Commercial Luger Date

Doubs · 01-26-2024, 04:45 PM

The change from 5 digit commercial serial numbers to the 4 digit with suffix letter - the "alphabet" commercial Lugers - began before mid-1921 according to Gortz & Sturgess. Commercial 5 digit production had reached 92000 which translated to the i letter suffix and that's the first letter used in 1921 when the switch was made. Once 10,000 i was reached, the next letter was k as they never used j because the i & j in written German was interchangeable.

If, as G&S suggest, production of the alphabet commercial Lugers began with 1 i or 2000 i as some think they did to match the 92,000 5 digit models produced, it's likely that your suffix k Luger was made in late 1921 or early 1922. Lacking specific production records, it's impossible to pin point the date more accurately.

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01-26-2024, 04:45 PM	#7
Doubs User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Byron, Georgia Posts: 1,747 Thanks: 832 Thanked 1,805 Times in 595 Posts	The change from 5 digit commercial serial numbers to the 4 digit with suffix letter - the "alphabet" commercial Lugers - began before mid-1921 according to Gortz & Sturgess. Commercial 5 digit production had reached 92000 which translated to the i letter suffix and that's the first letter used in 1921 when the switch was made. Once 10,000 i was reached, the next letter was k as they never used j because the i & j in written German was interchangeable. If, as G&S suggest, production of the alphabet commercial Lugers began with 1 i or 2000 i as some think they did to match the 92,000 5 digit models produced, it's likely that your suffix k Luger was made in late 1921 or early 1922. Lacking specific production records, it's impossible to pin point the date more accurately.