DWM 1905 Dutch Trials Luger - Prototype

Provenance is what stops you on this one. It comes out of the collection of Dr. Geoffrey Sturgess, whose name carries about as much weight in Luger scholarship as any. He spent decades documenting the technical and production history of the pistol, and guns that pass through his hands tend to be the ones other collectors trust. That lineage alone gives this early DWM trials piece a paper trail most Lugers never get.

The pistol is a 1905-pattern New Model Luger, the configuration that introduced the coil mainspring and the more refined toggle and breechblock geometry over the earlier dished-toggle guns. DWM built these during the years European armies were running competitive evaluations of self-loading service pistols, and the Netherlands was among the nations testing the design before it eventually settled on the Luger for colonial service. This example sits in that early trials window.

Walk the details and the period shows. The receiver and toggle wear an old, deep blue that has thinned to gray along the high edges and the leading face of the toggle knobs. The grip safety on the backstrap and the absence of a hold-open mark this as the earlier mechanical layout. Both grip panels are finely checkered black hard rubber, well worn but intact, with the red follower of the magazine peeking just below the grip frame. The flat-bottomed receiver, the long tapered barrel, and the narrow trigger all read correct for the era.

Condition is honest. There is genuine handling wear across the frame, edge holster wear at the muzzle and along the receiver, and the kind of patina that comes from a working life rather than a safe queen's idleness.

For a collector who chases early Lugers, the combination here is hard to assemble on your own. An early New Model trials gun is a difficult find. One with documented Sturgess ownership is the kind of acquisition you build a collection around.