1906 american eagle with only 2 digit serial#

[macs guns]

i recently purchased a 1906 american eagle at an estate sale and after i got home i realized it only had a 2 digit serial number on inside frame, every piece has same 2 digits stamped on it, it dosent appear to have reblue, no other numbers appear anywhere on barrel or in front of frame. no apparent grinding or filing, contours compare with other lugers, the chamber indicator is marked loaded not geladin, the dwm on toggle appears to have gold leaf on it, strawing is still visible, everything looks original but no "major" serial numbers. I had the piece looked at, the gentleman said it was a bargain at what i paid, $375, and although he is an authority on lugers, he had no explaination why barrel or frame was not marked with a serial number. any help would be appreciated, any questions about the piece post them in replies and i will return. thanks
mac

[Edward Tinker]

Sounds like you got more than a bargain! Welcome to the forum, now can you provide copious pictures of all angles?

Ed

[macs guns]

i will do my best to have pics on tommorow night,friday 4-15-05, my wife reminded me it was $475, still good though, it iis covered in #57, back of toggle, inside frame, bolt, every piece, but nothing where i was always told it would be, i.e. barrel, front of frame on trigger guard.

[Ron Wood]

I am at a loss to explain why a 1906 would have only a two-digit serial number, let alone no frame or barrel numbering. Looking forward to the pictures. At any rate, $475 (can't slip anything by the wives) is a heck of a good buy.

[Lugerdoc]

Mac, Sound like a "Monday Morning" gun, made after a drunken weekend. If no proofing on receiver or breech block, I would suspect a worker (assembled at home) "lunchbox special". TH

[macs guns]

it has several proof marks on it, including what appears to be a heart with a little banner on it, only about .o6 tall, under the grips, the only thing thats odd is the lack of a full serial number, pictures will be posted later.
if anyone could give me anyideas on how to reduce the size of pics of so they can fit on here, let me know. im only allowed a little over 100,000 bytes, my pics are all over 900,000 bytes, soooo, if you want to see them please help me or give me an e-mail so i can send them too you. also, the gent who looked at my luger is from south st. louis and upon inquiry, i was told he is an excellent authority on lugers, even made an appearance on the show "talles of the gun" when they covered lugers. he assured me it is an original, just had no clue why a major serial number, ie 5 or more digits, were not on the gun. all contours appear unmodified.

[Edward Tinker]

Send me the pictures if you want.

There is a tutorial on posting pictures and also several ways to shrink them down, without losing much quality.

weimar_lugers@comcast.net

[macs guns]

thanks ed, the pics are on the way, i appreciate your interest and any input you can provide. the estate sale i attended was the father-in-law of a freind of mine, he told me the gent collected firearms for at least 70 years, and he, my friend, had picked through closeto a thousand guns and picked out 4 other lugers, but had no seen this one. i also purchased a FN mauser chambered in 30-06, made for the columbian government, $85. both pieces shoot top notch.

[Edward Tinker]

pictures added, but they are pretty small

[macs guns]

well, what do you think ed, can you see enough to tell anything, the pics i sent should be able to enlarge, i retrieved my sent mail and was able to click on them to enlarge them, its really a nice piece, the gent who looked at it said i could easily double my money, even offered to buy it himself, $600, of course he knew what i paid. and thank you sir for adding my pics, wonderful job

[Edward Tinker]

No, they won't enlarge on my end, looks like a nice one, but wonder about the 2-digit? Can you take larger pictures of the serial number?

Ed

[macs guns]

Ed, now i know that usually the last 2 digits of the serial is stamped on every piece, but ive also read that serial numbers dont mean squat on early lugers, and the last 2 digits were used because each piece was hand fitted to a particular luger, and the smith used them to keep each piece for an individual gun identified, but even the frame has 57 stamped on the inside. im not really concerned about legal matters, i know where the gun came from, i just want to know more about it. i love old guns, spend more time than i should tinkering with them.
mac

[Edward Tinker]

What an odd marking?

I doubt it is german?

[macs guns]

if anyone knows what the above heart is, please post, the toggle is stamped DWM, every piece carries the same number, including the toggle and frame, hard to believe someone went through all that trouble to make it appear german, but who knows! and thanks to ed for his patience for helping me post these pics and chatting with me, your a good egg ed!

[Edward Tinker]

Here is a picture of the front of the frame;

[macs guns]

Ed, Just so i am clear, just what is meant by a lunch box special? is this a bad thing, good thing or indifferent. The luger shoots beautifully, im not really worried about collector status, although it would be nice to find .30 luger a little cheaper, its still fun to shoot.

[Navy]

mac,

A "lunch box special" is a term coined by American collectors to indicate a gun that appears to have been assembled out of parts at the factory and smuggled out in a worker's lunchbox.

Tom A

[macs guns]

Thanks tom, i thought as much, being a machinist myself i understand how that could happen. appreciate the input
mac

[Edward Tinker]

Mac, I wonder if maybe the front number was buffed down? It almost appears rounded on the edges, but that might be me thinking that too?

Ed

[macs guns]

the edge is clean, no rounding, if it was buffed out a real pro took his time in doing it, not a rush job.