| My artillery model is a 1914 Erfurt "FrankenArtyLuger" (to quote Kyrie
Ellison) made of mixed parts and although I haven't shot it much, I do not hesitate
to do so even though it is 87 years old. It is not anything special (except that
it is mine!) I bought this masterpiece in 1974 for $100 cash to the son of the vet
that brought it back. I had the opportunity to purchase the stock for an additional
$25.00 and seriously thought about it, but that would have been a major hit to my
young soldier wallet that I really couldn't afford at the time, and also I would
never have been able to afford the $200 federal tax for registering an NFA item.
Of course I could kick myself now for not getting the stock... I could have given
it to my brother who owned no Lugers, and since that time, the Artillery Model Luger
with shoulder stock has been removed from the NFA list by the ATF and classified
as Curio & Relic. Oh Well! Live and learn. The cannon is all matching parts so
I have no doubt of its authenticity. The frame (1327a) and cannon (3367) do not have
the same serial number.The one odd part is the sideplate which is yet another serial
number (45) but is imperial marked so I believe it's origin may be from still a third
artillery model, but that is just speculation. One of these days I may splurge and
get Ted Green to refurbish it, and get it a pair of Hugh Clark's grips. Thanks to
assistance from several forum members (Frank Rial, Patrick Villiers, and Frank Manders...and
probably a couple of others that I can't recall at the moment) I am currently working
on an AutoCAD engineering drawing to be able to authentically reproduce the wooden
portion of the Artillery shoulder stock. And will mate it with a stock iron when
I find one I can afford... maybe even a reproduction, since that will be ATF legal.
If by chance you happen to have an Luger artillery model that is the opposite serial
number pair of mine, or even just parts of mine, I would just LOVE to hear from you! |
John Sabato
