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PhilOhio · 08-29-2009, 02:45 PM

Dandypoint,

It's interesting that the arrow on your Dutch Luger was incorrectly stamped to point down. Mine points up. Mine is from the last of three installments delivered to the Dutch, and stamped for ownership by what translates as the "Department of the Colonies", according to Vlim.

Mine was unexpectedly presented to me on a very sentimental occasion by a gentleman who was a former Asian guerrilla fighter. He captured the Luger around 1943, without firing a shot, from the Japanese commander of a small coast watch unit near Surabaya, now a major Indonesian port on the Indian Ocean.

He and the small group of men he commanded stalked and captured the outpost, where the Japanese commander got down on his knees and begged my friend for his life. He got to keep it, and nobody died or committed hari kira that day. The Japanese also got to keep their Indonesian girlfriends, toddlers, and most of their provisions, but not their guns or ammo. I wonder how they concealed all this, next time their supply ship came? They had to, or all would have been summarily shot. "Surrender? Who, us?"

Over the next 30+ years the Indonesian, later an army officer, killed 11 people with the Luger. That didn't put any wear on the bore at all, it appears. I'd like to think these events were unfortunate necessities; that after I was able to call the shots, there weren't any more; because the genuine need did not arise...at least as I saw it, although there were several differences of opinion on this...which I think I won.

So this nearly 80-year-old Dutch Luger will remain special during my lifetime, as do the memories surrounding it.

This one is retired, as I am, and I have no plans to fire it again, although years ago, and half a world away, I made sure it worked and could be trusted; I did have to slightly modify the safety, to be sure it would never go off under my belt and blow away some critical components. Yes, I took some carry risks then, which I would not take now, with any Luger. This one served its purpose and did some useful things...hopefully. It is in unusually fine condition, despite having not been cleaned much during a 30 year span and being carried daily in several belts, under batik shirts, against several salty and sweaty bellies at different times(my friend's and mine) in the tropics, close to the equator.

Jungle weather is hard on guns, but those Germans used really good steel. Because of my personal Luger experience with heat and sweat and no opportunity to always take care of a gun the way it deserves, I really respect what DWM did. When I see a rusted and busted Luger, I know that gun has seen abuse far beyond what any of you might imagine, and I don't want it. To produce a deeply pitted and permanently damaged Luger, you have to really work at it. Think about that, next time you see one of these on a table at a gun show while the brazen owner, with straight face, tells you he won't take a dime less than $1500.

All you younger collectors of Luger pistols, think about stories like this, next time you look at all those guns in your collections. Most of them never fired one deadly shot. They were badges of office for young soldiers who also never fired a shot at anybody. But some Lugers were different, and with most, there is no way of knowing which is which. I don't know whether that is the good news or the bad news. But the past is the past, I guess.

08-29-2009, 02:45 PM	#9
PhilOhio User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 145 Thanks: 5 Thanked 17 Times in 14 Posts	Dandypoint, It's interesting that the arrow on your Dutch Luger was incorrectly stamped to point down. Mine points up. Mine is from the last of three installments delivered to the Dutch, and stamped for ownership by what translates as the "Department of the Colonies", according to Vlim. Mine was unexpectedly presented to me on a very sentimental occasion by a gentleman who was a former Asian guerrilla fighter. He captured the Luger around 1943, without firing a shot, from the Japanese commander of a small coast watch unit near Surabaya, now a major Indonesian port on the Indian Ocean. He and the small group of men he commanded stalked and captured the outpost, where the Japanese commander got down on his knees and begged my friend for his life. He got to keep it, and nobody died or committed hari kira that day. The Japanese also got to keep their Indonesian girlfriends, toddlers, and most of their provisions, but not their guns or ammo. I wonder how they concealed all this, next time their supply ship came? They had to, or all would have been summarily shot. "Surrender? Who, us?" Over the next 30+ years the Indonesian, later an army officer, killed 11 people with the Luger. That didn't put any wear on the bore at all, it appears. I'd like to think these events were unfortunate necessities; that after I was able to call the shots, there weren't any more; because the genuine need did not arise...at least as I saw it, although there were several differences of opinion on this...which I think I won. So this nearly 80-year-old Dutch Luger will remain special during my lifetime, as do the memories surrounding it. This one is retired, as I am, and I have no plans to fire it again, although years ago, and half a world away, I made sure it worked and could be trusted; I did have to slightly modify the safety, to be sure it would never go off under my belt and blow away some critical components. Yes, I took some carry risks then, which I would not take now, with any Luger. This one served its purpose and did some useful things...hopefully. It is in unusually fine condition, despite having not been cleaned much during a 30 year span and being carried daily in several belts, under batik shirts, against several salty and sweaty bellies at different times(my friend's and mine) in the tropics, close to the equator. Jungle weather is hard on guns, but those Germans used really good steel. Because of my personal Luger experience with heat and sweat and no opportunity to always take care of a gun the way it deserves, I really respect what DWM did. When I see a rusted and busted Luger, I know that gun has seen abuse far beyond what any of you might imagine, and I don't want it. To produce a deeply pitted and permanently damaged Luger, you have to really work at it. Think about that, next time you see one of these on a table at a gun show while the brazen owner, with straight face, tells you he won't take a dime less than $1500. All you younger collectors of Luger pistols, think about stories like this, next time you look at all those guns in your collections. Most of them never fired one deadly shot. They were badges of office for young soldiers who also never fired a shot at anybody. But some Lugers were different, and with most, there is no way of knowing which is which. I don't know whether that is the good news or the bad news. But the past is the past, I guess.