my first Luger

[mrerick]

Hi Greg, and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your first Luger.

The "p" block of 10,000 pistols was made very early in 1941. It was the second block worked on that year - probably during January and February. It was also made during the time when Mauser was transitioning from the "42" manufacturer concealment code to the new "byf" code, which your pistol has. There were approximately 130,000 made in this variation. Yours would be one of the first few thousand.

Look inside the side-plate and you should find the number "10" stamped.

While the high edge wear on the Luger's finish would tend to indicate a fair amount of usage, there were also production process problems at Mauser that lead to bluing that looks almost translucent. I have a 1939 Mauser Luger that has this appearance, and this might be one too... Hard to judge from photos.

I agree with Ed's observations on the holster.

The metallurgy of these Mauser made Lugers was excellent, and represented an advance over the alloys used in earlier generation pistols.

Marc

Marc

[kurusu]

Originally Posted by mrerick

Hi Greg, and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your first Luger.

The "p" block of 10,000 pistols was made very early in 1941. It was the second block worked on that year - probably during January and February. It was also made during the time when Mauser was transitioning from the "42" manufacturer concealment code to the new "byf" code, which your pistol has. There were approximately 130,000 made in this variation. Yours would be one of the first few thousand.

Look inside the side-plate and you should find the number "10" stamped.

While the high edge wear on the Luger's finish would tend to indicate a fair amount of usage, there were also production process problems at Mauser that lead to bluing that looks almost translucent. I have a 1939 Mauser Luger that has this appearance, and this might be one too... Hard to judge from photos.

I agree with Ed's observations on the holster.

The metallurgy of these Mauser made Lugers was excellent, and represented an advance over the alloys used in earlier generation pistols.

Marc

Marc

Marc

I was under the impression that during January and February 1941 Lugers were still being produced with the manufacturer code "42".

I think I was told somewhere that my 41 BYF 8024o had been
produced around May.

I've been wrong before.

[mrerick]

They used up the parts on hand pretty much as they were produced. Typically first in, first out unless there was some issue that delayed them in process. The production areas tended to be structured as batch processes so parts were somewhat grouped.

There was an overlap of toggles at the beginning of 1941 with the two different concealment codes used in the "o" and "p" blocks. About 5,000 were made with "42" toggles, and 15,000 with "byf" toggles.

Of course, once a part was made it could end up in use on a gun anytime after that.

Marc

Originally Posted by kurusu

Marc

I was under the impression that during January and February 1941 Lugers were still being produced with the manufacturer code "42".

I think I was told somewhere that my 41 BYF 8024o had been
produced around May.

I've been wrong before.

[rhuff]

Congrats on your first Luger, and welcome to the forum. Be aware that Lugers are like peanuts.....it is difficult to have just one. Enjoy!!