Luger and Steyr 1912

[Paul Morrison]

A friend of mine's Dad recently passed away. Amongst his collection are two handguns. One is a luger, it is marked Gesichert. He thinks it might be Hungarian origin. The serial number is 4 digits and starts with 65XX.

The second is a Steyr 1912, it is marked Mod. 1911 Serial # 15xxA Ejercito de Chile. He also thinks this one was originally hungarian.

Anyone have any idea on their history and sale value? He says both need minor repairs to be operable, and the luger is missing the magazine.

 

[polaris]

A friend of mine's Dad recently passed away. Amongst his collection are two handguns. One is a luger, it is marked Gesichert. He thinks it might be Hungarian origin. The serial number is 4 digits and starts with 65XX.

The second is a Steyr 1912, it is marked Mod. 1911 Serial # 15xxA Ejercito de Chile. He also thinks this one was originally hungarian.

Anyone have any idea on their history and sale value? He says both need minor repairs to be operable, and the luger is missing the magazine.

"Gesichert" means SAFE, that's all, doesn't tell anything about the pistol.

check the markings on top of the toggle, what is stamped there?
don't tell me it's written "geladen", because this only means loaded.

The Steyr 1912 was made by Steyr in Austria for Chile. Looks like in really nice shape.

More pictures from different angles would help a lot.

 

[colinjw]

The Lugers that I have seen tend to have serial numbers on many parts. Usually the last 2 numbers. Having them all match is a value adder.

 

[american lockpicker]

Very nice pistols.

 

[MTF]

"polaris" gave you good information. If the Luger was made about the same time as the Austrian Steyr (for WWI), the marking on top will be an intertwined script of "DWM", identifying it as made by the company, DWM (translates as German Weapons and Munitions). The Hungarians had their own sidearms in both WWI and WWII, but I suppose an officer may have bought a Luger for personal use. The Chilean crest on the Steyr, as "polaris" pointed out, means that your particular Steyr was built for export to Chile. Later, these pistols were sold off in both the US and Canada. Both pistols were in use through WWII. In any case, those look like nice examples of two very nice guns.

 

[john@]

Luger also appears to be missing the take down bolt and the side plate. Both can be replaced. The Luger is a prohib, so can only be sold to someone with 12(6) license. Your bud can inherit it and get grandfathered into the 12(7) class.

 

[Paul Morrison]

Any one got a ballpark on their value?

 

[john@]

400 for the Luger, 200 for the Steyr.

 

[john@]

Of course, much depends on the details the previous people mentioned, which arsenal manufactured it, date of manufacture etc.. close up and clear pics of all the markings would be helpful.

 

[kidvett]

On the Luger, as John mentionned, details are needed to establish an appropriate value.
Mk

 

[del3840]

Also on the Luger under the trigger guard any markings will indicate what company and unit it was assigned to...mine was 2nd telegraph battalion...try Jan C Stills axis web forum for info