 Luke |
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| THE 1910 DWM. Somewhere along the way I developed a fascination for Lugers without a stock lug, and I bought a 1910 DWM from Ralph Shattuck which was in excellent condition. I had originally asked Ralph for a shooter-type Luger without a stock lug, and we discussed several which he had in stock. I selected the best of the bunch and had intended to have Thor refinish it. When Ted looked at it, he called and pointed out the fact that this was really a collectable and not a good candidate for refinishing. Because I had earlier believed that it had been reblued, I then called Ralph and he confirmed that this was, in fact, a collectable Luger. Ted indicated that he was certain that the gun had not been reblued, so he shipped it back without modification. My thanks to Ted for helping me to preserve a collectable which might otherwise have been refinished and reduced to the status of "shooter." This particular Luger has unit markings stamped into the front grip strap (6. R. D. 2. 6.) indicating that it was issued to the 6th Reserve Dragoon Regiment, Squadron 2, Weapon #6. I am currently researching the history of this unit in hopes of determining when and where it was involved in World War I. |
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| 1937 S/42 MODIFIED 6" SHOOTER. Earlier this year Ralph Shattuck provided a 1937 S/42 "shooter" which had been captured by the Russians, stored in the Ukraine, and later exported to the United States by the East Germans. Although it was in excellent mechanical condition, it had been crudely dip blued by either the Russians or the East Germans, and it had import markings on the bottom of the 4" barrel. I shipped the receiver to Hugh Clark who installed a new 6" barrel and a target front sight. In addition, Hugh provided the walnut grips with a 3/16" border, and G.T. provided a beautiful walnut bottom for the magazine. Then, the entire gun was refinished by Thor and has his trademark stamped on the bottom of the stock lug. The gun is a joy to shoot and really looks great. I built the walnut stand shown in the picture for display and photography purposes. Photos courtesy of Luke Smithwick |