Manufactured in very limited quantities, the cutaway Persian Luger was part of a larger order of Lugers for Persia (modern Iran) to be delivered about 1935-1936. Made towards the beginning of the contract run, the cutaways were intended as training tools, allowing soldiers and armorers to see how the "guts" of the pistol interact while the weapon is in operation. A number of these pistols were brought to the U.S. in the 1980s and offered for sale by Alan Kelley; a reproduction of Kelley's advertisement is visible on page 512 of The Mauser Parabellum, with this pistol no. "13" on the list. Fixed sights, with a partial "G" date code on top of the chamber and a cutaway in the area of the front toggle link where the Mauser banner would be found. (This was a known procedure of Mauser to reuse rejected parts from the German military contract pistols.) Matching numbers (in Persian for no. 13) are present on multiple parts, including the magazine (note: Kelley's advertisement calls out the magazine as non-matching), a "crown" proof on the right side of the chamber, and "12" is marked on the underside of the barrel and extension. A nearly identical "G" date Persian Cutaway from the collections of Ralph Shattuck and Mel Torme can be seen on page 48 of "The Lugers of Ralph Shattuck".

Very fine with 98% plus period blue finish, showing some light edge wear and handling marks overall. The takedown latch and trigger may have originally been numbered "14" and then adjusted to a "13". The grips are also very fine, with a few stains and dings on the sharp checkering, and cleanly executed cuts. Mechanically excellent. A rarity within a rarity, one of only 50 of it's kind.