Horizontal Crown N's

[Kyrie]

Hi Rick,


This is yet another very interesting 1920's rework Luger. A Great War military, "1920" property stamp, retains Imperial military acceptance and proof, but re-barreled and re-proofed commercially. Moreover, the commercial proofs are oddly placed for a Luger. I think this one is a good sample of the results of the confusion and chaos in Germany in the 1920's, and especially the early 1920's.


In the early 1920's there were pitched battles in the streets between Socialists, Communists, Anarchists, Nihilists, Fascists, Imperialists, and the Republican forces of the Weimar Republic government. German states attempted to withdraw from the German confederation, and entire cities tried to go Socialist and make common cause with the Bolshevik government of the newly formed Soviet Union. Intimidation, violence, and murder became common forms of political expression and pitched battles raged between what amounted to private armies composed of experienced veterans equipped with weapons left over from the Great War. A large part of the reason for the Weimar requirement of the "1920" stamp on its military equipment has nothing to do with the Allies - it was to stop, or at least slow, the flow of weapons diverted from government arsenals to the warring factions.


In the midst of all this we have DWM and some (probably large) number of smaller concerns refurbishing Lugers for use by the various factions and for commercial sale. Small wonder at the large variation we see in both the quality and marking of Lugers from this period!


My, but I do go on [wry smile]. Let me speculate a bit about this specific Luger...


Lugers typically had proof marks applied to barrel, barrel extension, and breechblock. German Army proofs were usually applied (after 1908) to the right side of the barrel extension, the right side of the barrel, and the left side of the breechblock - frames were not proof marked. Successful commercial proof resulted in C/N proof marks applied to the left side of the barrel extension, the bottom of the barrel, the breechblock, and the first toggle link - once again the frame was not proof marked.


Yet here we have a rework Luger with commercial proofs on the right side of the barrel, the right side of the breechblock, the right side of the barrel extension - and the right side of the frame! How very odd. But I have a theory


The placement of the commercial proof marks on the Luger is something of an anomaly. For the most part, commercial proof marks on self-loading pistols were placed on barrel, slide/breechblock, frame, and the critical component of the locking mechanism. The proof marks on the barrel, slide, and frame were usually placed on the same side of the pistol, more or less in a vertical line as far as that was possible so all the proofs could be seen at a glance (I've attached a photo of a 1907 Dreyse pistol so folks can see an example of this). All of which suggests that the stamping of the commercial proof marks on this Luger was done by someone with no experience with Lugers, and much experience with other pistols.


If true this would open up some interesting lines of further speculation


Thanks for listening to me ramble!


Best regards,


Kyrie






http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/Dreyse_L_scan.jpg