Available from Morphy’s here:
https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/_C__IMPORTANT_FIRST_EVER_PRODUCED_DWM_1900_SWISS_L-LOT658702.aspx
The first nation to adopt the Luger was Switzerland, which began testing in late 1898 and formally accepted the Luger in May 1900. Their guns were the first Lugers to be mass produced, as they were the first order received by DWM. The first batch of 600 arrived in Switzerland in May 1901, and today we are taking a look at the very first of that batch – serial number 01. It is the first production military Luger, and that’s a pretty cool landmark.
C&Rsenal Swiss Model 1900 video: https://youtu.be/g03jEuwumys
I’m having a bit of fun imagining the face on the armorer whenever the original Swiss officer who was issued this pistol had to take it in and do inspection/maintenance. From what I know of how it worked, you’d have your personal weapon at home, and whenever you were called up for annual training, you turned your weapon in for inspection/maintenance on it, and the sheer glee of being able to tell the guy at the counter “Yes, it is serial number zero-one…” is probably a large part of why that Swiss officer spent the money to keep it after he retired…
The armorer was probably trying to figure out why it wasn’t in a museum, somewhere…
I can remember in the early 2000’s when an Army depot was refurbishing M2HB machine guns and one of the guns sent to them ws something like serial 13. Of course, the Browning Fifty Caliber is indestructable, but…
What lovely steel, doesn’t it just look nice; the lustre, or something…