What do I have here?

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by bigbuckeye

Why would the import stamp make this more unlikely?

bigbuckeye -

I'm guessing you've never been in the military...or you would know that every soldier/sailor/airman/marine has a story...

As you grow older and retell the story, you streamline it...leave out unnecessary details, accentuate your involvement, skip over unimportant trivia...because it's just a story, not sworn historical narrative...

Here's an example: A soldier captures a crew of a disabled German tank in WW II...and takes the tank commanders' Luger as a souvenir...later on in the war, he trades the Luger for a bottle of Schnapps...or a case of K-Rats...whatever...later, when he gets home, he starts thinking of his singular accomplishment, capturing a tank crew...Not many could say that...And when visiting a pawn shop/hunting goods store/gun shop, he sees an old Luger for sale...maybe for $75...and he buys it, to reinforce his memories of his war accomplishment...And after telling his war story to his buddies, he produces the Luger...he doesn't have to tell that he bought it in a gun shop and it's not the original Luger...he doesn't have to say anything...

That's just a story I made up...

Now, on to your grandfathers Luger...the "Germany" is an *export* mark, stamped on pistols sold outside Germany. (An import mark would be something like "KFS ATLANTA GA" )...The exporter of this Luger was required to stamp the country of origin on it...It is not a military (or commercial) stamping (it is in English and all other stamps are in German). Imperial or Wehrmacht Lugers did not have this stamp when it was in military service.

My godfather was in the army in WW II and his company captured the FN plant in Belgium and he brought back a brand-new off-the-assembly-line K98 and a side-by-side double rifle/shotgun that he said he picked right off the final inspection station at the factory...

The rifles hung over his fireplace until he died...One of his sons-in-law took them; I lost track of them after that...

It's a good story...but for all I know, he won them in a card game...or maybe found them by the side of a road...

The old timers here have a saying..."Buy the gun, not the story!"...

If you read some of the threads here, and on GB or AA, you'll find some really fascinating stories...

I'm not trying to run your grandfather down...he sacrificed years of his life for his country and our way of life...Honor his service and his memories...

[Norme]

Hi Mike, Rich is absolutely right, telling stories is what Grandfathers do - I should know, I'm one myself. When my Grandsons ask me how I got my Lugers, I tell them thrilling tales of my WWII exploits (even though I was only seven when the war ended)!
They always start the same way: "The General sent for me and said "Norm, we're in trouble, and you're the only man who can help""....
Best regards, Norm.

[pitsword]

Norme,
That is so very true. In the Submarine Navy of old, we always started a good one with "This is no s**t". Like when I tell the kids about the time our submarine was attacked by the giant squid and I had to swim out of a topedo tube to cut it loose with my K-bar. That was after the quartermaster stunned it by shining a 5 cell flashlight throught the #1 periscope.

That is the difference between a Sea story and a fairy tale. Fairy tale always starts with "Wunce apona time".