Help Identifying a "Blank: Luger?

[Ron Wood]

Originally Posted by DutchLuger

That is an incredibly cool example. The Btzg stands for "Buitenzorg", but I have not seen the "M.L." initials together (only separately for Southern/Eastern (M) and Western (L) Borneo, respectively). There are Military Police abbreviations that start with M.X. (with X running from A through G), but this one is unique. Best guess: Military Police Buitenzorg, with no other examples described (in Martens & DeVries, anyway). Thank you for posting.

Your best guess is the same as mine, a military police pistol from Buitenzorg. This is a DWM 1906 Dutch Luger in 9mm. Reworked in 1914 by DWM. Bluing is about 95%. Straw is about 50%. It is remarkable, given the environment where it was employed, that this Luger has survived in such a nice condition.
Buitenzorg was the Colonial Era name for what is now the modern city of Bogor in Java. Governor-General van Imhoff is credited with its discovery in 1745. He built a large country estate which he named Buitenzorg ('Without a Care'), but it was not until 1811 that it was first used as a country residence by Sir Stamford Raffles, during the British interregnum, and not until many years later that Bogor became the semi-official capital. Bogor has a nickname: the 'City of Rain'. Bogor has probably the highest annual rainfall in Java and is credited with a record 322 thunderstorms a year.