Well, I've been lurking around here for some years now, gathering info and pictures, while trying to locate a good pistol in the used market that could be shot at the range without too much problems.
And at the end of december at last I managed to purchase my first Luger, a handgun I have always put on the top of my list.
So it is time to come out of the dark and show you my prize
It is a genuine Mauser, but it is one of several others that has been acquired by Frankonia on the surplus market in the late '90s, then refinished and distributed in Europe by Mauser itself.
I think that was done to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the adoption by the german Heer, but since Mauser had ceased production some years earlier they had to resort to used specimens. I even know of at least a DWM Luger being so refurbished by them...
It is marked with the modern civilian proof marks eagle-N under the barrel and under the side plate, but for the life of me I cannot understand how they made the original proof markings on the right barrel receiver to disappear!!!
My pistol had been rebarreled in 9x21 IMI just for the italian market (9 Parabellum being prohibited to civilians
).
I've immediately changed the crappy aftermarket grips with a pair of excellent Nills, and painted in white the Gesichert letters on the frame.
I've also purchased a couple of new Mec-Gar magazines, the latest kind with plastic follower, that I am currently converting to accept aluminum bases. They are somewhat easier to disassemble than the previous model (if you manage to drift out the base pins using as little force as possible), but watch out for straightness of the main body: mines were a little warped out of the box.
However I was able to correct any problem and now the followers run up-down very smoothly.
