SOLD - Beautiful, Rare DWM Finnish M23 Submarine "Vesikko" Service Luger Rig - Matching Stock

Description

5/5/26 - This is a beautiful example of a DWM Finnish M23 Submarine Service Luger from the 1920's. It is all matching, "Crown N" proofed, and has a brass disc on the right side of the grip that reads "SUV. 14 Vesikko", indicating this is the 14th issued to the submarine Vesikko.

Vesikko is a submarine which was launched on 10 May 1933 at the Crichton-Vulcan dock in Turku. Until 1936 it was named by its yard number CV 707. Vesikko was ordered by a Dutch engineering company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (a German front company) in 1930 as a commercial submarine prototype, being the prototype for the German Type II submarines. Purchased by the Finnish before World War II, she saw service in the Winter War and Continuation War, sinking the Soviet merchant ship Vyborg as her only victory. After the cease-fire with the Allies in 1944, Vesikko was retired. Finland was banned from operating submarines after the war and she was kept in storage until she was turned into a museum ship. Vesikko was one of five submarines to serve in the Finnish Navy. The other four were the three larger Vetehinen-class boats Vetehinen, Vesihiisi, Iku-Turso and the small Saukko. The word "vesikko" is the Finnish name for the European mink.

According to "Axis Pistols": In 1923, the Finnish military adopted the 7.65mm caliber Luger with 4-inch barrel. Between 1923 and 1929, about 8,000 were acquired from DWM in Germany. Constanzo (Auto Mag XX p.4) reports that the order was filled from the, no suffix, m, n, p, r and u serial range. These are similar to the 1920 commercial Luger. Between 1930 and 1935, Mauser supplied about 1,500 Lugers to the Finns; some of these bore the Mauser banner trademark. Most of these were eventually arsenal-reworked which involved parkerizing, replacing the wood grips with black plastic grips and, in some cases, replacing the barrel with 4-inch or 4 3/4-inch 7.65mm or 9mm barrels manufactured by the Tikkakoski small arms factory in Finland. 

The one we have here has no Finnish "SA" marking (many do), has a matching-numbered 4-inch DWM barrel, and has a blued finish. The arsenal refinish shows virtually no signs of wear or use, and the bore is mint. Mint grips. It comes as a complete rig with a wood stock (with matching-numbered brass medallion, #14), a unique leather holster with provision for the stock on the back, cleaning rod (with brass tip), and two un-marked wood-bottom magazines (there is some scratched writing on one of the mag tubes).