ERFURT did in 1918 on ALL both standard barrel lengths and Artillery models, The toggle with the S/42 was made by Mauser in Germany during WWII (how it differs from other Lugers) Both variations that your Luger came from were PROBABLY both Military and very common as far as Lugers go (how to care for it) Field strip occasionaly and apply a modern oil sparingly to metal surfaces, DONT store it in a holster After firing, clean all powder fouling from the gun when field stripped and also the barrel from the breech end with powder solvent on a patch! Get a book on gun care as a minimum (Any tips on good books to start with, or do's and don'ts for handling the gun?) Most books are set up for collectors specifing how the different variations were marked, how many made, etc. You can learn a lot from this forum if hang around here a while. The first thing to do is go shooting with some one familar with Lugers and SAFETY first, you really need to know how these guns work to be SAFE with it. LUGERS CAN FIRE WHEN BEING DISSASSEMBLED, so always take it apart when you are darn sure it is unloaded! Take care and I hope you are not too discouraged that your Luger was made from different parts of different guns, it is still very cool and a great gun to shoot and keep, after all, you dad thought a lot of it! Thor