seeking your valued thoughts

Dear Sirs:

I have been trolling here for a couple months, and need to ask what you think I have. Usual story, a buddy of mine's dad died and left him his WW2 bring back. He is interested in money (not guns) and his wife hates guns, sooooo ..... I buy his dads luger. So here's the specs:

No chamber date

serial#7693 on left side of frame

serial#7693 on bottom of barrel as well as 8,82

no frame grip saftey and no stock lug

front gripstrap unit marked S. H. 496 (these have been cross hatched and a line stamped through them)

all numbers match last 2 digets of serial#93 except for the

bolt and 2 toggle links (bolt and front toggle link marked

"70" rear toggle marked "71" and looks like they went over it and made the 7 in the 71 a 9, so could be 71 or 91) these markings are rough and look later done.

front of frame serial#7693

front of trigger guard looks like proof 2 #19 and #20 (1908 hold open added and Erfurt arsenal)

right side of frame proof 2 #16 (Erfurt 1908-1918)

on barrel and all small parts proof 2 #18 (Erfurt small parts)

toggle has small parts proof (above) and ERFURT and the crown

the three missnumberd parts have what appears to be proof 2 #20 (hold open added) (this appears to be on front of trigger guard also)

saftey says "GESICHERT"

grips are also marked with last 2 of serial and while showing wear all the chekering is there (no border)

mag is steel (no finish) (almost looks aluminum) with a wooden plug (broken been glued together)(no numbers at all)

blue is about 80% no straw left (if there ever was any)

bore is fair

gun is unreal tight and I am sure would shoot (clip was still loaded with old military ball ammo when I got it)

I always wanted a luger, but never could afford one so am as happy as if I had good sence, however is this a mismatch? or what with the toggle numbers being different?

I think I have a 1908 Erfurt but am not real sure. any input would be greatly appreacated.

You guys run a first rate sight.


Thanks in advance, Shooter

ps; Also came with a holster, but not like any I've seen here or on e-bay, has a small thin strap and two steel loops on the back (strap about 20inches long) and no mag holder, no other markings other then my buddys dads name and rank written on it in pen a looong time ago (faded)

[Dok]

It sounds like an Erfurt, but due to the mismatched toggle and what would appear to be tampering with the numbers I'm afraid it doesn't have much collector value. You can probably make it into a great shooter, which from your user name, probably won't be a hardship. Perhap some of the experts can give you more insight into your pistol.


Dok (Webmaster)

I realized in rereading my post I left out the serial number suffix. I can't find one, at least not on the front of the frame, there is however a "N" (and it looks just like that one) stamped down in the well (above the trigger guard and under the take down lever)(I even have to rotate the lever to read it) could that be the suffix? and the barrel is 4"


Yes I am a "shooter" but didn't want to start shooting this one till I knew for sure what I've got.


thanks for the reply and the welcome.


shooter.17

As usual, I lvoe the story that goes along with the Luger!


Glad to have you around, hopefully some more knowledgable people will jump forward.


Ed

Shooter, The "N in a circle" that you observed in the TD lever well, is merely an inspector's mark and not a suffix to your serial number. If it were a suffix, it would appear on the underside of the barrel and on the frame, below the numeric portion. Since you don't mention a chamber date (all Efurt militaries should be dated from 1910-1918. Just because you have an Erfurt marked mismatched toggle assy, the rest of your PO8 may be of pre 1914 DWM manufacture or a Police rework of some kind, judging from the crossed out Hamburg police markings on your front grip strap. Tom h

Thank you for the "Hamburg Police" markings note, (I was wondering what those ment) being very green I also had no idea it was a p-08, thanks for that info also.


I thought I did mention it has no chamber date, none, nada, blank, plain jane, nothing. period. I thought from what I had read here (dates of manfg. and numbers) only some of the 1908 erfurts were undated chamber markings.


If the rest of the gun was a dmw or police rework as you mentioned, why are all the proofs erfurt? Every proof on the gun is an exact match for the ones I mentioned on the "proof #2 page" on this site.


Sorry to be so dense, just trying to learn.


and thanks again for your info.


Shooter

[John Sabato]

IF so, is there any indication that the chamber area has been ground and repolished? That could explain it's current condition.


-John