Arms, Armor and Militaria

9mm Para. 2.625" barrel length. SN: 56497. Blued metal finish with straw colored and nitre blued small parts mounting bordered checkered ebony grips. Short recoil operated striker action autoloading custom pistol operating on the toggle locking principle. Heavily modified by gunsmith John V. Martz from its original configuration with a shortened barrel, shortened compact frame, and rebalanced action. Left frame struck below the sideplate with circled JVM marking followed by 138. The left frame is further struck MSTR forward of the sideplate, indicating it is fitted with the Martz Safety Toggle Release mechanism. Original manufacturer markings include the DWM logo for Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken to the toggle link, {Crown/N} export marks to the barrel extension and breechblock, and force matched serial numbers. Item comes in a custom Borchardt leather wrapped display case with green velvet lining produced by Huey Gun Cases & Accessories, Inc. Interior lid of the case mounts a label reading Deutsche Waffen/und Munitionsfabriken/BERLIN/Parabellum-Pistole. This is confirmed by a receipt from Huey Gun Cases & Accessories, Inc present in the case. Included with the pistol are a total of two custom shortened magazines with JVM marked base plugs that are further numbered 1 and 2. Also included in the case are an ebony handled brass cleaning rod, copper bore brush, brass jag, and two keys.

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 9mm caliber pistols, a compact conversion of the original Luger pistol inspired by the prototypes supervised by Georg Luger himself. 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}