M1906 Russian Luger - The Ending of its Identity

[Imperial Arms]

I wish to report with sadness that the so-called ‘M1906 Russian Luger’ is nearing the end of its documented identity! It is coming to light that it was not a Luger pistol for the Russian armed forces nor was it sold by Russia dealers (with those ‘mixed’ characteristics including the crossed rifles on the chamber). Based on new research and information which is recently surfacing and being discussed (or debated), the Russian Lugers do not meet the specific national criteria for a pistol intended as a foreign contract as compared to those Luger pistols which were sold to the countries of Switzerland, Bulgaria, the US and Portugal at the beginning of last century.

Let us analyze each of the foreign contract Luger pistols which I have mentioned in the first paragraph:

1. Swiss contract – National emblem of a cross in sunburst or a cross in shield;
2. US Test Lugers – National emblem with an American eagle as we know it;
3. Bulgarian contract – National emblem of two standing lions holding a shield (as we observe it);
4. Portuguese contract – National symbol as documented in various books and articles;
5. Russian Luger – Plain crossed rifles – oops, something is not right!

Why should a ‘Russian Luger’ have plain crossed rifles on the chamber when the national emblem/crest or coat of arms for the Russian empire was a double-headed eagle (as depicted in the image hereunder)?

How does one explain the safety marking in Bulgarian text, the extractor marking in Russian text, and the crossed rifles on the chamber that still remains a mystery? I suppose that many collectors have jumped to the conclusion that this Luger pistol continues to have a strong Russian connection simply because of the close meaning of the old spoken language in Russia and Bulgaria. Ironically, we collectors just wanted to believe that it must be a Russian Luger for the sake of a thrill. To this day, actual documentation on the ‘Russian Lugers’ is very sketchy and unreliable. There is strong evidence based on Russian dealer catalogs that Luger and Mauser C96 pistols were commercially sold in Russia, however, there are still no strong leads to a Russian contract, and there is absolutely no logical reason for commercial firearms to receive a chamber marking with crossed rifles. In this same post, there has been mentioned an Officers Shooting School in Russia where such Luger pistols could have been given as awards, but the existence of this institution in Russia would have not justified the DWM factory to produce nearly 1,000 pistols (based on the estimated serial range) and these pistols to be received by officers with markings of twin nature.

In my opinion, every thing has a reason and I doubt that the DWM factory would have been so ‘casual’ in the application of various markings on a pistol that had a particular destination. So, who was the recipient of these so-called ‘Russian Luger’? Stay tuned for more ….

Albert