Questions about Erfurt Rig

[phatrick88]

Have a matching bring back unit marked 1916 Erfurt that I have some questions about:

-The wood bottomed mag matches the gun but only has the last two serial numbers stamped, is this correct for an Erfurt of this year?

-The holster is unmarked and the strap has been replaced with a USGI style pull snap. I'd be interested to know more about the holster (issue, time period, etc)

Pics attached below. Would be happy to post additional photos or this luger's history as provided by the unit marking at your request. Thank you.

[DavidJayUden]

I'd say the mag. has been force-matched, poorly, to the gun.
Send a close-up photo of the 6/7 stamping ont he left side. Unit mark? Any other unit marks?
Tha holster has been modified with a replaced belt loop, pull strap is missing, and of course the entire closure strap is replaced. Any embossed maker's stampings such as date are usually on the back side benewth the belt loops, sometimes inside. Our Jerry Burney is the holster whiz, so contact him regarding getting it straightened out if you are of a mind to. Trust no others!
And welcome aboard! Overall a nice old Erfurt!

[ithacaartist]

Pat,

The grips have also been "refreshed". They have been gone over with a checkering cutter to sharpen up the diamonds and this also lightens up the color--gets down to formerly unexposed wood. However, whoever did this couldn't guide the cutter very well, and you can see in the close-up how the cutter has run off-track and mowed down material that should be there.

This process takes the max in concentration and control of the tool. I know this because I've been practicing, myself. But I'll not be totally addressing the original grips until my skills are more polished and accomplished! For practice, I've been working on extra Erma grips, some cast urethane repros for my Mauser 29/70. and some Jay Scott faux-stag P-08 grips from which I belt sanded the "stag"--because I got them cheap and because they started out a full half-inch thick and were ridiculously uncomfortable. The technician who perpetrated this operation on these grips did not make the same decision...

Do not despair, because Hugh Clark (hugh) on this forum has the skills to pull off a refreshment of the grips, I think even in their current shape.

[alvin]

6/7 is interesting. What is it?

[lugerholsterrepair]

I'd be interested to know more about the holster (issue, time period, etc)

Your holster was originally made before 1926..likely a WW1 issue holster. 1914-1918 Look closely with good light under the top. Often maker marks and dates are obscure and hard to see.

[phatrick88]

Thanks guys.

6/7 is a provisional Reichswehr unit mark (circa the 1920's) which stands for 6th Company / 7th Regiment, later the 28th Light Infantry Division under the Wehrmacht.

Here's what I've been told based on the unit marking:

The 7th Regt. was attached to the 3rd Reichswehr Infantry Div. at Potsdam. The 7th Regt was later billeted at Glatz and saw action in the border wars known as the Eastern Frontier; Germany was at war with Poland and Czchoslovakia who were supported by the Russian Army through the 1920s over territory lost during the war.

In 1934 the the 3rd Infantry Div. was reformed into the 28th Light Infantry Div. under the Wehrmacht.

The 28th Light Infantry were among the first to enter Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland in 1938 as a Recon Division in preparation for the invasion of 1939. They were heavily involved in the battles that ensued after the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

In 1940 the 28th Division was moved to Normandy in preparation for the invasion of England.*

In 1941, redeployed to the Eastern Front for the invasion of Russia. They were involved in extremely heavy fighting with heavy losses on the Eastern Front.*

Late 1941 early 1942 the 7th Light Infantry Regiment. was dissolved and reformed into the 7th Grenadier Regiment.