DWM In 1909...?

[Dwight Gruber]

Thanks, Bob, for the terrific assessment. You posted this while I was working on a condensation of Still's March 2000 report, I think I'll post it anyway as it doesn't really duplicate yours.

Jan Still's report on the 1910 Erfurt appeared in the March 2000 issue of Auto Mag. This post is merely an overview, the article itself is fairly detailed and AutoMag is, of course, copyrighted.

The gun is serial#49, its provenance is traceable to 1945. Its condition is described, and concluded to be like that of a 90-year-old gun.

This Luger was compared to a 1910 DWM, four 1911 Erfurts, and one 1912 Erfurt. Comparisons were made of machining, milling, polishing, and marking. It proves to be unique in the nature of machining markings over the chamber, the safety detents, the barrel gage marking, the trigger guard-grip strap junction, and the absence of workers' stamps, however the rest of the machining is most similar to the earliest 1911 Erfurt compared, serial# 132.

The date stamp is rather smaller than the other guns, misaligned, and the number shapes are different from the 1911 Erfurts'. The Erfurt logo and crown on the toggle are different, slightly smaller and differently proportioned, than 1911 Erfurt production. In addition it has a unique test proof, similar in configuration but different in detail from the Erfurt test eagle. This 1910 Erfurt is fully inspected and final tested for Army acceptance.

Without making the positive statement, Still's commentary tends toward acceptance of this Luger as authentic. He speculates (in what is clearly labeled speculation) that sometime in 1910 Erfurt manufactured a small batch of Lugers to test their production line, and only a few--#49 being one--passed inspection and proofing. These Lugers were eventually included in its first production 1911 production batch to one of the state armies. At this time the Erfurt arsenal did not yet have the proper number and test proof dies for the P-08, and so used dies on hand to mark rifle production.

Still notes that at the time of publication 1910 Erfurt rifle markings were not in hand, and put out a call for comparison samples. He did note reports of 1910 Erfurt rifle date stamps similar to the 1910 P-08. Results were to be forthcoming in a future issue of AutoMag, however I searched through all the succeeding issues and it hasn't shown up yet.

--Dwight