Commerical vs. military Lugers - how to tell

gunsrfun1 · 03-28-2007, 12:44 PM

Hello Ã¢?? Being new to Lugers, I am confused by what is the difference between a Ã¢??commercialÃ¢?Â vs. Ã¢??militaryÃ¢?Â Luger. Is it that certain manufacturers (e.g., Mauser) only made one type or the other? Or is it demarcated by year (e.g, after 19xx, they are all considered military or commercial). When I see a Luger for sale, how do I know if itÃ¢??s a commercial or military -- and as a newbie scoping out my first Luger, should I care? thanks

Steinar · 03-28-2007, 02:30 PM

Hello gunsrfun1,
there are several things to look at when separating a commercial Luger from a military one.. The easiest thing to look for, is any military markings on the right side of the barrel extension (slide). Also, military Lugers tend to have more parts stamped with the last two digits..

btw. there are some great Luger pictures in the gallery on this forum, this can be helpful to look trough.
Finding out a thing or two about Lugers, before purchasing one is always a good idea.. There is a lot of 'bad' lugers out there waiting for someone just to pick them up. Good luck!

Dwight Gruber · 03-28-2007, 03:12 PM

Jay,

Simply, military Lugers were made for use by military forces, either by government arms factories (Erfurt, Waffenfabrik Bern) or by contract with civilian arms factories (DWM, Simson, Mauser, Krieghoff).

Commercial Lugers were made for sales to the civilian market and export markets, primarily by DWM (occasional commercial examples can be found by Simson, Mauser, and Krieghoff).

Commercial Lugers are almost always recognized by the presence of civilian crown-over-B, c/U, c/G proof marks (before 1911) or c/N proof marks (after 1911). Single Crown/crown/U proofs are also civilian proofs.

Military Lugers are found with many different marks depending on who manufactured them, the year they were manufactured, and the military customer they were manufactured for. Military-marked Lugers which also have civilian proof marks are military surplus guns destined for commercial sale.

If you do a Forum search on "proof marks" you will find many discussion which cover the topic in much more detail.

When looking for your first Luger you might or might not care, depending on your purpose. If you are looking for a gun as a collection piece or representitive sample it might not make much difference to you.

If you are looking for a Luger to shoot, you should know that a large percentage of commmercial Lugers were chambered for .30 Luger. Though at one time this was a very popular cartridge, it is very difficult to find nowadays and costs roughly four times what it costs to shoot 9mm.

--Dwight

03-28-2007, 12:44 PM	#1
gunsrfun1 User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 26 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Commerical vs. military Lugers - how to tell Hello Ã¢?? Being new to Lugers, I am confused by what is the difference between a Ã¢??commercialÃ¢?Â vs. Ã¢??militaryÃ¢?Â Luger. Is it that certain manufacturers (e.g., Mauser) only made one type or the other? Or is it demarcated by year (e.g, after 19xx, they are all considered military or commercial). When I see a Luger for sale, how do I know if itÃ¢??s a commercial or military -- and as a newbie scoping out my first Luger, should I care? thanks

03-28-2007, 02:30 PM	#2
Steinar User Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1,538 Thanks: 18 Thanked 36 Times in 21 Posts	Hello gunsrfun1, there are several things to look at when separating a commercial Luger from a military one.. The easiest thing to look for, is any military markings on the right side of the barrel extension (slide). Also, military Lugers tend to have more parts stamped with the last two digits.. btw. there are some great Luger pictures in the gallery on this forum, this can be helpful to look trough. Finding out a thing or two about Lugers, before purchasing one is always a good idea.. There is a lot of 'bad' lugers out there waiting for someone just to pick them up. Good luck! __________________ Previously known as Morgan Kane

03-28-2007, 03:12 PM	#3
Dwight Gruber User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,908 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,330 Times in 435 Posts	Jay, Simply, military Lugers were made for use by military forces, either by government arms factories (Erfurt, Waffenfabrik Bern) or by contract with civilian arms factories (DWM, Simson, Mauser, Krieghoff). Commercial Lugers were made for sales to the civilian market and export markets, primarily by DWM (occasional commercial examples can be found by Simson, Mauser, and Krieghoff). Commercial Lugers are almost always recognized by the presence of civilian crown-over-B, c/U, c/G proof marks (before 1911) or c/N proof marks (after 1911). Single Crown/crown/U proofs are also civilian proofs. Military Lugers are found with many different marks depending on who manufactured them, the year they were manufactured, and the military customer they were manufactured for. Military-marked Lugers which also have civilian proof marks are military surplus guns destined for commercial sale. If you do a Forum search on "proof marks" you will find many discussion which cover the topic in much more detail. When looking for your first Luger you might or might not care, depending on your purpose. If you are looking for a gun as a collection piece or representitive sample it might not make much difference to you. If you are looking for a Luger to shoot, you should know that a large percentage of commmercial Lugers were chambered for .30 Luger. Though at one time this was a very popular cartridge, it is very difficult to find nowadays and costs roughly four times what it costs to shoot 9mm. --Dwight