German Lugars

mustang68

I have two German Lugars and I am interested in their value. One is a 1915 that was stamped again in 1920. The serial number is 7807 and all parts have the matching number. There is also a scripted stamp on the top that looks like a DWC or a DMC or something close. This pistol is in excellent condition and aside from a little wear on the pistol grips it looks new.

The other is a 1913 with the same 1920 stamp with the serial number of 7068. This has the additional marking of S/42 on top but this one piece has a different serial number that the rest. The condition is the same as above.

These pistols had an interesting history as I purchased them from the Nicaraguan Sandinista Army and they were supplied to them by the East German Government during the Sandinista War.

nmyers

High quality photos are a must for us to tell you anything.

Check the sticky at top of the 1st page for photo posting instructions.

Neal

mustang68

Not sure how to send the pictures. I tried copying and it wouldn't paste.

Hawk Carse

You have what are known, reasonably enough, as "double date" Lugers. They are guns that were made and issued to the German army in World War I and then were refurbished by the Spandau arsenal in 1920 for the small army that the Versailles Treaty allowed Germany to keep.

The monogram on the first is really DWM for Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken - German Weapons and Ammunition Manufacturer - one of the main big makers of Lugers. The S/42 on the other pistol is a WW II marking showing manufacture by Mauser, showing that gun was repaired with a part from another gun, probaby by the East Germans.

There should be a small letter under the main 4-digit serial number on the front of the receiver under the barrel. The Germans had gone to a numbering system from 1 to 9999 and then 1a to 9999a, and so forth, starting over every year so as to not run serial numbers up into the hundreds of thousands.

Value is completely dependent on condition, so good close clear pictures are necessary for somebody here to give a dollar number.

Provenance would help, if you have PROOF of the history of the guns, from Communist East Germany to Nicaragua to you. But your sayso means little, the rule is "Buy the gun, not the story."

mustang68

Thanks for the information, I will try to get some good pictures out.

I'm not sure how to prove their history, as I personally purchased them from an EPS Colonel in Managua and saw the German crate he pulled them out of. The Sandinista Revolutionary Army did not use these pistols after they were received as part of East Germany's support to the Sandinista Revolution; they remained packaged until the Colonel sold me two. I doubt that I would be able to contact the Colonel again.

Each pistol did come with two matching serialized magazines and a small hand tool.