SOLD - Rare Mauser Luger - Portuguese Military

Description

8/9/18 - This is an interest Mauser luger that was part of a Portuguese military contract, and the following information is from the Mauser Parabellum by Joop van de Kant and Don Hallock.: "It is believed that the German Army was the seller of the last batch of 42 byf Luger pistols to the Portuguese Military. The pistols are Military accepted (E/135) and Eagle test proofed; they were produced by Mauser in August - September 1942, just before the mass production was halted in favor of the succeeding P.38. The pistols of all earlier foreign contracts have commercial proofs; it seems obvious that Mauser was not informed about the destination of this lot until the Waffenamt indicated that they had to go to Portugal. We know that the delivery took place in January 1943. SN's reported: Lowest 209m, Highest 5237m (this gun is # 3812m). Of the nine pistols that I could examine personally, four had a phosphate finish." So, it is believed that of the 5,000 or so that went to Portugal, only about half were phosphate. That would mean there is a total of about 2,500 of this rare variation! This gun is all matching small parts and all phosphate finish, including the grip screws! Hallock goes on to say the pistols look to have been sand blasted before applying the phosphate coating, which gives them that matted look. This pistol is in excellent condition with a nice bore that does show some minor frosting. "We must not forget that Portugal used (part of) these pistols during the guerilla wars in its former colonies, Angola and Mozambique. I have no proof for my theory that (only) the pistols that went to these hot and humid countries received the phosphate finish for extra protection."