I am looking at a nice (well, nice finish and condition) Luger, which is an obvious Russian capture piece. I own a 43 P-38, which I got from a friend who made many trips to Russia to purchase and import WWII weapons into this country, in the 90s. It was one that escaped the blue/black dip, maintaining it's original finish. The import stamp was made across the open end of the magazine well, and is looks like scratches. The only thing that gives away it's provenance is the ubiquitous Russian Army crossed rifle ownership stamp, on the left side of the frame.
On this Luger, I was able to take it apart, and examine it, and snap pictures. It has NO German maker marks nor waffenamts...anywhere. There are some part numbers, but those are few, and, of course, non matching. There are a couple of letters and circled numbers (5) on the magazine, the only variation on maker marks that survived the grinding wheel. There is even Cyrillic lettering at the safety lever location. Nothing like that was done with my P-38.
I have a 1917 Luger, and the difference is night and day. I understand the Russian need for marking captured material...most everyone did...and the dipping, but grinding away all maker info. Was this perhaps some postwar efforts at de-nazification?
Could this be a batch Lugers made by the Russians? Not likely, given a war economy...
Has anyone aver seen such a thing done with Lugers, or other captures? Also, what would be a Luger like this be worth? It almost seems like stuff that we received for SOG in Vietnam...deniable weapons and gear. But then, who would not know a Luger?!
Any answers and expert opinions are welcome. Thank you.
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