mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-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?
-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?
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