Bought Luger, what's it worth
Good evening all. First post. Hope someone can help me out. Just bought my first Luger. Have not disassembled it yet but the exterior numbers match. I took the grips off and those numbers match. It has 1915 stamped on the upper receiver where the barrel mounts. Blueing is mostly worn on front and back straps. Front strap has markings as follows; Bay.21.J.R.7.K.16. Left grip panel is cracked near safety lever. The piece is actually broken off the grip but when mounted it stays in place. There are three marks on the barrel and another near the date. There is another mark next to the loaded chamber indicator and it is not gelaten. They all look like little bombs. I know thats not what they are. Something else is stamped on the left side of the upper receiver but looks slightly worn. I need to get a strong magnifying glass to find out what it says. There appears to be no gold coloring on any of the parts that are supposed to have this coloring. DWM is stamped on the toggle. "GERMAN" is stamped on the right side of the pistol. The magazine appears to be an aftermarket one. There also appears to be crossed swords stamped in the trigger guard on the right side.
I took it out to shoot yesterday. I was nervous about firing an almost one hundred year old pistol but was excited to do so too. I only put 15 rounds through it. Accuracy of this pistol was amazing. Function was not flawless though. Had a fail to feed once. And the toggle would not lock in the open positon after the last round fired. It will lock back if I cycle it back with an empty mag loaded in the gun. In my opinion, I would guess the mag is the issue here. Sequence of firing: load one, shoot one, load one, shoot one, load one, shoot one, load three, shoot three(fail to feed occured here, load three, shoot three, load three, shoot three, load three, shoot three. Ammo: Fiocchi 123 gr. ball.
I need to find assembly/disassembly instructions to do a thorough inspection of the pistol.
Any info you can provide on this piece would be greatly appreciated. I will try to post pics in the near future. Thanks.
I took it out to shoot yesterday. I was nervous about firing an almost one hundred year old pistol but was excited to do so too. I only put 15 rounds through it. Accuracy of this pistol was amazing. Function was not flawless though. Had a fail to feed once. And the toggle would not lock in the open positon after the last round fired. It will lock back if I cycle it back with an empty mag loaded in the gun. In my opinion, I would guess the mag is the issue here. Sequence of firing: load one, shoot one, load one, shoot one, load one, shoot one, load three, shoot three(fail to feed occured here, load three, shoot three, load three, shoot three, load three, shoot three. Ammo: Fiocchi 123 gr. ball.
I need to find assembly/disassembly instructions to do a thorough inspection of the pistol.
Any info you can provide on this piece would be greatly appreciated. I will try to post pics in the near future. Thanks.
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I believe the marking on the front grip strap indicates.
Bay = Bavarian Clothing Depot
21 J.R. = Attached to the 21st Infantry Regiment
7.K = 7th Company
16 = Pistol number 16
The Germans ceased marking their Lugers in this fashion during the middle of the First World War.
Because the pistol is marked "German" this probably indicates that it was exported for commercial sale to the U.S. after the First World War. This was a requirement for all manufactured goods imported into the U.S.0 -
try steves pages
http://stevespages.com/ipb-luger-pistol-1908.html
we do need pics.see sticky at top for loading pic.0 -
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The small proofs with crowns on the left side of the barrel and receiver aren't standard, and with the crowns don't appear to be German. Might be Belgian? If you can get close ups of the markings inside the circle, might have a better idea?
With the "German" marking on the right side of the receiver, and the nonstandard markings on the other. My guess it was a captured pistol that wound up over here in the States, imported and sold as surplus years ago.0 -
I will try to get better pictures up later. Thanks for what info you all provided so far. This is fun learning about the history of this pistol and what the markings represent. 0 -
First of all, I am not an authority on P08, Lugers or anything of the sort but I happen to have gathered material over the years that sometimes proves to be helpful. I bow to the other experts on these firearms.
This is page #1 of 6 total pages:
1. German commercial Barrel proof 7.65mm 1900 and 1906 luger
2. German commercial Barrel proof 9mm 1902 to 1908 luger
3. German commercial receiver and toggle on 1900 to 1908 luger
4. German commercial proof. Found in some commercail lugers of the 1906-1914 era. A few lugers manufactured by Krieghoff have a similar, but smaller proof.
5. Swiss proof. Shooting-in proof of Federal Arms Factory, Berne
6. Swiss proof. Control proof of Herr Vogelsang
7. Swiss proof. Control proof of Herr Nievergelt
8. Swiss proof. Control proof of Herr Muhlemann
9. German navy barrel proof. Left proof located on bottom of barrel. Right proof (not always present) is located on left side of barrel. Found on SOME 1904, 1906, 1908 and ALL 1914 navy examples
10. German navy receiver proof. Found (with proof 9) on some 1904, 1906, 1908 and ALL 1914 navy examples
11. German military receiver proof. Found only on the 1908 commercial/military variations
12. German military receiver proof. Found on 1908 military examples without chamber dates
The rest of the Proof Marks are here:
http://www.gunsworld.com/p08/p08_proof_us.html
This has always been a fun process for me. I hope you enjoy it also!
Best.0 -
I believe the pistol was captured and in use in England hence the Word "German" is stamped into the gun frame. The Brits always proofed foreign guns and stamped the barrel near the chamber.
In any event it's a nice clean interesting piece.
Lugers need full power ammunition to function properly. Some American stuff isn't and you get the kind of malfunction you're experiencing.
124 grain ammo is more reliable in the Luger.
If you handload, producing full power ammunition isn't an issue.
On the off chance the magazine is defective and the feed lips are deformed, you can buy a new or used magazine. It's a good idea to have at least two.
By the way, there is a magazine loading tool that makes loading a lot easier.
If after all you can't get satisfaction from available ammo and another magazine you can try a lighter mainspring from Wolf Mfg Co. It's a hassle to change the spring but once you've done it it isn't so bad.
Enjoy your gun.0 -
I hope these pictures will help with identifying the proof marks.0 -
You still don't have it sharp enough to show the markings inside the circles underneath the crown.
The other markings on right side of the receiver are standard W W I German Proof Marks. Usually the Lugers had 3 or 4 showing the receiver had been hardened, the pistol was ready for test firing, and then the actual Proof Mark closest to the barrel.0 -
I'll try again. I'm having a hard time trying to get a real good picture of those marks. 0
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