3 Decade Yearning: Model 1914 German Navy Luger

-Back in the early 90's I was at the AGC pistol range and an older gentleman sets up next to me. He pulls out a tidy German Navy Luger with 6" barrel from his shooting box and I go ga-ga. He kindly offered to let me run a couple magazines worth of rounds through it and I was in lust. Later I start looking at Navy Luger prices and realize that one was out of my financial reach at that time. But I kept it at the top of my C&R Bucket List anyway.
-Fast forward to today. Taxes are paid and the bank account is in solid condition. I open my online auction application and look to see what new stuff is listed. I have a permanent search for the keyword Luger and I get a hit in a tiny auction house in the PA countryside. My jaw hits the keyboard when I see a Model 1914 German Navy Luger rig. The half dozen photos are dark but I can see that it's genuine, not a fake. No small thing as genuine Navy Lugers are expensive enough to encourage the manufacture of fakes. The mag is a WW2 aluminum base replacement but that doesn't faze me. Original Navy issue mags are out there.
-I place a solid absentee bid and wait. A couple days after the auction I get an email from the auctioneer that it's mine. And for a very, very good price (you know this was coming, my life isn't complete without the obligatory good bargain). Cheap enough it was like getting the holster for free and then some.
-Condition is VG with some minor bluing wear. Straw finish is fair but I noticed that the takedown lever is blued, no correct factory straw finish. Upon disassembly I find it's matching but for the takedown lever which is an un-numbered replacement. Bore is excellent and mechanically it's tight. Very sweet!
-The holster is well marked and a proper Navy issue version with belt loop (more about that later). Sadly the flap stitching is very rough (not unusual) and the worst part is that at some time over the last 100 plus years it acquired a black polish finish, covering the original brown. These holsters sell for nearly as much as the pistols if in VG condition so I'm not that unhappy. It's easily worth sending to Jerry Burney who specializes in Luger holster repair.
-The belt loop of the holster means that it was issued to naval infantry. There's a strong chance that it was with the Marine Korps Flandern who made up the German line's right flank in Belgium from 1914 to 1918. I'm not sure about the black dye/polish. Perhaps it spent time in police service?

More photos of the numbers and holster. It came with a generic, unmarked Luger tool and a cleaning rod that I suspect is from a P08. Simpson should have what I want in a proper cleaning rod and perhaps a Navy magazine too. If you look at the tool pouch in the holster you'll see the original brown color.

Damn that's nice!

A very hearty congratulations on that one Mawkie - Beautiful!

Congrats on completing the quest !
looks in super shape especially considering the age and surviving two wars.

-Got serious about this a year ago when I realized that at this point in my collecting life if I didn't get one soon I probably never would. Started by hoovering up all the published and online literature I could on Navy Lugers. Esp. info on how to ID a fake as I was determined not to throw $3-5K down a rabbit hole. I was shocked to discover how many there were out there and some listed by "reputable" dealers including a local tri-state dealer who I had previously don't business with. That was scary!
-VG, all matching early P04s will set you back $4.5-5.5K, without a holster (unit marked examples bringing the highest prices). That includes a matching mag. Later Model 1914s like mine sell in the $3-4K range on average. -Getting this rig for the low range estimate of just a pistol was a relief. I'll probably have to invest another $500-600 to get a proper Naval magazine and un-marked cleaning rod. But believe it's worth the coin. Have no clue what Jerry B's handiwork will cost but I've seen VG holsters of this type selling in the $2-2.5K range. They push a matching pistol rig into the $6-8K arena. Add a proper Naval cleaning rod and tool and it gets stupid expensive.
-I knew that this one didn't have a matching mag but rolled the dice on the rest of the pistol being matching. Again, it was more of a Jedi-like intuition after seeing the photos. It wasn't messed with, had original finish. A big gamble. In the end just the take-down lever kept me from a perfect matching example and I'm not upset over it. Have a hunch she might have served in both the Naval Infantry in WWI and a police unit in WWII. No provenance just speculation on my part, it's the romantic in me.

Excellent story, detective work, and find as usual!!. When i start collecting, by bucket list is to merely have any find as worthy as one of yours.

Sehr Gut!

That is remarkably complicated on the inside. Commands respect, considering that it was developed at the end of the 1800s with pen-and-paper.

Last night's C&R Postings:

Me: Look at this cool shotgun that matches my other shotgun almost exactly and here's a neat, but ultimately not that interesting story

Mawkie: Here, hold my beer......

Very nice Mawkie! Plenty rare and very, very nice condition!

I am in awe! Beautiful pistol!

Sweet looking gun. Sometimes good things DO come to those who wait!

I hate you.

Edit: Not really, but I'm so envious!

My very first C&R was a total mutt, this P08 dated to WW1 with the worst bore I've seen in 40 years of collecting. I acquired it as a shooter when I was 22 and collecting was far from my mind. Frustrated with the fact that I couldn't hit squat with it and cleaning that horribly pitted bore was an all-night affair I decided to change out the barrel and extension. Got one from a Luger specialty dealer in Ohio, a 41 dated assembly. Spent days hand lapping the lower to the extension as they were such a tight fit. Started at 80 grit and finished up with 800 grit paste. Ended with the smoothest action ever and a fine bore that completely transformed it. Lugers are the most intuitive point shooters I've ever had the pleasure to experience. Nothing like them. Very picky about ammo, esp OAL, but when they work right they're magic.
This was the gun that set me on the path to today, warts and all. Still love 'er so.

tallen702 said:

Last night's C&R Postings:

Me: Look at this cool shotgun that matches my other shotgun almost exactly and here's a neat, but ultimately not that interesting story

Mawkie: Here, hold my beer......

Very nice Mawkie! Plenty rare and very, very nice condition!

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Nothing intentional, trust me! I was like a kid that had sent Santa a hundred letters over the years, pleading for that one special puppy to love. And then, when he had just about given up hope, comes down on Christmas morning to a wonderful pup. Couldn't wait to tell everyone about it.
You have my permission to steal my thunder any time! BTW, even though I"m not a shotgun guy I admired your latest WWF acquisition. And even more so, your obvious passion for it. That's what keeps me rolling along. Life without a passion is empty and I love the company of like minded friends.

K-43 said:

I hate you.

Edit: Not really, but I'm so envious!

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You don't know how many times I get the brief flash of envy when you and others here post amazing finds. It's quickly replaced with admiration but still there nevertheless. So I get it!

mawkie said:

Lugers are the most intuitive point shooters I've ever had the pleasure to experience. Nothing like them. Very picky about ammo, esp OAL, but when they work right they're magic.

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See, I can't hit the broad side of a barn with one! It obviously has more to do with me and my shooting style than the gun. I've got my Grandfather's captured P-08 from the war along with all the paperwork. (He had a Luftwaffe officer surrender to him by mistake. My grandfather was only a tech sergeant, but had just taken his Piper Cub "Grasshopper" up to make sure the repairs he had done were good to go, so the Luftwaffe guy though he was a pilot, and thus an officer, but that's another story for another time) It'll eat UMC 115gr 9x19mm all day long. Doesn't like 124gr NATO stuff though, too hard on the action IMHO. Anyway, my dad loves it. Natural pointer for him. He can ping 10/10 off a pistol gong at 25 yards with it all day long. Me? No sir, I'll maybe put 5/10 on a gong at that distance with a Luger, but will put 10/10 on it with a 1911. Go figure.

I do agree that they are beautiful works of art though! I probably enjoy shooting my P-08 more than any other pistol I have. They are soooooo smooth. I love seeing the progression in design from Borchardt to Luger and the refinements that were made. I've always found it interesting that nobody really used that design further as it truly makes for a smooth action.

Again, beautiful example, and seriously, there was no thunder to steal. There's no comparing my bird guns to a Navy Luger!

MigraineMan said:

That is remarkably complicated on the inside. Commands respect, considering that it was developed at the end of the 1800s with pen-and-paper.

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What's amazing to me is the quality of the machining and how well everything fits. Done on manual machinery, no digital indicators, no CNC. And produced during the 3rd year of an intense war that taxed the capacity of industry on all sides. Remember that Remington had difficulties tooling up for French Berthier production. I'm intimately familiar with both firearms and hands down the P08 is a far more complicated critter to produce. But then again, DWM had been building Lugers in all configurations for nearly 20 years by this point so they should have had it down pat by then.

Congratulations, my friend! Beautiful specimen! I hope it brings you at least as many years of happiness as it took you to find it.

Mawkie,

Very nice pistol. With all the historical arms that you have, do you have a room set up that is organized by time period and country? I would pay admission to walk through a room or hall with the history you have collected and look at the progression of firearms technology, with you as the guide.


Q