I purchased this from a dealer a couple of years ago who put me in touch with the seller. Turns out I picked up several other items the vet had. Really nice guy, he brought three guns home total but the dealer had already unloaded one of the guns. Russell also had a Luger that he had chrome plated while he was still in Germany that the dealer didn't want. I purchased it with capture paperwork from Russell. This VIS he picked up at a surrender weapons cache pile after the battle of the bulge. The Lieutenant in charge told them to get a weapon, he wanted a Luger bad but said the guys from the 101st had already culled all the Luger's out. He had no idea what it was but thought it looked good. He brought it home, put it in a locker and didn't touch it for 60 years. The Luger I got from him he captured near Landsberg the site of one of the first concentration camps. He believes the soldier he took it from could have been an escaping camp guard.
At any rate this is one of the first Alphabet VIS's made. These were built mostly from parts already at the plant when the Germans took it over. The fit and finish of this gun is second to none or was when new. This one obviously has seen some combat and holster time. It came to me in a Hi Power holster with extra original magazine. It had been sitting so long in one position the oil had turned hard as a rock and I had to soak the gun for a couple hours to get the oil to break down. Note the butt stock slot on the early alpha's. They are mixed in and I have seen them go as far as the D serial number but they only used them until they ran out of parts.
Bookmarks