1914 Erfurt Artillery...

[ithacaartist]

Daniel,

I also have a Luger that led a varied life indeed It began life as a 1917 DMW artillery. It has a 1920 property stamp, A couple of HZa stamps, and a Nazi era 100 mm barrel. It came in what was left of a holster that had been converted from police to military style. No sign of a sear or magazine safety...

Though millions were made, it strikes me that each Luger is a unique individual. The people and situations encountered are different for each one, thus there are over three million Luger "biographies." Some are as crisp as they left the factory a century ago. Others have been abused, misused, beaten, butchered, modified, cannibalized, and/or destroyed. (In my mind is an Arty someone posted about that didn't have a sharp corner or flat surface on it due to certainly the most severe buffing damage I think anybody on the forum has ever seen. Someone commented, "Great for concealed carry because it's snag-free." Knowing whatever is available/discernible about the history of your Luger(s) is just a bonus pleasure. on top of that of owning the gun. As the old saying goes, "Buy the gun, not the story," so in plenty of cases provenance isn't necessarily something you can cash in on in collectible value. The profit you take is of the heart.