December 10-13, 2024 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/12/2024
This Luger is one of 23 Navy Lugers that the Irish Defense Forces disposed of at auction in 1990 and were acquired by a trio of Virginia gun collectors who successfully bid on the small lot. For full details of its history, see: https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-irish-lugers-an-update/, as this article not only features this very pistol, but also details the use of Lugers by the IRA. This pistol was also featured (and fired) in a program on “The Guns of 1914” that aired on the NRA’s American Rifleman TV in 2014 for the Centennial of World War I. The pistol is marked “1917” over chamber. The importer marked all of the Navy Lugers with “1916” on their slide rail (in an erroneous assumption that these guns came on the U-Boat with Sir Roger Casement in 1916), and this pistol is marked as such. This Luger was used for about ten years in various Living History programs that centered on the activities of the West Cork Flying Column during the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), and it was a focus of attention among attendees at a number of historical events. This pistol was also displayed in exhibits at presentations about Irish Nationalist arms to several gun collecting clubs in the Mid-Atlantic region. There are only a very few of these pistols left in Ireland, and nearly all of them are in museums. Those few guns in private hands have been demilitarized. The other surviving 23 Irish Navy Lugers were imported into the USA about thirty years ago, and only one has surfaced for public purchase, and it sold for north of $20,000. Classic configuration, front sight dated 1917, with typical German proofs throughout. Large diameter axle pin at rear sight remains in place. Magazine is numbered to a different gun; cross checking against Bill Edward's original list confirms he sold it originally with a mismatched magazine. PROVENANCE: Kenneth Smith-Christmas collection. CONDITION: Excellent, retaining in excess of 90% of the original factory bluing, with distension visible around some proofs from application of stamp. Some scattered handling marks, some silvering, and some freckling at chamber. Stocks are very good with a few abrasions and a chip at top. Mechanically fine, bore very good with some minor oxidation in grooves. An extremely rare gun.