Jackpot!

[Ron Wood]

As many of you know, my collecting interest is Imperial era Lugers. One particularly elusive example has always been the 1913 Commercial with stock lug and grip safety. They fall in the 71,000 serial number range, and as late as 1991 in Jan Stillâ??s â??Imperial Lugersâ?�, only two had been recorded and he estimated only 50 produced. Kenyon states that as many as 1000 may have been made, which was a 1969 estimate based primarily on the then known high and low serial numbers.
At any rate, they are rather scarce.

Today mine arrived! I was prepared for the worst since the seller described it as only about 90% original finish. It was a GI bring-back in a cut-down commercial Luger holster. You always expect the rating to be exaggerated. When I unwrapped the gun, I found that it is virtually new with only barely discernable wear on the left side of the muzzle band, slight brightening of the leading edge of the receiver rails, and the side plate hump has a nice even holster wear pattern around the edges. The numbers are crisp and sharp with the proper halo around the barrel and receiver Crown/N proofs and around the barrel serial number. The straw is deep and even with only slight lightening at the edges. It is a beautiful example of a rare gun, and I am really pleased to add it to my collection. Pictures will follow, hopefully some time next week.

Almost anticlimactic, but still exciting, is the arrival also today of a hard to find, out-of-print near mint copy of â??Bewaffnung und Ausr�¼stung der Schweizer Armee seit 1817â?� by Christian Reinhart and Michael am Rhyn (last printed in 1975). It is the second volume â??Faustfeuerwaffen II Selbstladepistolenâ?�. It is a very well photo illustrated resource on early Swiss Army self-loading handguns and has wonderful pictures of early prototype semi-automatic pistols, to include the 1898 Test Luger, plus Bergmann-Schmeisser, Bergmann, Mannlicher, Roth, Mauser and other one-of-a-kind experimental pistols.

Tonight there is a happy camper in El Paso.