Double Date Weimar Navy Luger

1918/1920 Weimar Navy Archived

This is a completely matching, 1918/1920 Dated, DWM (Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken) WWI Imperial Army Luger with a matching magazine. This is chambered for 9mm and has a standard 4" barrel fixed sights and walnut grips. This WWI Luger manufactured for standard issue firearm to the German military. The 1920 Double Date tells us it was brought back into government control after WWI and reissued to the early Weimar Navy. A very unique specimen in good condition with a lot of history in a 95 year old gun. (1639)

NOTE: Photographs taken today with the high mega-pixel camera show more than we sometimes can see with the human eye. Magnified close-ups show us tool marks and natural surface conditions that one normally doesn't see in the ordinary handling of the weapon. Photographs are copyrighted, all rights reserved, any extraction, reproduction or display of gun pictures without the express consent of the Phoenix Investment Arms is strictly prohibited. Please see conditions of sale at Legal. Thank you for your cooperation.

On November 11, at 11;00 am the Armistice was signed by the Central and Allied Powers. The terms were extremely punitive on the German with Article 2 stating:

(With in 6 hours of signing) Immediate clearing of Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine, to be concluded within 14 days. Any troops remaining in these areas to be interned or taken as prisoners of war.

This was not a surrender or a demobilization but simply the escape from the occupied territories of German troops on foot, horseback, lorries, trains and whatever transportation they could utilize. So the Army went home to a publically unprotected nation under the thumb of the occupying Allies. With these former soldiers came the weapons they could carry.


This 9mm weapon with all the matching parts is marked in the military manner (exposed). The barrel is 100mm (4") and it has the "V" rear sight on the rear toggle. The Imperial proofs are well struck and tell the story of the gun. The barrel inside is shiny with distinctive lands and grooves. The magazine is clean and grips match the gun.


The DWM monogram markings appear on the 1st toggle link and the extractor is marked 'Geladen' (Loaded.) The extractor is marked "Geladen" on the left side and the safety is marked "Gesichert" with the safe position being downward. The proof marks are the amazing story of this guns. Telling us the gun served in WWI and shows the honest wear from the Battlefield then was re-issued to the Weimar Navy.

This is a beautiful example of the Model 1918 DWM (Deutsches Waffen Und Munitionsfabriken Co) Manufactured Pistole-08. The chamber marking represent the military contract year of production and this example is a 1918 dated Luger. The 1920 date represents the return of the weapon to governmental control (Weimar).

DOUBLE DATES:

The new (Weimar) German Government after WWI found itself with an armed citizenry with all the soldiers bringing their weapons home from the war.

On August 1st, 1920 the German authorities issued an order from Berlin that cited the impending disarming of the people required that all weapons of the armed forces were to be marked with the date to prevent people from stealing military supplies and selling them back to the government.

On August 7th, 1920 rewards were begun for the turn-in of weapons to the government paying 100 Marks (then about $23.50) for a small arm until October 10th after which the reward was to be reduced to 50 Marks. The Germans in the throes of depression and fighting the Bolsheviks' quickly found out where the guns were stored and began to turn them in again and again. Hence the Weimar Republic began to stamp 1920 on all the guns that were turned in and belonged to the Government.



This is an extraordinary find wherein an Imperial Army 1918 issued weapon was turned in and stamped with the 1920 and then issued to the very small Weimar Navy which was pretty much confined to coastal defense. The Magazine and the grip is marked with the N748 (Nordsee 748) [North Sea].

The serial number in the "h" block means that in 1918 means this was the 4,416th Luger produced while the figures for 1918 (Until November 11th) DWM produced approximately 190,000 Parabellums. The barrel was inspected and marked upon issue to the Navy (as seen in the above picture).

LEFT: Poster Announcing the Surrender of Weapons

Then on August 7th, 1920 the Disarming-of-the-People Law set forth a reward of 100 Marks, (then about $23.50), were given for small arms until October 10th at which time the award was reduced to 50 Marks.

This began the disarming of the German people, paving the way for seizing all the private weapons. This is a lesson for all of us.


The inside of the gun is clean and well cared for. The exterior shows honest wear on the muzzle, barrel and high points on the sides. The barrel is shiny and shows distinct lands and grooves. The last two digits of the serial number appear on all the small parts.

This Luger is looking for a good home. In 1932 the Reichswehrministerium issued an order that the rear connecting pin be serial numbered to the gun. The original firing pins were marked with the serial number and when manufactured the original grips were marked to the gun. Since firing pins and grips wear and break it is not unusual to find unmarked firing pins or replacement grips.

The Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on November 9, 1918 ending the monarchy. From November 1918 through Janua

The Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on November 9, 1918 ending the monarchy. From November 1918 through January 1919, Germany was governed by the Council of People's Commissioners. It was extraordinarily active, and issued a large number of decrees. The Deutsches Reich (Weimar Republic) was established on August 11, 1919 and attempted to bring all the parties under one government. During this time order was maintained largely by State Police and various paramilitary organizations that used weapons from WWI.



This rare double date has all the standard markings of the Imperial Arm with the three Crown Letters and the Military Acceptance stamp on the front of the right receiver and then serial numbers on the left side. Also above one can see the extractor "GELADEN", [Loaded] protruding above the breach block to tell you that a round is chambered to fire

There are some who look upon the Weimar Republic from the political view as an ineffective government, saddled with war debt and devastated by the reparations demanded by the Allies for what most Germans believed was not a defeat but a surrender on the battlefield. However as students of the Parabellum this double-date issued to both the Imperial Army and Weimar Navy again takes its place in history and tells another tale of the Luger.

It is entirely subjective to give any Luger a rating of excellent or fine, just as it is to declare it xx% blued or strawed. Few Lugers are out of the box new and these are premium priced. Bluing percentages is like Beauty, in the eye of the beholder. We strive to provide pictures so you can judge for yourself if the gun meets your criteria.

The period between the end of World War I in 1918 and the rise of the Third Reich in 1933 was a time of tremendous transition and great change for the German military. This period saw the end of the Imperial German armed forces, the fall the of the Kaiserreich, the establishment of the Weimar Republic, the rise of numerous ad-hoc, volunteer, paramilitary, counter-revolutionary Freikorps units, and the formation of 3 major versions of the official German armed forces culminating in the Reichswehr that would become the Wehrmacht in 1935.

This extraordinarily marked 1918/1920 Double Date Weimar Navy as a battlefield pickup comes as an all matching P08, with North Sea Weimar Navy unit markings. In minty condition this is a rarely seen let alone owned variation of the Luger.