This is mine......
It was a bring back for my stepfathers father. Because of the brown holster we are assuming it was from WWI. His father actually fought in the Punitive Expedition to Mexico (Reserves), WWI (Reserve discharged as a Captain) and than volunteered for WWII (Lt Col 9th Tactical Air Force. He worked as sort of forward reconnaissance moving ahead of the main body seeking new airfields and facilities to operate from. He was what would be considered an old man by WWII time but he apparently knew how to soldier. When he wasnt a soldier he was lawyering).
The holster.
No spare magazine but the take down tool is there.
Makers mark is 1915
The matching numbered magazine has a wood plug. If it was a WWII capture Id expect by than mags would have been lost and it would have a replacement.
I posted pictures of this pistol at the Luger Forums and I was told by the experts its a 1910 DWM Commercial Model.
The soldier or his family either bought it to supplement his issued arms or this person just wanted their own sidearm.
The only real blemish on the pistol is on the right side above the trigger bow.....
I thought this was wear from the holster or something. What it actually represents is that Commercial pistols did not have a last round bolt lock back. In order to be acceptable for service the lock back had to be installed. It was a war. Apparently the armorer wasnt concerned about a bit of finish removal to install the mechanism for the lock back.
The M40 helmet on the right in the picture was my motorcycle helmet for a awhile. I bought it for $50 from Collectors Armory when I was in high school - circa 1984?
Early 2000 I was at work riding my bike to a supplier to order some material. I went into the vendor and realizing I forgot something in my bike I exited the building to get what I needed leaving my Model M40 helmet on their counter.
When I came back my helmet had been replaced by the Model 1916/17.
They got a kick out of it when they saw my eyes thinking I was bemused with the switch.
I laughed. I asked where they got it. they said they had some weird guy working as counter help and he brought it in for a joke. The guy had quit years before and it had been just hanging around. I asked if I could buy it and they said "Here its yours"
Its original paint, pristine but where someone drew a swastika on front than in the earliest reported cases of SJW colored over it so as not to offend anyone....
Even named. whats puzzling is the date appears to be 1939.
I know these helmets were used in WWII but Im guessing it would have had its WWI paint covered over before doing so.
Last Show and Tell item....
Running lead for the 9th Tac the colonel was usually the first American in a few places. The family story of this "urn" is that it was presented to the Colonel by the Maquis leader just outside Lyon, France. It was a gift of appreciation. The Maquis officer told the Colonel that he had used the heavy brass urn to beat the brains in of the local SS leader just before the arrival of the Americans.
The people connected are dead and the stories are not notarized and written down.....just stories.
