1918 Erfurt Luger Description: ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! 9mm Erfurt low serial numbered #103, WW1 German Luger. Lots of these were destroyed after WW1. All numbers match. The mag is marked erma made in Germany. The barrel and bore are absolutely flawless! This Luger looks like it came out the factory last week. German Luger Collectibles. Phoenixinvestmentarms.com On the toggle train the breech block has the last two digits from the serial number and the Trial Proof 2 while the 1st toggle has the last two digits of the serial number on top. The rear toggle link has the serial number on the rear. Here is the inside of the Luger and you can see it is clean and has been well cared for over the years. Luger Proof/Acceptance Mark Identification Guide (1898-1945) This is one of a series of identification guides for small arms. To the best of our knowledge, all the examples shown are original pre-1945 manufacture. It’s worth greatly depends on what variant it is, what caliber it’s in, when it was manufactured, and what it’s condition is. The bottom of the barrel I can tell you is that a functioning Luger has never sold for any less than 1200 USD from all th.

The Survey of the Mauser 'Banner' V series in this Forum is now active since November 2005. Many members have been so kind to give me the SN's and basic properties of the pistols they own, or that they been have able to find in other sources.
I have presented at the 2006 SE Napca Convention an overview of my findings so far. In view of my promise that I would also publish these on this forum, you find hereunder the actual results of my research. These might help when studying a Mauser commercial or contract Luger having a Serial Number between 1v and 9999v.
This is only an interim report, I did not find yet answers to all the questions, so please go on sending me the properties of any Mauser Luger within this Series that is not yet reported correctly in the listing.
Updates, Revisions:
When new information becomes available the information below wil be updated.
Hereunder you can see the dates of the updates, and the chapter(s) that were reviewed.
09/01/2006: 4. - 6. - 12.
09/07/2006: 8.
10/02/2006: 17.
11/04/2006: 10. - 25.
03/25/2007: 11. - 17. - 24. plus some minor text corrections.
04/19/2007: 17.
09/02/2007: 9. Dutch Navy 1936 with date on chamber, 1937 having a 'v' suffix.
10/11/2007: 9. Persian Lugers have a '+' for factory inspection mark.
02/02/2008: 18. SN 3294v is reported from Spain.
04/06/2008: 10. New evidence found.
05/23/2008: 9. - 17. - 18. - 20. Small corrections
05/23/2008: 21. New insight on 'Swiss' frames
1. DWM Luger production goes to Mauser (1929 - 1930).
In 1928, the BKIW/DWM management proposed to cut the nominal value of the shares in half. Most shareholders are not happy with this, during the annual meeting the sitting board of directors is replaced by mayor shareholders. They decide to nominate GÃ¼nther Quandt, the successful manager/owner of the AFA battery factory, as the new president of this board.
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] Quandt.jpg
GÃ¼nther Quandt, 07.28.1881 in Pritzwalk; â* 12.30.1954 in Cairo.
Picture taken in 1937.
GÃ¼nther Quandt started an investigation of the situation of the BKIW/DWM concern. It showed out that the activities were far from profitable, reorganization was inevitable. Quandt replaced the manager (Paul von Gontard) with a management of three directors, and decided to end the production of all weapons in Berlin moving it to Mauser Werke in Oberndorf, of which all shares were owned by BKIW/DWM since 1898.
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] BKIWOrg.jpg
Negotiations between both managements started November 1929. DWM was not at all happy to lose the Luger production and Mauser was secretly working on a pistol that should replace the Luger as the official Army sidearm. Anyway the orders had to be fulfilled, and the move of the production facilities started in February, the transports ended in May 1930.
2. What moved from Berlin to Oberndorf?:
- Standard machinery and about 650 appliances to produce 50 Lugers a day
- The tool room examples of seven different Luger models
- Raw steel material
- Many thousands of Luger parts, finished or partly finished
- 4,000 finished Lugers (mostly 'in the white' and proofed in Berlin with Crown/N)
- August Weiss, since 1922 the chief weapon maker of DWM, he would stay in Oberndorf to the end (1946).
3. SN's of C/N proofed Lugers that came from Berlin to Oberndorf:
Certain: 1v - 560v (of which 3 lined Stoegers 400v - 524v)
Probable: 6650u - 9999u
4. DWM versus Mauser barrels.
There were two types of barrels that moved from DWM to Mauser.
a. Having a dull barrel band (mostly mounted on the 'U' series)
b. Having a sharp barrel band, as seen on the Dutch Navy Lugers (DWM 1928-1930).
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] 2BarrelBands.jpg
-SN 1384- SN 8913u
Dutch Navy both made in 1929 by DWM
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] BarrelBandK-date.jpg
Barrel Band of K-date
Could have been made by Mauser, or taken from the stock of DWM made barrels.
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] BarrelBand1939.jpg
Barrel Band of Mauser production (Banner 1938).
Conclusions:
DWM made barrels with a sharp barrel band as from 1928. They were mounted on the Dutch East Indies and Navy contracts, and also on the 'v' suffixed series that came assembled and C/N proofed from Berlin to Oberndorf.
DWM mounted barrels with a dull barrel band on the Lugers of the 'U' series that came assembled from Berlin to Oberndorf, but some pistols of these series were reported to have a sharp barrel band too.
Many barrels with a sharp barrel band came as readied parts from DWM to Mauser. It is not known if Mauser produced any barrels with a sharp barrel band in Oberndorf.
The barrels that unmistakenly are produced by Mauser, have a dull barrel band. These appear on Banners as from 1936.
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] GraphicBarrelBands.jpg
Time table for the use of sharp / dull barrel bands, and the C/N versus Cc/U proof stamps.
5. DWM made frames versus Mauser made frames:
These are easy to recognize. Mauser produced frames have always a dimple (hole) on top of the stock lug rail. It is probable that this was a fixing point, used during the production / finishing of the frames.
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] StockLugRails.jpg
Left: DWM frame, Right: Mauser frame.
A bit more complicated is the difference between the DWM and Mauser frames as the top rear end of the frame is examined. In 1931 the German Army published ordnance, stating that the frame of the P.08 pistol should be lengthened with 1 millimeter, in order to prevent the toggle axle of escaping during the uppermost position of the toggle.
Here are the figures:
Frame length DWM made: 129.0mm (5.078â)
Frame length Mauser made: 130.0mm (5.118â)
The Ordnance was implied by Mauser in 1934, when the K-date Military Lugers were produced. However, Mauser experimented at that time with two designs.
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] FrameDWM.jpg
a. DWM frame, Dutch Navy 1929, length 129mm
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] FrameMauser.jpg
b. Mauser Frame, K-date 1934, no hump, length 130mm
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] FrameMauserHump.jpg
c. Mauser Frame, Dutch Navy 1940, hump, length 130mm at the hump, 129mm under the hump.
Conclusions:
Mauser produced frames only as from 1934, until that time DWM frames were used.
Mauser experimented with two designs. During 1934 these were both used for the K-dates, after that the Mauser hump was not used for the Military contracts until 1937. The commercial pistols of the 'V' series however, can have the Mauser hump as early as 1936.
[img]images/icon_paperclip.gif[/img] GraphicFrames.jpg
Time table for the use of short (DWM) and long (Mauser) frames, with or without Hump.
6. Shaved or non- shaved, that is the question....
Many DWM frames have a flattened appearance on the front of the frame, as if it was filed or milled off. At first sight it seems that an existing Serial Number was removed in order to renumber the frame. This is seems not always the case, a close examination of many of these so called 'shaved' in the early 'V'frames did not show even the slightest remains of an earlier serialization. Furthermore, the lengths of these shaved frames are exactly 129mm, just like the unshaved examples.
As from the Dutch East Indies contract (1928) DWM started to give the front of the frames this treatment, and also th

Erfurt Luger Serial Numbers