luger questions

[redranger1]

My grandfather has got an old luger that im curious about. It is not a matching numbers pistol, but it is complete and has a parkerized frame and wood grips. Just behind the barrel on the right side of the frame there are 3 flying eagles. Are these rearsenal stampings by the germans? There also appears to be S's below 2 of the 3 eagles. The serial number on the frame right underneath the barrel is also a low 4 digit number(14xx). Is this the actual serial number? Im really just curious if this thing has any collector value due to the markings or if its just a run of the mill luger. thanks.

 

[unspellable]

Luger

It's not the original finish. None were parkarized. That finish is commonly seen on East German arsenal post WWII reworks. Its likley to be a VoPo Luger, so called because it was intended for issue to the East German Volks Polizi. Most VoPo Lugers have black plastic grips in a style called VoPo grips with a bull's eye molded in the center. (Don't trust my spelling.) Most of these were imported in recent years, since the reunification of Germany.

The serial number includes the chamber date and a letter suffix which appears below the four digits. Thus a serial number looks like this: 1917 1234 a for a WWI military issue. Late Mauser military production may have a coded date on trhe chamber. If there is no suffix letter its absence should be noted. The letters are in the old German alphabet so can be a bit hard to interpret at times. people are in the habit of taking the four digits on the frame as the serial number. There will likely be a multitude of lugers with the same four digits. One problem with thye numbering system is mismatched examples. If the upper doesn't match the frame then what's the serial number?

The eagles just behind the barrel on the right side are probably military style proof and /or acceptance marks.

 

[redranger1]

Unspellable, thanks for the reply and info. There is as you say some kinda letter under the 4 digit number on the frame which kinda looks like a lower case "d". Im pretty certain that from your post this luger is nothin to special. Thanks again.

 

[mattdus]

I am not sure about the markings but are you sure it is a parked finish? the older rust blueing was a blue grey color not the deep blue we generally think of on a blue gun. and as far as the serial number goes the number on the frame would be the number that would be used if selling or transferring the gun.
As far as being special its a luger...thats enough for me

 

[unspellable]

I have always been advised (And agree with.) that the complete serial number should be used for all legal purposes where military Lugers are concerned, not just the four digit frame number or even the four digit frame number plus letter since the same number has likley been duplicated many times and does not uniquely identify the pistol. There may have been a hundred or more manufactured with the same four digits on the frame.

Each year's production starts with 1 and goes to 9999, then starts again at 1 a and goes to 9999 a, starts at 1 b and goes to 9999 b and so on. There were around two million military Lugers produced.

 

[Deles136]

I have seen Lugers for sale at gun shown with the same number stamped on almost every part. Most look like recent grinding off of existing number and re-stamping with all same numbers. Does anyone know the truth about Lugers and "matching" part numbers ? Did Luger do this with their wartime pistols ? I have heard lots of tales but - - - - - - - ?

Many thanks,

 

[unspellable]

"boosted" Lugers

There are a lot of "boosted" Lugers out there. It's a ongoing cottage industry. You really need to know your stuff if you are going to mess with collector grade Lugers. The quality of the boosting work varies all over the map from obvious to a beginner fakes to ones that will take a team of experts to sort out. I don't mess with the top grade collector stuff myself. I'm more into what makes them tick.

But it's a pretty safe bet that when somebody offers you Goering's personal nickle plated Luger it's a fake.

There was also a more legitimate cottage industry in post WWI Germany reconditioning military Lugers. These are easier to sort out because there was no attempt at faking. DWM themselves assembled the 1920 commercial model from left over militarty parts although an original DWM 1920 commercial will have all matching numbers. On the other hand not as many of the parts will be numbered as was the case with a military. production of commercial Luger parts at DWM resumed in 1923.

 

[Onmilo]

VoPo= VolksPolizie=Peoples Police.

VoPo Lugers are special if you like the firearms of the Cold War era.
Values are going up since stocks of the guns have been bought up by shooters and collectors alike.