This is a German police Luger rig, and both halves of it are marked. The pistol is a DWM P08 in 9mm, serial 6xxs, all matching including the magazine, with the interlaced DWM monogram of Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken on the toggle and an undated chamber. Down the front of its grip strap is stamped S. Mi. 255. The holster is a police pattern in brown leather, marked on the back by Robert Larsen of Berlin and dated 1933, and it carries a police unit mark of its own, S. B. 7653. The loading and disassembly tool is still in the holster pocket. The pistol is in excellent condition. It retains most of its factory bluing with no visible pitting or rust, the grips are solid with no cracks, and the strawed small parts, the safety and takedown levers and trigger that were heat finished to a straw yellow, have kept their colour. That straw is the first thing to disappear from a Luger that has been refinished at some point in its life, and it is here. The bore is bright with sharp rifling and the pistol is mechanically excellent. Offered as the rig is shown.
Both marks can be read, because German police marking followed a set form: the force, then the district, then the number of that individual item. On the pistol, S is the Schutzpolizei, the uniformed municipal police, Mi. is the Minden district, and 255 is not a serial number at all but the pistol’s own inventory number, the two hundred and fifty-fifth weapon on Minden’s books. On the holster, S. B. is the Schutzpolizei of Berlin and 7653 its number there, which sits naturally with a holster made in Berlin by a Berlin saddler. The two pieces therefore carry different districts, Minden and Berlin, which is usual enough in a rig that has survived ninety years: each is a genuine marked police item, and they came together at some point before reaching us rather than leaving the same armoury on the same day. Robert Larsen is a known maker of German police holsters through the 1930s, with dated examples recorded across the decade.
The P08 itself needs no introduction. Georg Luger’s toggle-locked pistol was taken by the German Navy in 1904 and the Army in 1908, which is where the name comes from, and it stayed in German hands through two world wars. The toggle action, breaking upward over a cam instead of sliding straight back, is the most recognisable mechanism in handgun history. German police forces carried the P08 as their standard sidearm through the 1920s and 1930s, and marked them as they marked everything, which is why police Lugers are the ones that can still be traced to a particular town.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken, DWM
Model: Pistole Parabellum 1908, P08 Luger
Caliber: 9mm
Serial: 6xxs
Capacity: 8 rounds
Action: Toggle locked, short recoil, semi-automatic
Chamber: Undated
Pistol markings: DWM monogram on the toggle; S. Mi. 255. police unit mark on the front grip strap
Matching: All matching, including the magazine
Finish: Retains most of its factory bluing, no visible pitting or rust
Strawed parts: Retain their straw finish
Grips: Solid, no cracks
Condition: Excellent
Bore: Bright with sharp rifling
Mechanical condition: Excellent
Holster: Brown leather police pattern, marked Robert Larsen Berlin and dated 1933, unit marked S. B. 7653
Included: Holster, loading and disassembly tool
