More information from the Norton Gallery on the .45 Cal Luger

[John Sabato]

I thought I would share some information that Mr. Jerry Bloomer just emailed to me on the .45 caliber Luger in the possession of the Norton Gallery.


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...there is no serial number on the Luger in question, but the magazine has the number 3. According to the information we have had on our Model 1906 .45 cal. pistol, there were only two (or perhaps three) Lugers of this caliber made for the U.S. Army trials in 1907. We would appreciate knowing where the information, as to the possible number of 6 pistols, came from.


Thanks for the info. on the Luger forum website. I will be sure to log on as soon as possible.


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When the snail mail information, inluding a photograph, that he has sent to me arrives, I will post it here as well.

-John Sabato

[Hugh]

Fred Datig devotes a whole chapter (7) to the test trials of 1907 in his book "The Luger Pistol", and states that two pistols were involved, with #1 being used in the test and #2, which he examined, being a "backup" and in excellent condition when he examined it.


John Walter in "The Luger Book", page 194, states: "... others are occasionally reported; no. 4 for example, is said to have been found in Germany at the end of the Second World War and taken to the USA as a souvenier, and a gun apparantly numbered "14" was pictured in the first edition of "Luger". Although the authenticity of all guns other than #2 has been questioned, the late August Weiss once quoted his predecessor, Heinrich Hoffmann, averring that "no more than six 00.45 in. guns" were ever made. Thus it is clear that there were more .45 in. guns made than the two supplied to the US-but there is no evidence that they were numbered consecutively."

[Johnny Peppers]

Hugh,

After viewing the .45 Cal. Luger at Norton Gallery in person, I don't think that there can be any doubt that the pistol is authentic. The technology to fake a pistol of this complexity simply did not exist at the time this pistol first became known. You only have to look at the time it has taken to get the Krause copy out using state of the art CNC equipment to fully appreciate the original pistol and the skill it took to make it. The pistol that was originally purchased by Sidney Aberman from Springfield Armory and was featured in G&A Magazine had no proofs just as the 1900 Trials pistols were not proofed, but the pistol in Norton Gallery reportedly has a C/N proof which would rule out any assumption that the pistol was actually a trials pistol.

In the G&A article the pistol is simply referred to as "pistol number 2" and not serial no. 2, but I do not recall any mention of the magazine marking in the article.

As I have stated previously, I believe that there can be little doubt that DWM was in the process of making additional pistols while negotiations were in progress for the full 200 pistols. When DWM backed out of negotiations, the remaining pistol or pistols could have remained in inventory until sold at a later date as evidenced by the C/N proof on the Norton pistol.

[Hugh]

Johnny,


I agree, it certainly looks authentic to me! It would stand to reason that they would make "backup" pistols in case something happened to the two while in route to the USA, or in anticipation of more being needed in the case of a second trial.