John Martz Custom .45 ACP Luger with J.V. Martz Letter

Most Martz conversions are interesting on their own. This one carries a paper trail that elevates it past nearly anything else in the field. The accompanying documentation, written in Martz's own hand and dated January 4, 2004, identifies this as his 74th .45 ACP conversion out of roughly 80 he ever completed, and the gun he originally intended to keep for himself as a keepsake. Read that again. The maker meant this one for his own collection, then parted with it to the buyer who commissioned the work.

Built in Martz's Lincoln, California workshop and dated 2002 over the chamber, the conversion follows the Imperial Navy pattern with an 8 inch barrel, two-position rear sight, and the long, balanced lines that make these guns read like artillery Lugers grown to fighting caliber. The work is the hard kind. Martz split the frame, widened it for the .45 ACP cartridge, and welded it back into a single unit fitted to its own grips. The front toggle link wears JVM scroll engraving. The left side carries the crown over N proof and the MSTR stamp for his Safe Toggle Release, which turns the safety lever into a combined safety and toggle release.

The rust blue finish runs deep and even. Checkered dark walnut grips replace the bordered panels Martz normally fitted, cut full at the buyer's request and matched to this frame. A spare set of grips comes along, plus a second magazine with a turned walnut base, both wearing the JVM oval.

What you're holding is the gun Martz built last, planned to keep, and documented in detail before letting go. For a collector who values the man behind the bench as much as the steel, that's the rarest combination there is.