New guy with a new (to me) 1916 DWM

[ClayC]

Hello everyone!

Im new to this site and to the P08 in general, but not to firearms. I like to collect WWII era firearms, and that terrible contraption known as the AK (or variants there of).

Anyway, this past weekend I went to an local estate auction with one purpose, to look at the 'German Luger' they had advertised in the paper, and I was very much prepared for there to be a room full of people there to buy that pistol, or one of the other half dozen for bid, and probably with a lot more money and knowledge that I had.

Well, with my limited knowledge I set a price for what I would pay based on what I could find online. The price was $500, and I figured if I got it for that I was doing OK. The pistol belonged to a widowed lady who was over 100 years young, and had just moved into a local nursing home. She was unloading the things from her house that she didn't need, and the pistol was one of them.

By some miracle (I think) I manged to get the pistol for $550. Yes, over my original minimum, but I could tell my only competition was slowing way down. Regardless, Im happy with the price, and I think the pistol is in fine shape for as old as it is. Im hoping I can arrange a visit with the previous owner and get some info on how she came to have it, hoping for a great story of her husband bringing it back or something similar.

Anyway, Im just looking for the insite of this group on what I have, what it might be worth, ie did I do OK on the price since I have NO intention of selling it anytime soon, and what all the markings mean. One thing of interest is the marks on the grips. Trench art maybe?

From what I can tell all of the parts match (except for the magazine). I've found 15 matching numbers on the pistol (including both grip panels), and no numbers that didn't match. All the parts that should be straw, are, or at least were. The only thing I can find that I have a question about is the side plate doesn't have any numbers stamped on it. Most P08 pictures Ive seen online show the last 2 of the serial number stamped on the outside of the side plate.

Here are the pictures:







































There is normal wear and tear on the pistol. Wear on the edges and places that would rub on a holster. There is a scratch on the left side from who knows what, and someone at some point put a mark on the bottom side of the barrel, right on the first digit of the serial number, almost like they were trying to remove it. I missed that part at the auction, but Im not worried.

The majority of the bluing is in tact. There are a few spots of corrosion in the blue, mostly on the barrel, but for a 98 year old pistol that was probably in 2 world wars, Im good with it

All of the 'bare' parts were at one time 'straw' colored. There are still spots on all of them (trigger, retaining plate, retaining pin, back side of mag release, ejector, and safety lever (maybe more?)) that still have that nice yellow straw color.

Overall Im really happy with it. A 98 year old pistol in pretty good shape with all matching parts (less the magazine), and I can't wait to take it on a range trip here in the next week or two! The only thing I would like to find is a correct holster, and a correct magazine at some point.

Thanks!
Clay