dwm 1916

darkstarwatcher · 04-25-2011, 09:26 PM

I recently decided to investigate the history on a luger my dad has in our gun safe. It was a bring back from WW2 by either his father or uncle both served in Europe.

The luger is a dwm 1916 with sn 245 all numbers matching, what i don't understand is that all i have read says that it should have a cursive letter after it it doesn't. also above the serial number is a number three in a different size stamping could someone tell me what that means.

the gun is in superb condition 95-100 bluing, two matching mags, holster and tool. any help would be appreciated

i will add pictures when i take them soon i promise

alanint · 04-25-2011, 09:33 PM

Welcome to the forum!!
No cursive letter after the number simply means that your gun was among the first 10,000 guns made for 1916. They only started the lettering after the first 10, 000 in blocks of 10,000 lugers, i.e. 00001 a, and so on.

We would have to see the number 3 in a photo to determine a factory or service origin.

darkstarwatcher · 04-25-2011, 09:44 PM

thanks thats what i thought but i wasn't sure, so does that make it worth more being that low in sn production for 1916

FNorm · 04-25-2011, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkstarwatcher

thanks thats what i thought but i wasn't sure, so does that make it worth more being that low in sn production for 1916

Not really. DWM made 140,000 that year. Condition is more important.

FN

darkstarwatcher · 04-25-2011, 10:27 PM

thanks i will post some pictures in the coming days to get you guy's opinion of it. my dad says that it hasn't been shot since it was brought home and i have never been allowed to either. does anyone have a ballpark figure for a value

alanint · 04-25-2011, 10:32 PM

We will be happy to help you value your pistol but you really need to send numerous photos of all markings and all important surfaces before anybody can say. Someone's "100% finish" could mean 100% refinished once photos are provided.

sheepherder · 04-25-2011, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkstarwatcher

thanks thats what i thought but i wasn't sure, so does that make it worth more being that low in sn production for 1916

I know a collector who is trying to get the same serial number from each year of production...That's about the only way you'll get a higher price...If somebody wants that specific number...

Somebody here wanted to know if # 5555 was worth more than a run-of-the-mill number...

It might be...If you already had numbers 1111, 2222, 3333, 4444, 6666, 7777, 8888, and 9999...

Now, that would be an amusing display...

DavidJayUden · 04-25-2011, 10:50 PM

Ball park on a matching gun with mismatched mag. os $1000. A 95% gun with 2 matching mags, holster, etc, might be closer to $2500. But we desperately need to see pictures before we can be more specific.
dju

04-25-2011, 09:26 PM	#1
darkstarwatcher New User Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	dwm 1916 I recently decided to investigate the history on a luger my dad has in our gun safe. It was a bring back from WW2 by either his father or uncle both served in Europe. The luger is a dwm 1916 with sn 245 all numbers matching, what i don't understand is that all i have read says that it should have a cursive letter after it it doesn't. also above the serial number is a number three in a different size stamping could someone tell me what that means. the gun is in superb condition 95-100 bluing, two matching mags, holster and tool. any help would be appreciated i will add pictures when i take them soon i promise

04-25-2011, 09:44 PM	#3
darkstarwatcher New User Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	dwm 1916 thanks thats what i thought but i wasn't sure, so does that make it worth more being that low in sn production for 1916

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04-25-2011, 09:33 PM	#2
alanint User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Marco Island, Florida Posts: 4,867 Thanks: 1,685 Thanked 1,917 Times in 1,193 Posts	Welcome to the forum!! No cursive letter after the number simply means that your gun was among the first 10,000 guns made for 1916. They only started the lettering after the first 10, 000 in blocks of 10,000 lugers, i.e. 00001 a, and so on. We would have to see the number 3 in a photo to determine a factory or service origin.

04-25-2011, 10:27 PM	#5
darkstarwatcher New User Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	thanks i will post some pictures in the coming days to get you guy's opinion of it. my dad says that it hasn't been shot since it was brought home and i have never been allowed to either. does anyone have a ballpark figure for a value

04-25-2011, 10:32 PM	#6
alanint User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Marco Island, Florida Posts: 4,867 Thanks: 1,685 Thanked 1,917 Times in 1,193 Posts	We will be happy to help you value your pistol but you really need to send numerous photos of all markings and all important surfaces before anybody can say. Someone's "100% finish" could mean 100% refinished once photos are provided.

04-25-2011, 10:50 PM	#8
DavidJayUden Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 4,047 Thanks: 578 Thanked 1,414 Times in 887 Posts	Ball park on a matching gun with mismatched mag. os $1000. A 95% gun with 2 matching mags, holster, etc, might be closer to $2500. But we desperately need to see pictures before we can be more specific. dju