Description
1st year of Mauser manufacture, 1 of 322 issued to the Reichsmarine in 1934 & one of just 14 known to remain!
For Luger collectors, this is the Holy Grail & with between 14 & 25 (depending on who you ask) remaining, we would agree!
The 1934 “K-Date” Luger is arguably the most desirable & historically significant variant of the famous German P.08 pistol & this example comes as a full rig with correct holster, B/90 marked tool & cleaning rod plus 2 correct magazines!
This is obvious by the fact it features on the cover of Legacy Collectables’ Tom Whiteman’s book, Third Reich Lugers!
As Chancellor, Hitler gained complete control over the government in 1934 on the death of Hindenburg. He immediately undertook a rearmament program, despite the Treaty of Versailles & as part of the deception, all German armament manufacturers were issued secret squirrel codes to keep production numbers secret from the Allied inspectors.
Mauser was S/42 & the year was letter coded with K being 1934, going on to “G” dated Lugers in 1935 with complete year markings resumed in 1936 when the Germans were beyond caring about the Allied inspectors.
The K Date Luger was the first Luger contract for Mauser who effectively took over the DWM machinery & works under the direction of the NSDAP government.
Records show just 11,500 went to the Army & only 322 were known to have been issued to the Reichsmarine, as it was known before becoming the Kriegsmarine under the Nazi government.
The P.08 S/N 2199 is in the number range of what is known as the 2nd Variation due to the mix of Gothic & standard Roman numeral plus it displays the distinctive “Eagle over M” & correctly, it sports the inventory number on the front strap “O.1799” indicating it went to the Baltic Naval Station in Kiel (Marinestation der Ostsee).
These guns are listed on page 106 of Jan Still’s “Third Reich Lugers” & of these, only 13 K-Date Lugers known to have been procured for the Kriegsmarine are known to exist today.
There is now 14 known to exist because this is a new addition to their list of known K Date Navy issued Lugers!
This was acquired by us from Germany where it was spirited away after the war before becoming available to the serious Australian collector before being sent for auction in the US if there’s no interest here.
Correctly, the small parts are straw finished, with fire blue pins & screws, checkered grips & two (2) correct alloy base magazines, both correctly marked B/90 & drooped wing Waffenamt.
Excluding the magazines, all visible numbers are matching overall bar the barrel which is not numbered so a wartime replacement we presume?
This pistol comes as a full rig, including the correct ‘M’ marked 1934 holster which includes the correct B/90 marked takedown tool, cleaning rod & two (2) correct but not numbers matching magazines!
The holster is fully intact & supple, in excellent but not mint condition & is marked GUSTAV REIHNHARDT BERLIN above the drooped wing Weimar era Waffenamt above the ‘M’. Interestingly, on the front of the holster is embossed S.D.N. 143 which is correct & relates to its Kriegsmarine service & another story to be explored.
As a guide to valuing the opportunity to own this unique piece of military firearm history, the gun below sold in 2023 with full rig (as this has) & 2 matching magazines but was not one of the few remaining Kriegsmarine rigs!
https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4093/3382/mauser-s42k-p08-luger-rig-two-matching-mags
If you are a serious collector or you just want an investment, contact us to make a offer & stop it going to the US collector market.
