This is an outstanding example of an original, DWM 1904 German Navy contract Luger pistol. These early Navy Lugers were actually ordered in Dec. 1904, prior to any Luger pistol being adopted by the German Navy, as they were intended to be replacements for the old Reichs revolver and the German Navy High Command wanted replacements ordered immediately. Formal approval by the German Navy High Command didn't actually take place until May 1905, consequently making these a pre-contract example. At the time the order was placed, it is estimated that the order was for approximately 2,000 pistols, with only a very few surviving examples existing today. Those that do generally fall into three blocks of serial numbers; those in the serial number block between 1-44 as reported in official documents from the returning East Africa Expeditionary Force in 1908, with no survivors, those in the serial number block between 36-86 with "8" known surviving examples (with this exact pistol listed by serial number in Jan Still's excellent book on Imperial Luger's page 159-161) with another group of identified pistols generally falling into the serial number block in the 144-1,148 range, with only "21" total surviving examples known today in the world! Obviously these true 1904 Navy Lugers are an extremely rare piece and are never found in any Luger collection. As noted this pistol is in it's original 1904 configuration and has the early one-piece spring toggle lock mechanism on the right side, no Imperial Navy proofs anywhere on the pistol (which is correct for these early pre-approval Lugers), the distinctive 15 cm "Fat Barrel" configuration which was quickly dropped from production, the flat double frame spring, and the later two-position Navy type rear sight. It has the standard blank chamber area, "DWM" marked toggle, standard extractor markings with the polished lower safety area with the upper area having the milled, "GESICHERT" markings. In addition the only numbers found on this model is number "61" on the front of the frame, underside of the barrel and barrel extension lug, the left side of the breech block, toggle assembly, trigger, take down lever and left grip. It is complete with a later production replacement mismatched number Navy magazine that has the nickel plated magazine body with the correct wooden base with the correct concentric rings on the sides. As noted this is an extremely rare model Luger as almost 99% of these early Navy Lugers including all successive model 1906, 1908, and even the 1914 models, were all destroyed or at least reworked after WWI to comply with the Versailles Treaty.

Very fine with 85% plus of the original blued finish overall with light wear on the edges and high spots, mixed with actual browning/light speckling of the blue finish on the grip straps, the outside portion of the center section of the barrel and the left side of the barrel extension. The small parts retain 50% of their original straw colors. The grips are also in very fine condition with nice checkering on both sides, just showing even honest wear across the tops of the checkering. The most distracting aspect of this extremely rare pistol is that there are a couple of minor pin-prick pitted areas on the frame under the grips, the right front muzzle area, the left side of the barrel extension and lower edge of the left frame. As noted this extremely rare 1904 Naval Luger has all matching numbers except the right grip which is numbered (52). Just a side note, if this was a standard issue Luger this overall condition might be detrimental to it's value however, due to the significant historical aspects of this pistol, and the extremely low/non-existence survival rate, this is really a stellar example and one of only two we have ever offered at auction in nearly 20 years!