1920 Commercials

[Rick W.]

aaa

[Kyrie]

Hi Rick,


I'm happy you enjoyed it


The 1920/23 Commercials are one of the most varied of variations. For some collectors that makes them intriguing; for others the complexity and lack of solid historical context is a turn off. To each his own


Best regards,


Kyrie

[Marvin]

Rick,


Kyrie's write-up was excellrnt and I sure enjoyed it also. Most of the commercial Lugers went to the U.S., with some going to Britain and other countries in the world, but a number of them did stay in Germany. With the high cost of the pistol and the low wages during this period in Germany, I am sure there were not a huge number sold. Even with this said, there were many sold in Germany to private sitizens and I feel that most were sold to officers in the miltary. There are accounts of these Lugers being used during WWII from pistols which have reached this country and have Capture Papers which a proof of their use. I do have one commercial which was "germany" stamped, but was returned by a veteran. Unfortunantly, there are no Capture Papers to have documentation as proof.


Yes, these are an interesting variation and they are still very reasonably priced today. They make a nice addition to any Luger collection.


Marvin

[bill m]

Hi Marvin,

I do not feel as strongly as you do about all the private purchases of Lugers by the military officiers. I do not see where just because they were brought back by a vet, with or without papers, proves anything as to whether they were a private purchase. All that the papers mean is that a GI brought this gun home, and we all know that everyone of them with papers was taken from a German Officer. I do know of some GI bring backs that were commercial Lugers, but they were taken from Admistrative German positions, and not German Military Officers. I have heard that a few of the very late two digit Mauser Banners were probably private purchase, but as far as the commercial Lugers of the 1920's goes, I for one highly doubt it. Most were in cal. 30 Luger, which wasn't to military standards, and the commercials lack military acceptance marks. I'm sure a few were acquired and used, but I do not feel very many commercial Lugers were ever self purchased. It just doesn't make since to me to buy, steal, or confiscate a commercial Luger in the wrong caliber. Also, there are a few commercial Luger of this time frame with military acceptance proofs and no sear safety in 9mm, which were issued to the military. As I recall, the PP, PPK, and Hsc's were much more popular as self puchase guns, as they were not as big and bulky. This self purchase stuff makes for some good conversation, but I really do not think there is much to it. I think most of the GI commercial Luger bring backs were not taken from German Officers, but German Admimstativer positions, like mayors and ect. Just my humble opinion.

[Frank]

I had a neighbor that was in the Army, in Europe, during the final stages of World War II. He spoke fluent German, so was part of a squad that would go into a newly taken town. He spoke to the population in a sound truck, demanding that all firearms were to be turned in at the Town Hall by a specified time and date.


He and the others in the squad would then segregate the arms into the various categories (rifles, shotguns, handguns, etc.). The high ranking officers had first pick and so on down the chain of command. Those weapons that werenâ??t â??liberatedâ?�, were destroyed.


He was a sergeant, but had the first look at these weapons. And as such, salted away some of the stash and brought home at least one just gorgeous engraved Dreiling.


Now I am sort of reading between the lines, but I can imagine that this could easily be the source of quite a few so called â??bring backsâ?� and even could have had â??capture papersâ?� associated with them. Thus, private stock commercial Lugers that were turned in could have easily been part of this loot.

[Marvin]

Bill,


I will have to agree with you about using the word "Officer". I used this word to also mean the adminsitrative officials you discuss in your message. I do agree that most "Officers" would at least have a 9mmP caliber if it was self purchased and most were provided by the German supply system.


Thanks for bringing this up and to clarify my comments. As to the Capture Papers, again you are correct; these are just papers to allow the weapon to be legally brought back.


Marvin