Third Party Press

Steyr-Hahn M1912 German 9mm Conversion with capture papers and holster

mrfarb

No War Eagles For You!
Staff member
Picked this up, a friend in NH found it for me after I told him I was looking for one this year (my wish list for the year is pretty short). I've always wanted one of the Police marked conversions, something about these pistols is alluring to me and I can't tell you why. My love of Beutewaffen notwithstanding, this is a neat set with capture papers and customs tag. Came from the family estate Lawyer, I'm wanting to try to get some more info about the guy but not sure I want to dig into an estate that has taken 5 years to settle (he died in 2014).

Anyway, this one is a little different than the majority of these as it has no Police Eagle/L on the frame. I've yet to hear a reason why from forum searching, but realized that this holster is somewhat unique as well in that every one I have seen posted before has a reworked WW1 M1912 holster of some type. It seems this was a German made holster for this pistol, and the upward facing closing strap leads me to believe it's Police as well. No markings on the holster, pretty much expected for a commercial item. The standard 8rd clip fits right in the pouch, and it has a leather tab to pull it out. Everything is matching and correct as well. The capture papers list a lot of camera equipment and a small 4" knife and sheath - maybe one day I can figure out what that was (boot knife?).

Pics show it has a nice 85% used rust blued finish, this one wasn't refinished and is not unit marked. Speaking of, I see quite a few that are LGK marked (Landesgendarmariekommando) - many times people say that is a post war marking, but maybe someone can tell me this - post WW1 or post WW2? Always wondered that! Pics are cell phone pics, I don't have my photo studio set up at the moment, maybe I'll update the pics when I set it back up.

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A pistol so ugly, it is beautiful. Excellent set of documents as well. Excited to learn more about the vet.
 
A pistol so ugly, it is beautiful. Excellent set of documents as well. Excited to learn more about the vet.

Me too, so far all I have concrete is from his obit, along with the NARA file which is easy to get:

Francis "Frank" X. Bolt, 91, of Marlborough died Thursday March 20, 2014 at Marlborough Hills Healthcare Center. He was the husband of the late Mildred C. (Costello) Bolt who died in 2003. He was born in Cambridge, raised in Somerville and moved to Marlborough in 1959. He was the son of the late Thomas J. and M. Susanna (Stamp) Bolt and was a 1940 graduate of Somerville High School and later graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Francis was a US Army veteran of World War II having served in England, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. He was a survivor of D-Day and fought in the Battle of the Bulge receiving five battle stars. Following an honorable discharge he went back to work as a designer of defensive weapons for Watertown Arsenal Material & Mechanical Research Center for the Department of the Army for 35 years retiring in 1979. Frank was a member of Immaculate Conception Church, Holy Name Society and former member of I.C. Church school board advisory council, a member of Disabled American Veterans Salvadore Padula Chapter # 82 past commander, a former past president of the Marlborough Veterans Council, Akroyd Houde VFW Post # 132, AmVets Post # 1980. He devoted his life to his family and helping disabled veterans in any way he could. He leaves five daughters, Christine H. Pratt of Medway, Janice B. Clark of Boylston, Marcia M. Kos of Grafton, Denise M. Sylvester of New Hampshire and Elaine Densen of Framingham; three sons Richard F. Bolt of Marlborough, Paul X. Bolt of Grand Blanc, MI and Keith S. Bolt of Grafton; a brother Lawrence G. Bolt of Somerville; twelve grandchildren; six great grandchildren; many nephews and nieces. He was pre-deceased by two brothers, Thomas and William and by three sisters, Mary, Catherine and Anna. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday March 25 at 11:00 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Church, Prospect Street. Burial with military honors will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Wilson Street. Calling hours will be held Monday March 24 from 5-8 p.m. in the Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home (www.CollinsFuneral.com), 378 Lincoln Street. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to DAV Salvadore Padula Chapter # 82, PO Box 229, Marlborough, MA 01752. All are invited to sign Frank's online guestbook at www.CollinsFuneral.com.
Published in MetroWest Daily News from Mar. 22 to Mar. 23, 2014


ARMY SERIAL NUMBER
31363749 31363749
NAME
BOLT#FRANCIS#X########## BOLT#FRANCIS#X##########
RESIDENCE: STATE
13 MASSACHUSETTS
RESIDENCE: COUNTY
017 MIDDLESEX
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT
1306 BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY
24 24
DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH
06 06
DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR
43 43
GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION
PVT# Private
GRADE: CODE
8 Private
BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION
NO# No branch assignment
BRANCH: CODE
02 No branch assignment
FIELD USE AS DESIRED
# #
TERM OF ENLISTMENT
5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
LONGEVITY
### ###
SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL
0 Civil Life
NATIVITY
13 MASSACHUSETTS
YEAR OF BIRTH
22 22
RACE AND CITIZENSHIP
1 White, citizen
EDUCATION
4 4 years of high school
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION
513 Skilled occupations in the manufacture of miscellaneous products
MARITAL STATUS
6 Single, without dependents
COMPONENT OF THE ARMY
7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)
CARD NUMBER
# #
BOX NUMBER
0431 0431
FILM REEL NUMBER
3.153 3.153
 
I agree, nice rig Mike! Ugly gun, nice rig...:happy0180:

Nice to find so much info on the vet too!
 
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I always thought these looked cool! They kinda remind me of a Colt 1900 with a European flair. Definitely a pistol I'd like to pick up one of these days.
 
Very nice, thanks for giving us a look at it....

Mine is a 1914 dated ‘f’ block but no papers.

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Excellent rig with great paperwork. One is on my list, just haven't run across any yet. I'm jealous! Thanks for the bring and brag.

G2
 
It's funny how some of us are so much alike in what we are attracted to.. I have always been a fan of the 12 Steyr. I have owned a few over the years. I was lucky enough to get one back.
Back in 2012 at the SOS I found a complete rig in an old timers case. It was covered in closet fuzz and had that fresh look to it.

Mine had the more common Austrian original type holster. This one seems to have a German influenced made holster. 1st I've seen like this. Maybe Joe W. has seen one ? Its a shame C.B. is gone as he may have been able to shed some light..

All in all its a great rig and one of my favorite Pistols..
 

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I posted it at Stills forum, we shall see. The holster is German, look at the upward closing strap, very “Police”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
What I meant by German influenced was. To me it's a German made holster for the M12 steyr not a newly made Austrian type. I have never seen one like it but, I have no doubt its original.
A shame its not marked.
 
Very cool rig, and rigs. I agree that it is odd how many of us are drawn to the same things. I think these are cool pistols. Pic sticky for ref.
 
Sweet pistol Mike!! I’ve got a box of ammo with your name on it :thumbsup:
 

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Steyr Hahn 9mm Luger rework sn 97

I've been a big fan of the Steyr Hahn model 1912 in 9mm Steyr after researching their use in WWI on the original Easter Front [ Austria-Hungary vs Italy, Serbia and Russia ]
and was happy to locate a decent model with the Hapsburg crest on the slide [ pls see image ].
I was later fortunate to find a Steyr Hahn 9mm Luger rework with a low sn of 97 and in excellent condition as a companion piece in the collection.

BR

Commisar
 

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It's funny how some of us are so much alike in what we are attracted to.. I have always been a fan of the 12 Steyr. I have owned a few over the years. I was lucky enough to get one back.
Back in 2012 at the SOS I found a complete rig in an old timers case. It was covered in closet fuzz and had that fresh look to it.

Mine had the more common Austrian original type holster. This one seems to have a German influenced made holster. 1st I've seen like this. Maybe Joe W. has seen one ? Its a shame C.B. is gone as he may have been able to shed some light..

All in all its a great rig and one of my favorite Pistols..

Sorry, I haven't visited here in some time since the trainers departed. Yes, we miss Craig. Had an example of your holster with my Steyr before it left the house. Here is an image of them in use by the Nazi police in Austria. That seems to be where they were predominantly used.
 

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LGK is a post WWII marking of the Austrian Police. You can also find this on various Machine Pistols.

Some of the 08 marked M.1912 pistols also carry a HV repair stamp from the interwar period which is usually overstruck on the original Wn proof. These pistols originate from the Austrian Army in the interwar period and were reworked to German caliber and then issued to the police when Austria became part of Germany. Post WWII the leftover pistols were again issued to the Austrian Police until the FN High Power and the Manurhin PP/PPK was introduced. Some were even kept longer until the introduction of the Glock.
 
I agree that there is something fascinating about the M1912’s. I love the turning barrel locking mechanism and yours makes me regret even more selling mine many years ago. At the time I was thinking I might
collect every type of locking system and I think I came up with twelve or fifteen different types. When I realized I would have to come up with one of the Japanese blow-forward examples I gave up!
 

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