"Inscribed" Luger dated 1923

[renaissance7697]

I donâ??t know what I got â?¦â?¦ but Iâ??m excited ! ! !

This is â??Renaissanceâ?�
I am back again
Itâ??s been years since Iâ??ve been on this board.
Someone might remember:
The Bloody Beast
Or
The Flap over the Black Widow grips â?? the lesbian Nazi hero â?? Her Gortz pulling oneâ??s leg with a hilariously preposterous story etc
Re: search â??Black Grips againâ?� thread.

Found what I think is a mysterious â??Jewelâ?� at my local Gun Shop.
Couldnâ??t pick it up (buy) it fast enough.
A 1940 â??42â?� Mauser

Beautiful Blue Job â?? Deep Rich Blue â?? reblue of course - rust I think
(I KNOW the collector Value was ruined, but it sure is pretty)
Closer examination revealed it to appear to be â??all matchingâ?� (everything I could see at least) â?? { not the Magazine of course } ).
It appears to be in excellent mechanical condition.
All the edges of the internal parts are sharp and clear â?? no wear ( or even â??useâ?�)
Rifling is strong and sharp ( maybe a little frosted â?? canâ??t be sure â?? Iâ??m no expert)
Lots of â??Waffen Stampsâ?� ( the eagles etc )

The polish job before bluing was excellent EXCEPT for the side plate, which was over-polished ( with a dermel it looks like ) . The Side plate matching number was almost removed.

All other numbers matching and sharp and clear .

WHAT were they thinking ??

I took it out to see how it would shoot.
It did pretty OK.
The slide (Excuse me â?? â??toggleâ?� â?? Iâ??ve been away a while) would lock back once in a while on a not yet empty magazine, but a quick â??tugâ?� on the Knuckle would set it straight again.

(What might be the problem here ??)

Now the "exciting part" ( aside from the nice piece itself).

It came with a very nice looking set of WOOD grips. Close checkering â?? no chips â?? nice light natural color.
( The wood seems a little dry â?? I am eager for any suggestions as to how to â??preserveâ?� them â?? I am reluctant to use oil for fear of destroying the nice â??naturalâ?� color - - (Any Suggestions ?)

I took off the grips to see if there was any rust underneath

The grip panels were > Inscribed < .....inside..... - in INK !
They BOTH were marked in â??scriptâ?� handwriting
Calligraphic actually like the kind of script you might see on a weddinjg invitation.

T. (O/V?). Driller
Kewell
April 4th 1923 << This in script on BOTH Panels

FT to TP
H.C.R.K.
25 â?? 63 << This in another more crude lettering on one panel

>> Can anyone suggest the meaning of all that ??? <<

Question:
If the inscription was by a â??Germanâ?� writer â?? would it say â??Aprilâ?� ??
*****************************
Now: Gun 1940
Grips > inscribed 1923
??????????????????????????

One of the grip panels had been â??Inletted / relievedâ?� perhaps for the magazine stud.
I guessed the grips might have been originally for a Luger that did not have a hold open latch â?? thus â?? no Magazine stud to activate it)

{{ On further thought - the inletting (wood removed was on the wrong panel side - The Magazine stud is on the other side }}

Could the removed wood have been to remove some other writing?
You can see that the inletting was done after the writing because a tiny bit of the script was removed.

Would a 1940 42 have originally had wooden grip panels??

My thinking is that the grips were originaly from a different luger ( one more close to the 1923 date) and transfered to the 1940 42 ??
For sentimental reasons ??

Any ideas ?- anyone ?

I have "Googled" everything in the inscription (names - date - Initials - came up with nothing that seems to fit.

I have pictures
I will try to post them

[Aaron]

No European would write a date starting with the month. They always start with the day of the month, then the month, then the year. Looks like the writing is by an American.

[Steinar]

yup... that's right.
Like today is written 13.06.2007 or 13 june 2007.

Any pictures of the Luger?

[Vlim]

The inscriptions appear to be as American as mom's apple pie

In period German, don't be surprised to find months represented by roman numerals as well. Dots are usually used to separate the elements within the date: like 4.4.14 or 4.IV.14. Usually the '19' is left out of the year.

Most pre-1945 German writing is a bit difficult to read anyway. They experimented with different script styles that still give everyone who's trying to read it a headache today. So if you can read it, it's probably not German in origin

[renaissance7697]

I do HAVE picthures (.jpg)
I tried to upload from home them via the Upload Photos link
I couldn't get it to work
I have dialup at home
Will try again today from the workplace ( "Big" pipe )

Is this sort of thing less "unique" then I am imagining ??

[Steinar]

I wouldn't give the writing inside the grips much thought.. Just that the grips might come from a pre 1923 Luger, that is ..if the writing is not faked for some reason.

If a name and 1923 date where found on a piece of paper followed by ' Two milk, one bread and a bottle of rum'. It would not increase the value of the paper any more than the same writing on a pair of Luger grips. Unless there is some story behind the writing, it's just 84 year old writing.. At least in my eyes ..and probably many egyptians

You are lucky to have a nicely restored Luger in good condition, congratulations with it!

[renaissance7697]

I am not thinking "value" here
I am thinking "history"

[renaissance7697]

I finally figured how to "Post a Picture"








Anyone want to venture a guess on the "History" here ?

[Ron Wood]

There probably isn't a way to find out what the inscription is all about as the original parties may well be long gone. I read the more crude inscription as "FT to TD" which might mean that the gun was a gift from "FT" to T. Driller. The writing is obviously English, either British or American. I would venture a guess that it came from the UK and that the last "K" in the H.C.R.K. inscription might stand for Kewell. A possible line of investigation might be to see if there was a "H.C." Regiment in a place called Kewell. A total WAG but a place to start. Good luck.

P.S. A quick Google turns up the city of Kewell in the state of Victoria, Australia.

[Pete Ebbink]

Does the shape of the wood on the inside of the grips look correct ???

Also in the photo showing the grips next to the Luger, the grips appear too short to fit on the grip strap on the gun...???...

[Edward Tinker]

I would see if the grips are stamped with any eagle 655, or other acceptance. If so, it is proof positive that that is not a "date" of what it is, but a date of remembrance. (i.e. ANY marking of nazi eagles such as when the pistol was made)


It appears more to me dates of someone close to whomever owned the luger. Dad, Uncle, etc. 1923 - 1945 is someone approx 22 years old at the end of WW2...

Unless you have provinance, then this is all guesses....

Ed

[Ron Wood]

I am well aware that Kewell is associated with British and Australian football, as an Internet search on that name is constantly frustrated by soccer references rather than a location. It took a bit of circuitous searching just to come up with the Australian city in the state of Victoria. I realize it was a long shot, but it seemed like a better approach than just dismissing the inquiry out of hand. Tracing the origin of the inscription is almost certainly doomed to failure, but that should not deter the intrepid from at least trying. Pursuing history is always interesting, and sometimes rewarding.