Three Digit Serial Number

[Doppler1992]

This Luger was presented to me around 1982 by my late stepfather. I confess to being less enthusiastic about the acquisition than I should have been at the time, but I am finally beginning to appreciate the gun - thanks to this forum and the many knowledgeable members sharing information herein.

Recently I bought a modern .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol and began shooting at a local gun range. The range sessions sparked my interest in the Luger and I began to occasionally target practice with the Luger, alternating with the Desert Eagle .40 cal modern handgun.

An Oklahoma gunsmith advised that my Luger should probably be considered a "collector" rather than a "shooter" and I might be risking damage to the gun by firing it on a regular basis. Other employees and shooters at the gun range suggest that the gun is designed well enough to shoot even higher powered rounds â?? like 156 grain â?? without worry of a rare part breaking. I suppose the truth lies somewhere in between the contradictory advice I have received to date.

I was encouraged by another forum member to post some pictures where perhaps Ron Wood and other knowledgeable folks might comment on this gun's condition and possible value - and whether it should be "retired" from target practice.

I must say that this is the straightest-shooting gun of the three pistols I own, and is fun to shoot â?? when I am lucky enough to find good ammunition. The 115 grain Blazer FMJ ammunition that I have been forced to use sometimes fails to chamber with the first round. If I manually chamber the first round, it will fire reliably until the magazine is empty. The general consensus that I have observed on the forum is that Winchester white box 115 grain ammo is best digested by most Lugers. However, I have been unable to find anything but Blazer 115 grain FMJ in Oklahoma.

I am a newbie to the forum and I am at entry level on understanding this fine gun, but any information on my gun and the 3 digit serial number would be appreciated. It seems that most Lugers have 4 digit serial numbers.

I have many high resolution close-up photos available. I am hoping these pictures might help define the gunâ??s condition and authenticity.

Gary -

[Balder]

Gary,

Definitely a great looking WW1 era Luger in what appears to be in excellent condition! Does it have a year over the chamber and/or grip markings? Does it have a sear and/or magazine safety? If so, we'd be interested in more pictures. I can't remember when the stock lug was introduced; since my 1911 DWM doesn't have one and yours does, I assume that yours was made after 1911.

I tend to agree with the advice given to you about not shooting it. I do fire most of my Lugers (got nine of them so far) from time to time, but not on a regular basis. I use replacement firing pins and extractors which seem to be the parts most prone to breaking. Also, be REALLY careful with the grip panels, especially the left one. You seem to have a pair of replacement panels, I suggest you use them if you want to keep on shooting the pistol.

Some close-up pictures of the chamber area, the markings on the right side of the receiver and possible markings on the front grip would make it much easier for the Gurus on this board (I am definitely not one of them) to give you more details.

Balder

[Ingvarg]

Originally Posted by Balder

Gary,

Definitely a great looking WW1 era Luger in what appears to be in excellent condition! Does it have a year over the chamber and/or grip markings? Does it have a sear and/or magazine safety? If so, we'd be interested in more pictures. I can't remember when the stock lug was introduced; since my 1911 DWM doesn't have one and yours does, I assume that yours was made after 1911.

Balder

The stock lug was introduced in 1913.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Doppler1992

Other employees and shooters at the gun range suggest that the gun is designed well enough to shoot even higher powered rounds â?? like 156 grain â?? without worry of a rare part breaking.

I wasn't there when it happened, but this breech block was on an Erfurt Luger I bought some years ago...Back then, a breech block from Numrich was $45 (as advertised in their Catalog #10, which I still have )...so I replaced this breech block with one from them...

Supposedly, hot loads will blow the extractor up through the two little ledges in the breech block...OR...blow down through the feed ramp to the magazine and gut it...

I only shoot mild reloads...

[Doppler1992]

Balder - postino -

Thanks for the replies. Here are 5 additional photos of my 1914 DWM. I have more pics that await editing down to forum size limits.

Gary -

[Doppler1992]

Balder -

Here are a few more pictures. The grips both have the same 86 serial number, but I'll have to check again for a date.

The middle photo of the right side was done on a flat bed scanner - which exaggerated the blue hue in this particular scan. The third picture also has an exaggerated blue hue, perhaps because of the bright sunlight on the blue rag under the gun. I am sure the gun has what's left of the original bluing - and has not been re-blued as it might appear in these pictures. The gun is actually quite pale in regard to color.

I had no clue how difficult it was to take decent photographs of a gun. My best close-up shots were with a 35-105mm Nikkor with a macro lens setting on a Nikon D200 in bright sunlight last Sunday.

Gary -

[MFC]

Gary,
Your 1914 DWM Military is a very nice collectable. Military stye serial numbers (WWI) were in blocks of 10,000 and started each year with #1 and no suffix to 9999, then 1a to 9999a and so on. Yours #986a would be the 10,986th made in 1914. One, two, and three digit S#'s are neat but there is no particular significance other than there are fewer of them.
Never shoot it with hot loads. I would retire this beautiful luger and buy a shooter or at least buy a complete toggle train.

[Steinar]

They don't get much better than this.. very nice luger.
I think it should be retired from target practice, as you say.

[Edward Tinker]

Very nice, please put me down on your listing for your will (a long time from now, god willing).


Ed

[Doppler1992]

Thanks Ed -

I regret not taking the time to learn more about this gun before my stepfather passed away in 2002. He would have enjoyed this forum.

[Doppler1992]

Balder asked if there are markings on the front grip. If he is talking about the area of the frame below the trigger guard, there are no markings other than some pitting and scuff marks.

I guess the magazine with the round wooden knob is from another gun because it has what appears to be a 4 digit serial number. The other magazine(s) have symbols somewhat similar to markings on the gun - but I don't yet know the relevance of those markings.

Gary -

[Balder]

Gary,

A wooden bottom magazine is correct for your gun, but unfortunately it is rather rare to find a gun this old with the original magazine. Markings on the front grip usually give details about the unit in which the gun has served. Here's my DWM 1911 (with matching magazine) and its front strap marking.





As for taking pictures, I usually try to get as much daylight as possible but not direct sunlight. Direct sunlight creates too sharp contrasts and shades, usually a diffusor is needed. Also, when doing close-ups I've found that it is often better to do a hi-res shot from a distance and then cut out and blow it up, rather than use the macro which tends to barrel-shape the object. At least that's my experience with my Leitz Lumix. Your Nikon D200 should have no problems doing this.

For the picture of my Luger I used the scanner.

Good luck with your Luger and welcome to the sick bay (Lugeritis)!

Balder

[Doppler1992]

Balder -

Thanks for the welcome to the sick bay .

I spent most of last Sunday cleaning these two guns, and every time I think they are clean, I see rust in places I missed when viewing hi resolution close-up photos on the computer. I finally figured out the direct sunlight was not the best option, and moved under a shaded covered patio with the sun at midday elevation for picture taking.

Later I tried using the wireless feature with the SB-800 Nikon flashgun with a diffuser, holding the flash at various positions - separated from the camera. That method did not yield any results worth bragging about.

Eventually I did as you suggested, and backed away from the gun using the Nikkor AF-S DX VR Zoom 18-200mm lens. As you pointed out, with file sizes of over 3 MB there is plenty of information from which to crop and select what we need.

Also glad to see a Luger older than mine. It is truly amazing to see these guns that are nearly 100 years old in such good condition - and in fine working order.

I am wondering if my magazine tool has the appropriate marking to go with this gun, or does the marking simply imply that the tool is not an aftermarket item?

Gary -

[Balder]

Gary,

The marking on the loading tool does appear correct to me, but again - I am no expert on these things. Your pictures are excellent and I am glad to see that there are other photo-freaks out there. In addition to Lugers and guns in general, I also collect old cameras and other interesting hardware.

Here's a picture of the Lugers I owned a few years back, top to bottom:

1900 US test Luger
1918 Erfurt
1911 DWM
1938 S/42, replacement heavy barrel - my shooter
1942 byf "Black Widow"
ditto

Since then I've added a few and sold one Black Widow.

Balder

PS BTW, My in-laws live in Edmond, OK

[CROLUGER]

My Luger have number 935a, it's DWM 1915 (avatar).

[Doppler1992]

>> Here's a picture of the Lugers I owned a few years back, top to bottom<<

Balder -

Very nice looking guns, and a great photo. How did you get such a great overhead shot? It looks like you might have been hanging upside down by your toes to obtain such a good angle -

Regarding your Edmond relatives: By coincidence, I drove to an Edmond Wal-Mart yesterday (Tuesday) to buy some .40 cal Winchester ammunition for my Baby Desert Eagle. Quality name brand ammo is in very short supply in many if not most USA locations - particularly 9mm and .40 caliber. Throughout Oklahoma, Winchester sells out within an hour or two of being placed on the shelf.

Sunday I fired several magazines from the Luger and it performed very well - jamming only once with some cheap off-brand ammunition. I am now convinced that my previous jamming difficulty was corrected or at least improved upon after thoroughly cleaning the gun and its 4 magazines for the first time in 25 years. Now that I know it operates well, I will keep it clean and shoot a few rounds only on special occasions.

Regarding your 1938 S/42 - Somewhere on this forum is a very detailed grip cleaning procedure outlined by an experienced forum member or moderator. I don't have the details in front of me at the moment, but I recall that boiled linseed oil was part of the process after cleaning. I am wondering if you cleaned the grips on this gun by following those instructions, or if you have another method. The grips look very nice in the photo.

Gary -

[Balder]

Originally Posted by Doppler1992

Balder -

Very nice looking guns, and a great photo. How did you get such a great overhead shot? It looks like you might have been hanging upside down by your toes to obtain such a good angle -



Gary -

Yeah, we Norwegians haven't evolved much - our toes are great for hanging from.

Actually, I extended my tripod fully and cropped the resulting picture. Thanks for your nice words, the grips on the 1938 came with the gun when I got it some years back. I have tried the mild soap water/linseed oil cure on other grips, it works fine.

Balder

[Doppler1992]

Croluger -

Very nice. Your Luger looks like it is in mint condition in the avatar photo.