Another Totenkopf Luger

[Don M]

Interesting Luger on the Simpson site - http://www.simpsonltd.com/product_in...ac2c728dcaa06f. More fuel for the Deathshead debate!

[drbuster]

Don, this example has all the believable characteristics, if you are a believer!

[Hugo Borchardt]

Don:

Thanks. One of my favorite subjects. Though many think all of these are fake, I think it is a legitimate variation if only because the DH logo with the "snake/lazy S" is so unique. This is one of our hobby's great mysteries that I hope one day will be solved.

Looks like someone grabbed it - ON HOLD. I was thinking $1500-$1700 might be a more appropriate price, even for Simpson LTD. No offense to the buyer if you read this. What do I know?

Looks to me like the description is right - a 1920 Weimar Property Mark on scrubbed chamber date over Deaths Head. Was a chamber dated 1911-1918 military originally.

This gun is overstamped with the Weimar property mark in the same way this interesting receiver is over AE:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...=221308041#PIC

Assuming therefore, that the DH was on the gun prior to Weimar rework acceptance, it still point to early 1920's at the latest on which the DH was applied by our mystery unit/party. After all, if the Weimar applied the Totenkopf then all of them would be stamped "1920", right?

Here's another one (Scrubbed Erfurt) coming up for sale on an auction this weekend:

http://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetai...77387#topoflot



Clark

[Vlim]

This weekend I saw a DH baby luger

[Norme]

Originally Posted by Vlim

This weekend I saw a DH baby luger

Rosemary's Baby?

[John Sabato]

Norme, that joke is probaby wasted on a lot of the members here who aren't old enough to remember that movie!

[Don M]

I have stayed out of the TK discussions because I really don't know what to think about them but this pistol seems to hold some clues - assuming the TK is genuine. The chamber obviously was scrubbed before application of the TK and 1920 property stamps. While it is possible that the TK stamp was applied much later than 1920, it seems more likely that the chamber was scrubbed in order to apply this stamp. There is no evidence that the government scrubbed manufacture dates in order to apply the 1920 property stamp. In fact, it would be illogical for them to do so. This indicates application of the TK by a non-governmental unit (Freikorps?) in 1920 or before.

The 1920 stamp indicates government ownership as of late 1920, suggesting that the pistol had been taken into government (probably police) inventory by then.

The grip strap marking from the Schupo of Stettin is a Type 3 marking conforming to the 1932 marking order. An earlier Type 2 police marking per the 1922 order may have been ground off. That the Type 3 marking is canceled and the gun never had a sear or mag safety are indicators that it was a Bereitschaftspolizei weapon and was transferred to the Landespolizei and then military in 1934-36.

In summary, if the TK marking is genuine (and I have no expertise regarding this), it appears to have been applied by some paramilitary unit immediately following WWI. This unit ground off the chamber date and probably the DWM logo. Soon after, the gun was absorbed by the police of Stettin where it remained in service until it was transferred, along with its owner, to the Landespolizei and eventually the military.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Don M

Interesting Luger on the Simpson site - http://www.simpsonltd.com/product_in...ac2c728dcaa06f. More fuel for the Deathshead debate!

...???...Debate??? No debate necessary!

I think the Freikorps Lugers and the Russian Contract Lugers are the most fascinating of all the collectible Lugers! I hope to own a representative sample of each eventually!

Thank you for posting! (All of you!)

[tomaustin]

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