Luger help needed

gadwal

I know that this type question has probably been beat to death, but I didn't know where else to start.... I have a very nice undated .30 Cal DWM commercial that I believe to be a model 1900; but I am not positive. I measure the barrel at 3.57 inches, but it may be 4 inches, as I am not sure how to measure it. The 4 digit serial # (23-5) appears beneath the barrel and on the front of frame. The only only # (matches the last 2 digits of ser #) appears beneath the rear sight. The weapon does not have a grip safety, but does have the stock lug.
I took it to the largest gun dealer in my area, but he is only interested in modern sportsman type firearms. He had no Luger knowledge, but did say that he would grade my Luger at least 95 to perhaps 98%.
I have some photo's, but don't know how to post them here.

From what I have provided, can someone tell me what I have???
Thanks

big mango

Posting Photographs...... TAKEN FROM FORUM GUIDES---

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perry shooter

The correct way to measure a barrel on a semi-auto pistol is to take an unsharpened pencil or other wood dowel that will fit in the bore . Then with the gun UNLOADED and with the slide or in your case the toggle closed insert the pencil in the muzzle mark the pencil at the end of muzzle and remove pencil the distance from end of pencil to this mark is the length of the barrel. There should be a two digit or four digit number on the receiver ring part of the frame this is year made. There are so many models of Lugers that Pictures or better yet a HAND-ON are the only way to give even a guess. 95% Lugers could if all matching and original finish could bring GOOD MONEY.edit[:p]I LOOKED AT YOUR PICTURES YOU SENT ME AND EMAILED A REPLY .I would love to see the pistol in person IMHO it is worth more then $400.00 but very hard to say how much more without pictures of each part that has a 2 digit number also a picture of the frame with the top half removed to see if it has the proper "rust blue" not a hot blue job done if it was refinished .

Hawk Carse

I am not a Luger expert, but a stock lug and no grip safety say P08 to me, or just possibly an '04 Navy with sub-100mm .30 barrel installed to meet Treaty of Versailles requirements after WW I. Or even a total parts gun made up from war surplus components.

Herschel

gadwal, You almost certainly have a 1920 Commercial DWM. These were military lugers that were reworked during the 1920's for commercial sale in the US, maybe other countries. The word "Germany" probably appears somewhere on the frame. The Treaty of Versailles? prohibited Germany from making military handguns. They were allowed to modify or manufacture lugers into .30 Cal. and could only have a barrel length less than 100mm, I believe that is roughly 4 inches, hence the shorter barrel on your .30 Cal. Luger. The Model 1900 was in .30 cal but had a flat recoil spring, grip safety and no stock lug. All the parts on your Luger should have the last two digits of the serial number. The complete serial number should be on the bottom of the barrel and the front of the frame. Some part numbers may be visible and some may be concealed. I am sorry to have to tell you that the 1920 commercial is the most plentiful of the civilian lugers and probably will bring less money than a common military model. The receiver ring in your luger should have a slightly flattened, or less curved, place on the top where the date was ground off. Email me for answers to specific questions.

gadwal

Herschel,
I know that you are probably right. I was just hoping that my luck had changed, and that for the first time I had something nice.

The pistol is not dated. I have a 1918 DWM, so I know what the date looks like & where it would appear. This pistol is so near perfect, no apparent refinish, no apparent date grinding, matching 4 digit number on barrel & frame; matching 2 digit number on toggle below rear sight; no rust; no pitting; good straw, but it does have a 3 7/8 inch barrel that displays a "crown n" above the ser #, and a "horizontal n" below the ser #, and it does have (very faint) Germany on the top right side of the frame.

I'm glad that I ask you men on this forum, as I would have really hated to send it off and pay $150.00 for an appraisal; just to be told that I had a $400.00 pistol.

Thanks fellows.

Herschel

gadwal, From your description of the finish and straw coloring, I would think it is worth more than $400 but I have been out of Luger collecting for years and am not up on current values.

big mango

gadwal:

Try and use smaller pictures and maybe they will post on the GB site.

Or try and email to another member

Good Luck !!!

rhmc24

The luger gang hangs out at lugerforum.com - you might give them a try.