SOLD - Extremely Rare Glowing Radium Artillery Luger Night Sights

Description

6/3/26- For sale is a set of extremely rare WWI glowing night sights for the artillery Luger. As the artillery Luger was used with the stock and drum magazine as a sort of short carbine, there was a need for it to be useable in the dark, such as for trench raiding. The late 1800s and early 1900s were also a time of rapid scientific discovery, including in the field of radioactivity. To make the artillery Luger useable in the dark, small attachments for the front and rear sight were developed that use small amounts of radioactive radium paint to produce a glow-in-the-dark effect similar to modern optics. These sets are extremely rare and were only produced by one or two manufacturers, including this manufacturer  Ludwig Sudicatis & Co, for a short period of time.

The sight set includes the glowing front sight and rear sight. The front sight is two hinged halves shaped to loop around the barrel and hook around the existing front sight, keeping the piece in place. There is a small flip-up tab with a glass bead containing radioactive radium paint that serves as the illuminated aim point. The pieces are all intact and undamaged, only with light surface wear. The glass bead no longer glows because the paint has decayed over more than 110 years. The rear sight assembly slides over the existing rear sight and hooks into place by tightening a screw. There are two small glowing notches to provide vertical alignment for the front dot. These painted sections also no longer glow. Both pieces in overall excellent condition and an extremely rare piece of WWI and Luger history!