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A Luger with two date stamps?

7K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  gdmoody 
#1 ·
Hi gentlemen, I have a Luger here that I'd appreciate knowing a bit more about. I'm curious about it having two date stamps on top "1918" and "1920". Is this a reworked gun? I also noticed that the barrel has a different serial number "8761" with 883 below it than does the frame "8470". It also has some very interesting proofs as you can see along the R frame. Thanx for your interest!
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#3 ·
Thanks for posting pictures of your luger and congratulations on being the owner of what is often referred to as a "double/date." Your luger was originally manufactured by DWM in 1918, the last year of the "Great War." When the war ended and the German signed the Treaty of Versailles, it called for Germany to disarm. Consequently, all firearms were "supposed" to be turned in to the authorities. These same authorities planned to pay people for their firearms, but they were concerned that they would be paying for the same firearm more than once, so they decided to mark the firearms to prevent this. The law outlining this policy was known as the Disarming of the People Act and the procedures involved gradually came to fruition in 1920 and that date--"1920" was chosen as the mark to be stamped on firearms to prove that they had been properly surrendered to the authorities. Here is a passage form Heers Verodnungsblatt, vol 2, no 50, Berlin, Aug. 4, 1920, as translated and reprinted in the book German Small Arms Markings from Authentic Sources, by Gortz and Bryans:

"The impending general disarming of the people necessitates that all weapons of the armed forces will be marked. Marking instructions will be issued for the defense-regional commands and for Command Post IV…. Marking has to be performed as soon as possible according to marking instructions, to ascertain whether any weapon which will be returned may have been military issue which had fallen into unauthorized hands."​

Now for the second set of marks, those on the front grip-strap. After your pistol was turned in to authorities and marked accordingly, it was issued to a police unit that marked it with its' unit designation -- "S.C.II. 5.R.161" The "S.C." was the designation for the Police in Kassel. The "II" signifies that the pistol was given to the second command district of Kassel. The "5" means that was part of the fifth centuria. And the "161" indicates that it was the 161st weapon of that unit. Hope this helps and, once again, congrats on being the owner to a nice police double date luger.
 
#5 ·
Thank you for the compliment, but there are a couple of points that I forgot to mention. First, as has been pointed out, the barrel has been replaced and therefore the differing serial numbers. The other stamp on the barrel, the small winged eagle with the swastika, indicates that the weapon (or at least the barrel) was the property of the Nazi German government at some point. Second, after the gun was stamped with the "1920" designation but before it was issued to the police, it was "reworked" to include the "Schywie Safety," commonly called the "sear safety" or the "sear bar safety" or simply a "police safety." Basically, it involved the addition of that small "bar" or flat piece of metal that is pinned to the left side of the frame and extends over the top of the side plate. It was intended to prevent an accidental discharge if someone forgot to remove the round from the chamber before trying to disassemble it. If you want to see more lugers like yours and try to determine its' value, check out Simpson Ltd's web site. No, I'm not connected with them, they just have the largest number of lugers for sale on the web. When you're looking at their prices, keep in mind that yours is not "matching" because of the barrel and that Simpson has a very, very select group of clients who are willing to pay top dollar and beyond! You might also look at the book on police lugers that Simpson published. It's pricey but very helpful, especially if your thinking of adding to your collection of police lugers. Once again, hope this helps
 
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