ID'ing new Luger

rvance174 · 03-04-2013, 12:43 AM

Hello All,

I'm new to Lugers as well as being new to the forum. A few months ago the Luger bug bit, and after my customary far-to-little research I stumbled on a fellow living just a few miles from me with three for sale. A beautiful 1917 Erfurt (I think, he wanted so much I didn't pay much attention) artillery, a nice 1915 DWM, and a 7.65 DWM.

After not being able to get him to budge on the price of the 1915 I ended up buying the 7.65. The pistol appeared in pretty good nick, with everything seeming to function, and the seller claimed that he shot it with no issues years ago when he purchased it. I did note that the barrel on the pistol seemed to have been changed at some point.

The seller told me that this was a 20's vintage police pistol, but since I had already noted several other areas where his knowledge was clearly suspect, I wrote this off as a not true.

But since it is chambered for 7.65 I assumed it to be a commercial pistol, and with no military history I figured I can shoot it to my hearts content without guilt and if I feel like restoring it, hopefully no one will wish a slow death on me. Plus the price was right.

However once I got the weapon home and started to do a little research on the meaning of the various markings I realized I'm not sure this is just the commercial pistol I thought it was, so I'm hoping the experts here can help me decipher things.

The serial number is 492e with the last two digits stamped on all the parts (except the barrel). My understanding is that was only done on the military models.

On the right side of the upper receiver are three symbols; the first appears to be a I or J with a crown, and the second and third are both S's with crowns. In the symbol section on this site it says these are DWM military proofs used from 14-18. However it shows there is supposed to be an eagle to the right of these symbols and it isn't there.

Also, if this was a military pistol wouldn't it have the date stamped on the barrel crown?

As I said it appears that the barrel was changed at some point, as it is not numbered and the finish looks different from the rest of the pistol. However there is a crown/crown/U on the right side of the barrel and another that appears to have been done with the same stamp on the left side of the receiver. I would think this would at least indicate the barrel was changed out in factory, not by some lone gunsmith.

The symbol section lists two C/c/U symbols though neither of them appear to look like the ones on this weapon.

Hopefully the pictures I attach will be legible once this post goes up.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

03-04-2013, 12:43 AM	#1
rvance174 User Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 14 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	ID'ing new Luger Hello All, I'm new to Lugers as well as being new to the forum. A few months ago the Luger bug bit, and after my customary far-to-little research I stumbled on a fellow living just a few miles from me with three for sale. A beautiful 1917 Erfurt (I think, he wanted so much I didn't pay much attention) artillery, a nice 1915 DWM, and a 7.65 DWM. After not being able to get him to budge on the price of the 1915 I ended up buying the 7.65. The pistol appeared in pretty good nick, with everything seeming to function, and the seller claimed that he shot it with no issues years ago when he purchased it. I did note that the barrel on the pistol seemed to have been changed at some point. The seller told me that this was a 20's vintage police pistol, but since I had already noted several other areas where his knowledge was clearly suspect, I wrote this off as a not true. But since it is chambered for 7.65 I assumed it to be a commercial pistol, and with no military history I figured I can shoot it to my hearts content without guilt and if I feel like restoring it, hopefully no one will wish a slow death on me. Plus the price was right. However once I got the weapon home and started to do a little research on the meaning of the various markings I realized I'm not sure this is just the commercial pistol I thought it was, so I'm hoping the experts here can help me decipher things. The serial number is 492e with the last two digits stamped on all the parts (except the barrel). My understanding is that was only done on the military models. On the right side of the upper receiver are three symbols; the first appears to be a I or J with a crown, and the second and third are both S's with crowns. In the symbol section on this site it says these are DWM military proofs used from 14-18. However it shows there is supposed to be an eagle to the right of these symbols and it isn't there. Also, if this was a military pistol wouldn't it have the date stamped on the barrel crown? As I said it appears that the barrel was changed at some point, as it is not numbered and the finish looks different from the rest of the pistol. However there is a crown/crown/U on the right side of the barrel and another that appears to have been done with the same stamp on the left side of the receiver. I would think this would at least indicate the barrel was changed out in factory, not by some lone gunsmith. The symbol section lists two C/c/U symbols though neither of them appear to look like the ones on this weapon. Hopefully the pictures I attach will be legible once this post goes up. Thanks in advance for any and all help. Attached Images Last edited by rvance174; 03-04-2013 at 02:09 AM.