Luger 1913 DWM

[rjmckee]

I inherited this Swiss Luger some years ago but never used it. I shot it yesterday and it was more accurate than my S&W 459. I checked with the gunsmith where my Father-in-law got it many years ago. He said is was in great shape. It has the original holster which also is in excellent shape. I have two questions:
1. There is a small pocket with a flap inside the holster which ist at the top inside of the holster when the pistol barrel is facing down. This pocket is only about 1-1/2 - 2 inches long.
What is it for?
2. I have no intention of selling this piece due to sentimental value but what is a range of value for this Luger?
I've seen prices for these ranging from $500-3000. The DWM script logo is just forward of the rear sight. The date 1913 is at the forward end of the barrel. I checked 16 logo examples at a Luger sight but none with both the DWM logo and the date on the top of the gun.
Thanks in advance,
Ray

 

[Jim Watson]

Why do you think it is Swiss?
German made Swiss Lugers typically have the national crest, a cross in a shield, over the chamber; the date is a German convention. DWM and the year are standard German markings.
What is the caliber? Swiss Lugers are .30/7.65, they saw no reason to change to 9mm when they studied the matter in 1911.
Please post pictures and illustrate or describe markings.

The little pocket on the holster is for the combination tool that gives you a handle on the magazine follower button to ease loading the mag. It has a screwdriver tip for removing the grips and firing pin.

I won't try to guess the value except to say that $500 is way low for a functional Luger.

 

[rjmckee]

Jim, Thank you for the quick reply. It is a 9mm. I read on http://luger.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22
that DWM was Swiss made.
The D in DWM is of course Deustch but I assumed that the pistols were made in Germany, and even Portugal.
When (if) I get my camera fixed I'll post a picture of gun and holster.
The S/N is 995x. All the numbers match. The bottom of the magazine is wood.
In any case, any errors are mine. I was surprised at how easy and accurate a 1913 gun would shoot.
Regards,
Ray

 

[Jim Watson]

Nope.
DWM = Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken, Berlin, Germany.
Probably a German Army P08, one of 22,000 made that year.
Does it have a lug on the butt for a shoulder stock? If so, made in or after August that year.

Switzerland made their own Lugers from 1914 after WW I started. Otherwise they all came out of Germany, sold everywhere from Portugal to Persia.

 

[rjmckee]

Jim again, good info thanks. 22,000 in 1913 begs the question 'how many are in excellent working order nearly a century later.
Besides TheHIGHROAD what are the better books or websites regarding these 9mms?

 

[Kman]

lugerforum.com good place to start, you have an early gun, lets see the pics!

 

[Jim Watson]

1913 was a slow year. They had made 45,000 in 1910, 105,000 in 1911, only 10,000 in 1912, and 22,000 in 1913, but were up 120,000 in 1914. And that is just DWM, Erfurt was making nearly as many, to a total of about a million and a half from 1911 til the end of the war in 1918.

 

[Jim K]

Just FWIW,

Lugers were never made in Portugal, though Portugal bought German-made Lugers for its forces.

Other than some "repros" made in the US in the post-WWII years, Lugers were made only in Germany and Switzerland. Vickers, in England, refurbished some for the Dutch, but they were not made by them.

There were only three sets of Luger tooling. One was used by DWM/Mauser; one by the Erfurt arsenal and after WWI went to Simpson in Suhl, then to Krieghof. Both those sets were lost or destroyed during WWII. The third set was at Bern in Switzerland, and was bought by Mauser in the 1970's to make new pistols as a commercial venture. I understand that tooling has now been scrapped.

Jim