an Erfurt came to visit

[WG dog]

Don't know much about Erfurt Lugers, thought maybe questions in the new collector forum would be okay.

A friend brought his dad's WW II Luger bringback over, wondering about it's history and worth. His dad is 86, recently had a stroke, mom wants the guns out of the house.

Sorry, I still don't do photos. It's marked Erfurt with the Crown on the toggle. 1918 and 1920 over the chamber. The 1920 looks slightly larger than the 1918. There are four proofmarks on the right side of the pistol, not sure what to call the individual marks. Serial 6936 ( r ?). Part numbers on exterior are all 36. Artillery notch just above the 1920. Front grip strap has two markings. B.O. II 363 has an x over the B.O., an x over the II, and a line through the 363. Lower on the grip, under the B.O. II 363, is S.B.14398.S.

It's been refinished with what looks like grey parkerizing. Light buffing, many marks still look okay. No strawed parts show, everything got parked. Original grips are gone, replaced by what looks like semi-transparent black lucite slabs without checkering. Original grip screws are gone, looks like slightly larger screws were needed to hold the lucite slabs. Two magazines in rough shape, one looks tinned with metal bottom and tiny marking of 277 or 211 or 217, and one blued with swept eagle 63 marking. Each magazine has the loading button missing. Take down lever button broken off and rewelded or soldered back together. Has a nice unmarked shoulder holster. Don't know how it shoots, reportedly it hasn't been shot in forty years.

Questions. This Luger was probably used in WWI, then during the Weimar years, then in the thirties and WW II? What do the grip strap markings indicate, maybe a WW I unit and then a Weimar government unit? Value? Guessing, because of the refinishing, grips and other issues, somewhere around $400 to $700, if it shoots okay?

Any helpful thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Very curious about the unit markings. Thanks.

Gene

[Edward Tinker]

Gene, you are essentially correct, the 2nd markings sound like police markings, but would need to look at them.

WW1 Erfurt, that received the 1920 property marking and then possibly used by the police.

does it have a sear safety (above the sideplate there would be either a slot cut on the top of the sideplate or a dog-leg bar that runs from it back to the rear)

Extra mags worth almost nothing, the shoulder holster, usually not worth much, $25-$100 depending on how it looks and what it started as... Not having original grips is also a detractor, unless they look decent, but most folks want original or original looking on their luger. Figure $20-$40 for replacements screws and if the grip screws holes were made larger, another detractor.


Being 'parkerized' hurts the value, most likely worth from about $450-$700, probably in the middle, depending on how it looks, but with the above, I would not want to pay a lot more than $450 for it.


Ed

[WG dog]

Thanks, Ed. I'd heard about this Luger from the son for a couple years. He had not seen it for a long time, and did not know the maker or condition. It was hidden away. I was hoping it was a minty Krieghoff or something cool that would bring in a nice chunk of money for the family. Looking at the changes to the Luger, at least the guy used it and had fun with it.

Trying to describe the unit markings more. Both read from bottom of grip up towards trigger guard. The higher, crossed over, marking of B.O. II. 363 has the numbers 363 slightly smaller than the B. O. II. The S.B.14398.S. marking has numbers about ½ the size of the letters.

Don't see signs of sear safety, no slot or dog leg bar. There are two long shallow grooves in the metal running back from the top edge of the sideplate to the rear, barely visible under the park, maybe a sign something was there in the past.

The toggle does not stay up on an empty magazine. Don't know if that is correct, or a sign of another problem, missing or broken hold open.

Gene