.
Ah, finally found out that the (g) stands for 70 thousand. The small (a) would stand for 10 thousand, (b) would be 20 thousand and so on down the alphabet. (j) must be 100 thousand, I should think? That would make my luger #78,786 for the year 1918. Hey, that makes a decent cribbage hand too!
(Sorry folks, I'm only a week or so being late getting something out here for ya!)
I paid the handsome sum of $150 a few decades ago after shooting it to see that it did function okay, such a deal! My team was competing away from home at the time and this fellow was selling the Luger. There was a lot of interest but no one really went for it. When I showed interest my buddy said don’t buy it, it doesn’t have “all matching numbers”! I told him that if that Luger functioned normally I’m buying it, I had always wanted a Luger ever since playing with cap-guns as a kid and this was my chance to finally own one.
Not all matching numbers of course. The magazine and the rear pin for the toggle don’t match I believe. The gun is tight and has a good bore and no noticeable major faults at all. The small chip out of the grip, under the safety is my doing.
The holster and helmet were acquired in later years after the Luger and at even better prices. The Luger holster was given to me because I wouldn’t except money for doing a friend a favor. He knew I had a Luger so he gave me the holster and wouldn’t except anything for it. The helmet was a gift from dear ol’ Dad.
My Luger is double dated and I had wondered how this has come about. I had read or heard that double dates on the Luger were placed there to show that the barrel had been changed from 30 caliber to 9mm in that year (I don‘t believe this to be very correct). I also heard that the double date was placed there to signify that the Luger had gone through a factory refurbishing process on that date (1920). I guess it could have been both of these things in a way but I bumped into an article just recently that explains it in a way I hadn’t heard before:
DOUBLE DATES:
The new (Weimar) German Government after WWI found itself with an armed citizenry with all the soldiers bringing their weapons home from the war.
On August 1st, 1920 the German authorities issued an order from Berlin that cited the impending disarming of the people required that all weapons of the armed forces were to be marked with the date to prevent people from stealing military supplies and selling them back to the government.
On August 7th, 1920 rewards were begun for the turn-in of weapons to the government paying 100 Marks (then about $23.50) for a small arm until October 10th after which the reward was to be reduced to 50 Marks. Thus began the disarming of the citizenry; a lesson that should not be lost on free people.
The new (Weimar) German Government after WWI found itself with an armed citizenry with all the soldiers bringing their weapons home from the war.
On August 1st, 1920 the German authorities issued an order from Berlin that cited the impending disarming of the people required that all weapons of the armed forces were to be marked with the date to prevent people from stealing military supplies and selling them back to the government.
On August 7th, 1920 rewards were begun for the turn-in of weapons to the government paying 100 Marks (then about $23.50) for a small arm until October 10th after which the reward was to be reduced to 50 Marks. Thus began the disarming of the citizenry; a lesson that should not be lost on free people.
"DWM" bought Loewe & Co and began producing this type Luger about a year later thanks to the talents of Georg Luger a youthful engineer they acquired in the same deal.
I've seen small letter "m & a" on other barrels and my Luger has the small letter "g" but I still don't have a clue as to what it stands for. I should have bought some chalk to help the lettering & symbols stand out a lot better.
Ah, finally found out that the (g) stands for 70 thousand. The small (a) would stand for 10 thousand, (b) would be 20 thousand and so on down the alphabet. (j) must be 100 thousand, I should think? That would make my luger #78,786 for the year 1918. Hey, that makes a decent cribbage hand too!
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I hope to be adding more Luger photos of the numbers, etc. to this thread from time to time and also some photos and info about the holster and helmet, eventually.
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