Arms, Armor and Militaria

.45 ACP. 2.875" barrel length. SN: 1815r. Polished blued metal finish with straw colored and nitre blued small parts mounting fine bordered checkered ebony grips and custom modified frame size and caliber. Short-recoil operated striker action autoloading pistol relying on toggle link action fed by detachable single stack magazines. Item has been heavily customized by gunsmith John V. Martz. Custom features include, frame length and width increased to accommodate .45 ACP caliber, shortened barrel, rebalanced action, and a reduced frame length. Toggle link is struck BYF, indicating the use of some donor components from a Mauser produced gun. Barrel extension is dated 41, and shows an additional {Crown/N} commercial marking to the left flank. Serial numbers were likely originally mixed, as was typical for guns selected by Martz for conversion and modification. Serial numbers have been force matched on various small parts. Left frame struck with a circled JVM marking followed by number 64 below the sideplate. An additional mark forward of the sideplate reads MSTR, indicating it has received the Martz Safety Toggle Release mechanism, which allows the user to release the toggle by engaging the safety at the end of shooting. Lower frame struck with model information .45 BABY 3 BABY 169. Toggle, toggle link, and grip panels all show the JVM initial markings. Link additionally struck 22 MAG. 5 on the interior surface, suggesting it was originally selected for a different conversion. The force matched number indicating it was later adapted to this build. Item comes with two custom shortened magazines with wood base plugs and nickel plated finishes. Base plugs likewise struck with circled JVM maker mark and additionally numbered 1 and 2.

John V. Martz began working as a self-taught gunsmith in 1968, initially using his metalworking skills to repair Luger pistols and fit them with newly fabricated spare parts as the wartime bringbacks began to show over two decades of wear and tear. By 1977, Martz had committed himself as a full time gunsmith. In the years that followed, he established an esteemed reputation for restoring badly damaged handguns to good working order, and for producing unique custom varieties of both Luger pistols and P.38 pistols. This lot represents one of his "Baby" Luger .45 caliber pistols, an ambitious conversion of Lugers from their original 9mm chambering which required two donor frames to accomplish. The result is a compact .45 caliber pistol retaining the Luger's comfortable grip angle. Martz died on July 15, 2013, having endeared himself to the shooting and collecting communities with his restorations, unique creations, and his eclectic sense of humor. {MODERN}