Bringback Luger Q's

[Fishslayer]

Friend of mine inherited a WWII bringback Luger. All he's found so far is a date 1920 on it.

Anyplace he should look for markings that would be significant?

Is there a go-to website to look up marks & whatnot?

I told him not to do any cleaning or polishing on it.

If he sends me any photos I'll post 'em up.

[metalcruncher]

[Spaffo]

Good advice. Lots of subject matter experts there.

[sonofeugene]

Best forum for Lugers is this one: http://www.lugerforum.com

They will expect lots of quality photos but you'll get more than you ever wanted to know on the Luger.

And unless your friend has documentation on its being a bring back, expect it to be poo-pooed.

[sonofeugene]

And yes, no cleaning and god forbid, no polishing what so ever. If it's a collector grade gun, that will absolutely ruin it.

And be very careful removing the left grip. If it doesn't have the million dollar chip above and behind the safety, you certainly don't want to add that.

Watch some YouTube videos on disassembly and reassembly before doing anything.

[Fishslayer]

Thanks everyone.

I looked at it today. The finish is in remarkably good condition considering it had been stored in the holster for decades. Very little wear and zero rust. The grips show some wear but no major dings or chips.

As for disassembly, not my gun. He said he's had it apart. I cringed. He said he watched several videos.

It had the serial number on numerous parts. I saw no markings that would indicate WWII German use but I'm not an expert. It has a S/N matching magazine + one extra.

My uneducated opinion is that it may have been a cop gun. It had what looked to be an armory number stamped on the back of the toggle. Would SPB171 ring a bell? Nothing on Google. Maybe it was from a country besides Germany?

I told him that real deal surplus holsters are available & I would just keep the original as a relic.

He insists on storing it in the holster. Maybe I should just buy it from him.

As for bringback status, no documents were found but there is absolutely zero doubt that his FIL brought it back after WWII.

He's not really a gun guy & had no idea what a Ruger Standard pistol was. When I showed him my 4" MK III he fell in love with it!

[sonofeugene]

A matching SN on a magazine adds value.

Do NOT store the gun in a holster. That's a sure way to ruin a gun.

And check out the forum I mentioned. They will provide the very best information on the gun.

[highpower]

There are two sorts of Lugers with 1920's dates. There are those that were made after WWI and were dated 1920 or 1921. The Weimar Era Lugers dated 1920 and 1921 are of new manufacture and were not reworked from surplus Imperial Lugers.

The other Lugers with the 1920 date will also have an earlier date and are known as double date Lugers. The "extra date" is a Reichswehr property mark. When the war ended and the German signed the Treaty of Versailles, it called for Germany to disarm. Consequently, all firearms were supposed to be turned in to the authorities. These same authorities planned to pay people for their firearms, but they were concerned that they would be paying for the same firearm more than once, so they decided to mark the firearms to prevent this.

I have a 1920 dated Luger that is marked as having been issued to the Berlin Police, Central District. I have seen quite a few of these '20 dated pistols that bear police property stamps. I have no doubt that many were pressed into military service during WWII.

[kris smith]

[zinfull]

A nice picture of the SPB marking will help identify unit where it belonged.

[crotter]

There are two sorts of Lugers with 1920's dates. There are those that were made after WWI and were dated 1920 or 1921. The Weimar Era Lugers dated 1920 and 1921 are of new manufacture and were not reworked from surplus Imperial Lugers.

The other Lugers with the 1920 date will also have an earlier date and are known as double date Lugers. The "extra date" is a Reichswehr property mark. When the war ended and the German signed the Treaty of Versailles, it called for Germany to disarm. Consequently, all firearms were supposed to be turned in to the authorities. These same authorities planned to pay people for their firearms, but they were concerned that they would be paying for the same firearm more than once, so they decided to mark the firearms to prevent this.

I have a 1920 dated Luger that is marked as having been issued to the Berlin Police, Central District. I have seen quite a few of these '20 dated pistols that bear police property stamps. I have no doubt that many were pressed into military service during WWII.

Heres an example of a double date 1918/1920 stamped Erfurt out of my collection.

[LAKA90034]

Might it be SBB?

Berlin Mounted Police ~1922

Schutzpolizei Berittene Berlin(?)

https://oldmilitarymarkings.com/police_unit_marks.html

(I have not vetted these personally)

[Wheellock]

Thanks everyone.

I looked at it today. The finish is in remarkably good condition considering it had been stored in the holster for decades. Very little wear and zero rust. The grips show some wear but no major dings or chips.

As for disassembly, not my gun. He said he's had it apart. I cringed. He said he watched several videos.

It had the serial number on numerous parts. I saw no markings that would indicate WWII German use but I'm not an expert. It has a S/N matching magazine + one extra.

My uneducated opinion is that it may have been a cop gun. It had what looked to be an armory number stamped on the back of the toggle. Would SPB171 ring a bell? Nothing on Google. Maybe it was from a country besides Germany?

I told him that real deal surplus holsters are available & I would just keep the original as a relic.

He insists on storing it in the holster. Maybe I should just buy it from him.

As for bringback status, no documents were found but there is absolutely zero doubt that his FIL brought it back after WWII.

He's not really a gun guy & had no idea what a Ruger Standard pistol was. When I showed him my 4" MK III he fell in love with it!

I would happily trade a Mk III for a Luger ...or at least take the friend to the range and let them take it for a run. Maybe they will develop some interest in the shooting sports.

[SVT-40]

I'll say it!