DWM Luger WWI Model 1914 Artillery, 8″ 9mm C&R Blue German Military Semi-Auto Pistol, MFD 1917

SOLD FOR: $1,452.00
LSB#: 
181205WB14

Make: DWM

Model: 1914 Artillery Luger

Serial Number: 3860k (only the top loop is visible. SN ranges from no suffix to “n” in 1917, so this could have been a “b, f, h, k or l”, but the barrel is marked “l”.

Year of Manufacture: 1917

Caliber: 9mm Parabellum

Action Type: Single Action Semi-Auto with Removable Magazine

Markings: The front left corner of the rear sight base, the rear of the elevator, the sear bar, sear bar safety (faintly), the top of the front toggle and the back of the rear toggle (very faint), the left side of the trigger, and the left sideplate are marked “60”. The frame behind the trigger is marked “2” and “B”. The flat at the back of the rear sight base is marked “27” and the well in front of the flat is marked “G”, “K” and ‘2760”. The top of the front toggle is also marked with “DWM” in script. The chamber is marked “1917” at the top and “3860” on the left side. The underside of the round part of the barrel is marked “3860 / k / 8,82” and the front face of the frame just behind it is marked “3860 / k”. The right side of the chamber is marked with the first four characters as shown on Line 10, page 234 of “Luger Variations” by H. E. Jones for a 1914 Military Luger, with the 5th character, a sideways Eagle, on the right rear of the barrel. There is another Eagle on the left side of the breechblock. The left side of the frame under the safety is marked “Gesichert”. The inside surfaces of the grips are unmarked.

Barrel Length: 8”

Sights / Optics: This pistol is mounted with a  blade front sight that is dovetailed into a base on the front barrel band and has a serrated and ramped rear face. The “Fine Tuning”  tangent artillery rear sight is flat topped with a “V” notch and the elevator has graduated markings from 1-8. The slider is missing.  The rear sight has a fine adjustment for elevation.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are checkered walnut, and the right grip is slightly loose on the frame. The checkering is sharp and shows no mars. The grips rate in about Fine overall condition.

Type of Finish: The pistol is blued with the ejector “In The White”.

Finish Originality: The finish on the pistol has been professionally restored.

Bore Condition: The bore is bright with very light wear in the rifling. There are a few spots of moderate erosion at the very front of the bore at the muzzle.

Overall Condition: This pistol retains about 92% of its current finish. There are spots of pitting in and under the finish scattered over the surfaces with deep pitting in the underside of the barrel. There is also some rust under the lanyard ring at the back of the frame and a light mark in the left rear of the frame from the safety. The serrations and knurling on the toggle knobs show light wear and are marred by erosion. The grip screws are sharp. The markings are shallow and some have been removed by grinding/polishing. Overall, this gun rates in about Good to Very Good condition as professionally restored.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. The barrel and receiver are tight to the frame. We have not fired this pistol. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This pistol comes with a total of one blued magazine with an aluminum bottom piece. The bottom piece is marked “9593 / x” and with an “Eagle / 655” Waffenamt, indicating it was made by Mauser Werke in 1940-1941. The body shows spots of finish loss, a few spots of pinprick surface erosion and light wear. The bottom piece shows a large bruise on its bottom right grasping ring. The magazine is in about Good to Very Good overall condition.

Our Assessment: This Artillery version of the Luger pistol is also known as the “Long Barrel P.08”. It was the first Luger to use the 32-shot snail magazine. Many of the Artillery Models were equipped with “Fine Tuning” front and rear sights, which were auto-calibrating for windage drift due to bullet spin, making them second to none in long range accuracy. This pistol is a Model 1914 DWM Artillery Luger made in 1917. It has matching serial numbers on some of its parts but several are missing numbers and the magazine is from a different pistol. The proof and acceptance markings are correct. This pistol has the fine-tuning rear sight, which makes it all the rarer, as all artillery models were not so equipped, but the ladder is missing its slider. This pistol is in about Good to Very Good condition as professionally restored, with about  92% of its current finish remaining. The bore is bright with very light wear in the rifling, but there are spots of moderate erosion at the very front of the bore. The artillery models are always collectable: they are a very interesting looking weapon that almost everyone wants to own, and there were far fewer of them than the other Luger variations. This pistol looks nice and will display well from a distance.

CA Legal or CA Private Party Transferable: This C&R eligible pistol CAN be transferred in California but CANNOT be sold to a California resident as a private party transaction at our shop in Simi Valley. All cartridge firing handguns (even C&R’s and antiques) sold to a California resident must be DROS’d. This does not apply to out of state buyers.

DWM Luger WWI Model 1914 Artillery, 8" 9mm C&R Blue German Military Semi-Auto Pistol, MFD 1917
DWM Luger WWI Model 1914 Artillery, 8″ 9mm C&R
Blue German Military Semi-Auto Pistol, MFD 1917