Talk to me about this gun?

[LugerVern]

Talk to me about this gun?

Here we have a 1906 9MM SN 118.
Currently for sale on the Simpson web site.

Could this be a Test Luger for one of the Contract Luger variations?

Blank chamber, low serial number, early 06 frame, pre 1910 front sight, no proofs, early DWM scroll.

Note the unique â??onesâ?� on the barrel? You donâ??t see that every day!

SN 118 is listed in Dwightâ??s data base as bug proofed, so this is not the same gun.

Thanks

Vern

[alvin]

Highly unlikely being a German trial gun. Those comercial C96s competed with Luger in trial had military acceptance stamp (crown over S) on the right side of the chamber. I assume a trial Luger should have similar military stamp (if not same).... but this one do not.

Looks like 1906 Russian's sibling, but w/o cross Mosin-Nagant crest. John Walter estimated around 1000 seperated numbered commercials, some have M-N crest applied by *dealer*.

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Remotely related, but not directly relevant.... if John Walter is correct, cross M-N applied by dealer, the implications are (1) original M-N crest should have "halo"; and (2) some guns may not have M-N... because the consistency of dealer is not at the same level of DWM.

[LugerVern]

Alvin

Yes, I agree; not a German Test gun and yes looks just like the Russian 06â??s.

It is the total lack of proofs that caught my eye, and the fact that it represents a time frame that could indicate a test gun.

A test gun going to another country might look just like this one.

I did not know about the â??John Walter estimated around 1000 separated numbered commercialsâ?�.

Vern

[alvin]

Vern -- A little information from Page 123 of "Luger Story" (John Walter, 2001):

A few Russian guns have recently found their way to Europe from Iran, and it is likely that they were brought to the Near East by White Russian emigres. Their numbers are usually confined to the 560-860 block, though one numbered 313 has also been reported. The Russian guns -- perhaps a thousand of them -- clearly formed a seperate series.

Those guns bear M-N crest. But, if there are 1000 of them, some may not bear the crest. Simpson could not call it Russian because it has no crest, so the the most appropriate name is 1906 commercial.

[Vlim]

No proofs on a german handgun is suspicious to say the least. German proof laws were very strict and marketing a unproofed gun was a serious matter.

All known foreign contracts bear a proof one way or the other.

So we have some possibilities:
-A sample or pattern gun that was kept at the factory.
-A gun that was removed from the factory illegally.
-A gun that has it's markings removed in order to make it untraceable.

It's an interesting pistol, this.

[LugerVern]

I have been doing some research, it now appears that commercials in this configuration were not always proofed or at least not visibility proofed.

I can not explain this but seeing is believing.

I will add a note here: One of the biggest mysteries about 06 Russians is the total lack of proof marks; it now seems that this may be perfectly normal. Of course it explains where they might be coming from too. I guess it depends on what side of the fence youâ??re on.

I find the out of sequence commercials very interesting guns to study, I donâ??t believe they are fakes, I simply believe we donâ??t know as much as we think we do about Luger production and because they stick out like sore thumbs we misclassify them.

Vern

[MFC]

If you look at Dwight's commercial database, you will find quite a few with no proofs (most are American Eagles). I think Simpsons and Alvin are correct to call it a 1906 Commercial. That serial # though...???
Mike C.