So I guess I am also a Luger collector now, but in my defense I only collect the weird stuff. Thanks to the forum member who arranged a very good deal for me on this one.
Luger collectors generally refer to these strange pistols as "Eagle 9" Lugers, through we should all know that little E/9 stamp is the acceptance of the Luftwaffe's Bauaufsicht 9. If you don't, go find my thread on the BAL. BAL acceptance is normally a new production marking, but the weird thing is that these are obviously commercially reworked. Some are reworks of older commercial pistols like mrfarb's pre-WWI commercial Luger (https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/luftwaffe-depot-repair-luger.39797/), and some are former WW1 era Army pistols like this one. Its a strange mix of seemingly random stuff.
This one was reworked from a 1917 DWM "Artillery" Luger. Received a new short barrel , rear sight, and sloppy fluting on the firing pin. but most of the rest of the parts appear original I think. Grips don't match but one of them seems to have the SN written in pencil. It is commercially proofed in the supposedly "Suhl" style.
Of course, some Luger folks try to claim these are “Krieghoff” reworks, because everything Luftwaffe must be Krieghoff, but they are obviously not. BAL2 was located in Suhl since at least late 1934 when the BAL was initially setup, so had Kreighoff reworked these, they would be accepted by BAL2 not BAL9. Exactly why these are accepted by BAL9, whose location is currently unknown, is a bit of a mystery. My own thinking is that these either purchased on the open market by the Luftwaffe (which was scrounging for pistols even as late as 1940) or perhaps farmed out for rework very early on (1934-35) before the LZA system was fully up and running. In either case, these are commercially reworked as there is no way the Luftwaffe would have been forced to use commercial proof houses like the SS, even early on. The work probably has to be early since the BAL acceptance used is the early style that was almost completely abandoned in late 1937.
Unless someone finds documentation or some way to trace BAL9's location, I think it will be very difficult to sort out exactly what was going on here.
Luger collectors generally refer to these strange pistols as "Eagle 9" Lugers, through we should all know that little E/9 stamp is the acceptance of the Luftwaffe's Bauaufsicht 9. If you don't, go find my thread on the BAL. BAL acceptance is normally a new production marking, but the weird thing is that these are obviously commercially reworked. Some are reworks of older commercial pistols like mrfarb's pre-WWI commercial Luger (https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/luftwaffe-depot-repair-luger.39797/), and some are former WW1 era Army pistols like this one. Its a strange mix of seemingly random stuff.
This one was reworked from a 1917 DWM "Artillery" Luger. Received a new short barrel , rear sight, and sloppy fluting on the firing pin. but most of the rest of the parts appear original I think. Grips don't match but one of them seems to have the SN written in pencil. It is commercially proofed in the supposedly "Suhl" style.
Of course, some Luger folks try to claim these are “Krieghoff” reworks, because everything Luftwaffe must be Krieghoff, but they are obviously not. BAL2 was located in Suhl since at least late 1934 when the BAL was initially setup, so had Kreighoff reworked these, they would be accepted by BAL2 not BAL9. Exactly why these are accepted by BAL9, whose location is currently unknown, is a bit of a mystery. My own thinking is that these either purchased on the open market by the Luftwaffe (which was scrounging for pistols even as late as 1940) or perhaps farmed out for rework very early on (1934-35) before the LZA system was fully up and running. In either case, these are commercially reworked as there is no way the Luftwaffe would have been forced to use commercial proof houses like the SS, even early on. The work probably has to be early since the BAL acceptance used is the early style that was almost completely abandoned in late 1937.
Unless someone finds documentation or some way to trace BAL9's location, I think it will be very difficult to sort out exactly what was going on here.
