When you see a marvelous weapon like this, you rejoice at what history has been preserved. But in the same breath, you begin to look at the details.
Herb, the statement that the Borchardt was tested by the US Army (and Navy) before the 1900 test pieces is accurate. However, the exact serial number of the Borchardt tested is not documented to the best of my knowledge. It can be said with some certainty that this Borchardt that is being auctioned is not one of the test pieces.
1)It is not the weapon demonstrated to the Navy by Georg Luger on November 21, 1894, since that would have been manufactured by Loewe. DWM did not exist prior to 1896.
2)The US Army test conducted beginning on December 23, 1897, most likely was conducted with a DWM produced Borchardt, but it is also most unlikely that it was this particular Borchardt that was tested. Quoting from the auction statement: â??There is no wear evidence of firingâ?. The Borchardt tested by the US Army was fired a total of 2262 times! Of those, two shots were fired using â??defective cartridgesâ? that were created by drilling a hole in one case just forward of the groove, and drilling a hole in the groove of the second case. When fired, the case with the hole in the groove blew a chunk of the extractor out of the bolt. The extractor was replaced and the test continued. Further testing included blasting with fine sand before firing, and then degreasing the firearm, soaking it in sal ammoniac for five minutes, and letting it stand for 24 hours in the open air before firing it the last 8 rounds. To its credit, the Borchardt performed rather well, but it most definitely would have exhibited signs of firing!
The Borchardt at auction is a beautiful example; with all parts other than the barrel exhibiting no wear in so far as can be determined from the photos. This seems a bit odd. If you look at the muzzle end of the barrel, there is very noticeable wear/discoloration that is consistent with being carried in the accompanying holster.
However, if you look at the holster, there is a fair amount of wear and a quite well defined impression of the butt of the grip showing on the flap. It would seem that the right side of the butt of the grip would exhibit some wear but it looks nearly flawless, as does the remainder of the weapon. I have performed the same color, contrast and gamma correction on both the front sight and butt photos to enhance the wear patterns and provide a common basis of comparison. It does beg the question of why the entire piece is not the same condition.
Now let us examine the â??US Calvary [sic] Holster for the Borchardtâ?, that is presented as â??This has to be a one-of-one, museum type historical holster...â?:
1)The attachment of the holster to the board stock is with two buckled straps so arranged to hold the holster to and against the stock. When the Borchardt would be holstered, the knob on the toggle assembly used for cocking would lie on the side of the holster next to the stock. On an original Borchardt stock, there is a hole drilled to provide relief for this knob and allow the holster to lie flat. This hole is missing on the stock illustrated; therefore the holster would cant outward from the stock and make it most unhandy for carrying.
2)The carrying strap is fixed quite nicely to the stock with a strap and buckle riveted to the stock. However, the other end of the strap is fixed with a single rivet to the flap of the holster! This seems a most unlikely arrangement since it places the entire strain of supporting the weight of the holster, weapon and stock on a single rivet placed on a very vulnerable and flexible part of the holster.
3)The Rock Island Arsenal stamp appears to be exactly like that found on the 1900 Luger test holsters. The holster does look like an authentic period US Cavalry holster.
When you look at the auction post, there is a link,
www.phoenixinvestmentarms.com/borchardt.htm for additional information. At this web location, it is clearly titled â??C/93 Borchardt-Luger (US Test Model)â?. For the aforementioned reasons, I find it difficult to believe this Borchardt has provenance as a â??US Test Modelâ?. To be perfectly fair, the auction itself does not directly claim the Borchardt being sold is a US test example, but you have to read it carefully.
I would welcome comments and criticism from Forum members concerning my assessment of this beautiful firearm