I appreciate the information. Would that make my pistol pre-contract or included as part of it?by severin
B.B.
I appreciate the information. Would that make my pistol pre-contract or included as part of it?
B.B.
A very nice Luger Brodie... get yourself a small jar of gun blue and go over the proof house stamps to kill off the shiny metal. London proof house stamps have always been ugly!
Cheers,
Steve.
Hello B.B.
It's a Portuguese contract, anything after 149m is Portuguese, I believe they had other contracts after the Portuguese contract Romania? not sure.
James D Julia in 2013 sold Dr G Sturgess Portuguese luger serial 459m which appeared in the book The Borchardt & Luger Automatic Pistols
written by Dr G Sturgess. It was known as the M943 in Portugal.
Jonathan.
I think they might actually have gone over them with a grease pencil. Should be able to tease out the white with a toothpick. Seems London Proof House have always done this. I have a No4 rifle deactivated in 1995 which is exactly the same.
EDIT: Appears it is actually white metal. A shame they feel the need to deface them so blatantly and irreversibly.
B.B.
Last edited by BrodieBartfast; 04-09-2018 at 09:45 PM.
Am slightly disappointed to hear that, actually. I know it's still a German-made Luger, but knowing it didn't give service in its home country puts a bit of a damper on it. Guess that would explain its near-perfect condition, though. What are the chances that it never left Germany? I've read here and there about Portuguese contract K98's that ended up being diverted for use in the Wehrmacht. Is there any chance the same thing may have happened with P08's as well?
B.B.
Hello B.B.
I've not heard of any Portuguese contracts that didn't make it to Portugal, but who knows.
I shouldn't fret old chum, you have yourself a cracking luger to be proud of. They were after all defensive weapons, and if used in anger the poor sod was already in a very bad place. Chances are the one I have lived a lazy life in a holster or tucked away in a draw and only saw the light of day to be cleaned!
If I were you I would still be on my return journey having just gone 'over the moon'
It's a cracker and no mistake.
Jonathan.
I'm definitely still high on the thrill of the purchase, for sure. My pistol was made in Germany during the war, bears German markings, has fully matching numbers and is in near perfect shape. I still have that 'new militaria buzz' about me. If anything, its journey to Portugal is just that little bit more history. I can't help but wonder what sort of life it led while it was out there, and how it ended up back here in Northern Europe. If it had stayed in Germany for the duration, it would likely have ended up in far worse shape than it is now. It might even have been destroyed completely.
I can't begin to imagine how frustrating a weapon it would have been in battlefield conditions. A nice show piece, built like a Swiss watch, but every bit as difficult to take apart and put back together. If I were a soldier, I'd have taken a P38 any day of the week.
B.B.
B.B.
Have you had a look at Jan C Still luger forum? More Luger info than you can shake a stick at!
It is believed that the German Army Waffenamt was the seller of the last batch of 42 byf Luger pistols to the Portuguese Military. The pistols are Military accepted (E/135) and proofed (TP-3); they were produced by Mauser in August - September 1942 just before the mass production was halted in favor of the succeeding P.38.
The pistols of all earlier foreign contracts have commercial proofs; it seems obvious that Mauser was not informed about the destination of this lot until the Waffenamt indicated that they had to go to Portugal. We know that the delivery took place in January 1943 - hence the Portuguese code for this lot: 943. Note also the safety text; 'Gesichert'
What is the current information on Portuguese contract serial number ranges for the 943’s? Does the contract include the “n” block?
SN's reported: Lowest 209m, Highest 5237m.
All that info above comes from Stills site. Do a search with M943!
Jonathan.
You've been most helpful here. Thank you! Will take a look at the site and see what I can dig up. Would the serial number of my Luger make it possible to date it to a specific month of production? I remember you were able to identify the production month of my P38, and figure you're the right person to ask.
Regards, B.B.
As they were made in Aug/Sept with the given serial number range I would safely say yours would be September.
Jonathan.
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